KU’s Hinson, Manning could be on the move

Is Kansas on verge of losing half of its coaching staff?

Director of basketball operations Barry Hinson is expected to be named Southern Illinois' coach, perhaps as early as today, according to a source close to the program.

Also, assistant coach Danny Manning could be the favorite for the Tulsa job, according to the source. Signs pointed to a decision soon when Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton, considered a favorite for the job, informed Tulsa that he was pulling his name from consideration.

Hinson would return to the head coaching ranks for the first time he was fired from Missouri State after the 2008 season.

Hinson was 169-117 at Missouri State and went to three NITs. He previously had coached at Oral Roberts.

Former Illinois coach Bruce Weber was believed to be the leader at SIU, which is looking to replace Chris Lowery. The Salukis finished 8-23 this season.

Manning, the hero of Kansas' 1988 national championship team, joined KU's staff after a 15-year NBA career. He was a part-time coach until 2007 when he was elevated to full time assistant.

Taylor keeps shooting — It’s true that Tyshawn Taylor hasn’t made a three-pointer in a dome. In six NCAA games in bloated arenas, he’s zero for 16. But he hasn’t been good in any arena in NCAA Tournament games.

Taylor is 3 of 37 in the tournament (8.1 percent), which is bizarre. He’s a career 37.2 percent three-point shooter who is having his best season at 38.5 percent from behind the arc.

And that season total was much better a couple of weeks ago before Taylor started his current zero-for-20 streak.

On Saturday, Taylor is going against one of the nation’s top defensive points guards in Ohio State’s Aaron Craft. That has Taylor’s attention, but it won’t change his approach.

“He’s a great player, and I’m excited to play against him,” Taylor said. “He’s going to make offensive looks hard.

“But I’m worried about not shooting the ball well. I mean, I’ve played against pretty bad defenders in the tournament and haven’t shot the ball well. I just have to continue to be aggressive, and that’s not going to change no matter who I play against.”

Self said Martin dropped hint — Kansas coach Bill Self said Kansas State coach Frank Martin dropped a hint that he might not be long for Manhattan. Martin was introduced as South Carolina’s coach on Tuesday.

“I spoke to him last week after the (Big 12) tournament telling him congratulations on another great year,” Self said. “He told me this could be a possibility. I don’t know what the situation is down there, but I think he left a good situation so he must feel this is a really good situation for him personally.

“Our league will miss him. He did nothing but good things for our basketball league.”

Bonus, babies — Self has locked in $150,000 in bonuses this month — $50,000 for winning the Big 12 and $100,000 for making the Final Four. Two wins this weekend would bring in another $200,000 for the KU coach. This on top of his $2.5 million annual salary.

And he’s the lowest-paid coach at the Final Four.

Ohio State’s Thad Matta makes $2.735 million, Louisville’s Rick Pitino gets $3 million and Kentucky’s John Calipari is paid 3.8 million annually — and gets a $1 million retention bump starting next season.

The potential of $350,000 in incentives for Self pales in comparison though to what could await Calipari.

Already, Calipari has cashed in for winning the Southeastern Conference regular-season titles, worth $50,000 each. He earned $100,000 each for making the regional semifinals and finals, and $150,000 for beating Baylor and taking the Wildcats back to the Final Four.

Winning the basketball-mad school’s eighth NCAA tournament title would net another $350,000.

It’s a heavyweight group, no question about that,” Self said.