We have another reporter working on this story, but here's one wire story --- very nuts-and-bolts --- on Jim Larranaga staying at George Mason. (update: Here is Jon Siegel's story in today's Times)

Obviously, Mason Nation will be thrilled, as well it should be. But it should also feel rather fortunate to have dodged this particular bullet, particularly given the proclivity of coaches from non-power schools to improve their lot in life shortly after runs to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament and beyond.

I tossed out a list of names yesterday that bolted, and it was a decent sampling but not a thorough list. Upon further review, a complete list of coaches in such a situation in, say the last 15 years is worth producing.

The qualifications for the list: A non-power conference school (a definition that has shifted over the years) that couldn't be considered an elite program in recent memory at the time of the regional semifinal (or beyond) run. That knocks out the likes of Massachusetts and Memphis under John Calipari, or Temple under John Chaney. It also gets rid of recent runs by UNLV and Utah to the Sweet 16; they aren't what they once were, but people still know the names pretty well.

It also gives programs a chance to establish their reputations. Gonzaga's early tournament teams count; more recent ones do not. I left Xavier out of the equation this year, and not just because of the school's antipathy for the term "mid-major." Sometime between 2004 and now, the Musketeers graduated to the Memphis-Gonzaga level as a step above most of the non-power conference schools.

That leaves 28 different teams in that span, a pretty lengthy list. Here's a breakdown into six arbitrary categories, since you have to sort through those teams in some way or another.

Strike while the iron is hot: If you take, I don't know, Western Kentucky to the Sweet 16, it's often best to cash in while you can. And that's what a lot of coaches ultimately do. Twelve of the teams on this list went into the next year with new people in charge of their programs.

Among the coaches to pull this off: Ralph Willard (1993 Western Kentucky to Pittsburgh), Tubby Smith (1995 Tulsa to Georgia), Mack McCarthy (1997 Chattanooga to assistant at Virginia Commonwealth), Steve Alford (1999 Missouri State to Iowa), Dan Monson (1999 Gonzaga to Minnesota), Bill Self (2000 Tulsa to Illinois), Stan Heath (2002 Kent State to Arkansas), Trent Johnson (2004 Nevada to Stanford), Thad Matta (2004 Xavier to Ohio State), Bruce Pearl (2005 Wisconsin-Milwaukee to Tennessee), Todd Lickliter (2007 Butler to Iowa) and Darrin Horn (2008 Western Kentucky to South Carolina).

Strike while the iron is warm: What's better than cashing in immediately? Well, waiting a year or two and showing some loyalty in the process isn't too bad. Tubby Smith gets the best of both worlds, since he took Tulsa to back-to-back regional semifinals. This takes care of five more of the situations.

The coaches on this list include: Tubby Smith (1994 Tulsa to post-1995 Georgia); Jim Harrick (1998 Rhode Island to post-1999 Georgia); Bruce Weber (2002 Southern Illinois to post-2003 Illinois); Mike Anderson (2004 UAB to post-2006 Missouri) and Mark Turgeon (2006 Wichita State to post-2007 Texas A&M)

Stay at Saint Joseph's: The only school left on this list twice is Saint Joe's. Phil Martelli took the Hawks to the Sweet 16 in 1997 as a No. 4 seed and to the regional final in 2004 as a No. 1 seed. He's still on Hawk Hill, and quite deserving of his own category.

Left eventually: Some guys stick around for a while, then eventually move on in a natural ebb-and-flow. Both Mike Jarvis (1993 George Washington to post-1998 St. John's) and Todd Lickliter (another guy on the list twice, 2003 Butler to post-2007 Iowa) took new jobs within five years.

Jury's out: Obviously, it's too soon to tell whether Jim Les (2006 Bradley), Chris Lowery (2007 Southern Illinois) or Bob McKillop (2008 Davidson) will bolt. So they fall into this category for now.

That leaves four coaches, all with very good reasons for sticking around where they are at.

* Homer Drew, 1998 Valparaiso: The feel-good story of the '98 tournament wound up retiring and handing over the Crusaders to son Scott after the 2002 season. Scott Drew left for Baylor the next year, and Homer Drew has come out of retirement to coach five more seasons. He has nearly 600 career victories, which makes for a successful career no matter what level you're at.

* Charlie Coles, 1999 Miami (Ohio): Coles was 57 and a year removed from nearly dying from cardiac arrest when he led his alma mater to the regional semifinals. I don't profess to know the inner workings of the RedHawks' program, but age, health and personal roots make for a unique cocktail of reasons to stay --- which Coles has continued to do.

* Mark Few, 2000 Gonzaga: This is the last remotely surprising Gonzaga team, and even this one wasn't too stunning. Few decided to stick around and build a hoops empire in the Pacific Northwest. In the process, the Zags have elevated themselves into a national program that also reached the regional weekend in 2001 and 2006.

* Jim Larranaga, 2006 George Mason: Assuming he is at Mason for good --- and a three-year extension through 2015 would make that a probable scenario --- the man who took the Patriots to the Final Four will buck the trend. He also is the public face of his school, something very few people anywhere on the list could ever claim (though it will be interesting to see just how much people connect McKillop with Davidson). There is an undeniable value --- and not entirely a financial one --- for both Larranaga and Mason in that arrangement, and the reality that Larranaga is so woven into the fabric of the school had to have played a role in his decision to stay.

--- Patrick Stevens