West Virginia's Huggins unsure if Bryant will play

West Virginia went to Duke country to get help for point guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant's broken right foot.

While the Blue Devils were beating Baylor on Sunday in the South Regional final, Bryant was in Durham, N.C., with Randy Meador, WVU's coordinator of athletic training services, to get fitted for a specially designed shoe.

Meador declined to name the specialist, but said Monday, "It's not like we were at Duke."

Bryant broke his foot Tuesday and has missed WVU's last two games in the NCAA tournament.

The guard is optimistic about the shoe, which would shift weight away from his fractured fifth metatarsal. Bryant went as far as predicting he could play "like nothing happened" after watching West Virginia beat Kentucky in the East Regional final.

On Monday, coach Bob Huggins took a wait-and-see approach.

Huggins said he won't know anything until seeing Bryant at practice today.

Kansas' Cole Aldrich leaving early for NBA

Cole Aldrich, fighting back tears, said Monday he'll skip his senior year at Kansas and head for the NBA.

The 6-11 center, who averaged almost a double-double for the Big 12 champions, is projected by most experts as a high first-round pick.

"The last three years have been pretty special," he said.

Blessed with a wingspan greater than most men his height, Aldrich averaged 11.3 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who were the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament before they were upset by Northern Iowa. He also set a team record with 125 blocks.

The Jayhawks are still waiting for a decision by freshman swing man Xavier Henry, their second-leading scorer.

It would have been a surprise if Aldrich had elected to remain in school. His father, Walter Aldrich, is a construction worker who's been put out of a job by the recession.

"We've known this was going to happen since last year," said coach Bill Self. "To be real candid with everybody, and I think Cole would agree with this, I would strongly discourage him from coming back."

Seton Hall announces Willard as basketball coach

In becoming the basketball coach at Seton Hall, Kevin Willard has taken on two jobs.

The first is to guide the Pirates to the next level in the Big East and land an NCAA tournament berth.

The second might be even more important: Willard must restore peace to the program after a number of controversies led to the firing of Bobby Gonzalez.

The 34-year-old Willard was officially announced as Seton Hall's new basketball coach on Monday, a little less than two weeks after Gonzalez was dismissed.

Contract terms were not disclosed.

Patrick Hobbs, the law school dean who has overseen the school's athletics department since July, said that Willard was the school's top choice even though there were indications that Fran McCaffrey of Siena was the frontrunner until accepting a job at Iowa.

"This is a historic moment for Seton Hall University," Hobbs said.

Izzo says he's happy at Michigan State

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Monday he is happy with his current job, responding to a report that Oregon wants to make him the richest coach in the nation.

KEZI-TV in Eugene, Ore., citing anonymous sources, reported the school plans to offer Izzo college basketball's largest contract with help from Nike Inc. co-founder Phil Knight.

"I have not been contacted," Izzo told The Associated Press on Monday. "I'm happy here and I'm focused on trying to win another national championship."