Assistant Ayers Promoted to Head Post at Ohio State

Ohio State University ended a three-week search Monday by making assistant Randy Ayers head basketball coach.

Ayers replaces Gary Williams, who left last month to become coach at Maryland.

Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson had been the front-runner for the job after Jim Crews of Evansville and Lon Kruger of Kansas State withdrew from contention Friday. But Richardson withdrew Sunday.

Ayers, 33, who had been an assistant to Williams since May 1987, has no head coaching experience but said he will base his coaching philosophy on bits and pieces taken from other coaches. He signed a five-year contract with a base salary of $75,000 for the first year.