COLLEGE BASKETBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NATION : Unhappy Griffith Leaving Wisconsin

Freshman center Rashard Griffith said he won’t return to Wisconsin when spring break ends next week and will consider transferring or turning professional.

Griffith, a highly prized recruit from Chicago, said he was not happy with Badger Coach Stu Jackson’s offense because it favored guards and didn’t give him many chances with the ball.

“I am just not happy with my basketball progress and the way I am being used on the court,” Griffith said in Madison, Wis.

The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Griffith was a key member of the Badgers this season. He averaged 13.9 points, a team high 8.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, and helped Wisconsin to an 18-13 record and its first NCAA appearance since 1947.

“I was led to believe one thing when I was being recruited and that doesn’t seem to be materializing now,” Griffith said, adding that rumors of academic problems and chronic knee and back pain are untrue.

Griffith, who led Chicago King High to Class AA state titles in 1990 and 1993, said he will likely transfer to another school but said he might enter the NBA draft.

When reached at the Final Four, Jackson was surprised.

“I don’t have any reaction at this time,” Jackson said. “It comes as a surprise.”

Jackson said he will talk with Griffith soon.

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Mike Deane, who coached Siena to third place in this year’s NIT, was named Marquette’s coach.

Contract terms weren’t released, but Marquette reportedly offered him a deal worth about $200,000 per year, about twice what he was reported to have received at Siena.

“People said it would be tough for me to follow in the footsteps of Al McGuire and Kevin O’Neill, but those are the reasons I wanted to come here,” Deane said. “I see Marquette as a gigantic step forward professionally for me.”

Deane, 42, led Siena to a 25-8 record this season and was 166-77 in eight seasons. Siena played in the NIT in 1988, 1991 and 1994 and in the NCAA tournament in 1989, when the Saints upset Stanford in the first round.

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Former Xavier assistant Skip Prosser, coaching at Loyola of Maryland, is expected to be named Xavier coach today at a news conference in Cincinnati.

Prosser, 43, left Xavier last year after an eight-year stint for Loyola. He returns to replace Pete Gillen, who left Wednesday after nine years to take the head coaching job at Providence.

Gillen endorsed Prosser’s return.

“I thought if I left, he was the one they were going to hire. I think he deserves it. Skip’s a great choice,” Gillen said. “He’s been there, he helped recruit a lot of the guys that are still there. He’s a perfect fit.”

Prosser took a Loyola team that had a 2-25 record in 1992-93 and went 17-13 this season and made the school’s first NCAA tournament appearance.