NCAA West Regional: Gregg Marshall is content at Wichita State

Gregg Marshall has plenty on his mind at the moment, what with his Wichita State team getting ready to play Ohio State in the NCAA West Regional final on Saturday at Staples Center.

Meantime, Marshall is being mentioned as a possible candidate to become the next coach at UCLA.

Asked Friday how he deals with that kind of talk while he’s preparing for an opportunity to reach the Final Four, Marshall said, “I actually don’t deal with it.” He added, “I’m not a jumper. I’m very pleased to be the coach at Wichita State. Content. Happy. And you can’t buy happy. I’ve got a great group of guys here playing in the Elite Eight and that should be your focus.”

That, of course, doesn’t mean that Marshall would refuse to listen if UCLA comes calling after the Shockers conclude the tournament.

Marshall said that the UCLA job was “probably one of the top six elite jobs in the country,” ranking it along with North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and Kansas.

Marshall said he has never been on UCLA’s campus, but had heard that Pauley Pavilion was renovated. Marshall does have a connection to the Bruins: He’s good friends with former UCLA coach Jim Harrick, who rooted for the Shockers at Staples Center on Thursday night against La Salle.

Marshall said he met Harrick, a West Virginia native, when he coached as an assistant at Marshall University under Greg White, who had worked as an assistant under Harrick at UCLA.

“Jim Harrick treated me like I was a BCS head coach,” Marshall said, adding, “I’ve always tried to include him whenever I can.”

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