LOS ANGELES – Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall largely escaped questions about job openings last weekend in Salt Lake City.
Then he came to Los Angeles, where UCLA and Southern California are looking for coaches. The national media looked at his résumé and wondered, "Why would you stay in Wichita, where running water is scarce and the risk of bison stampede is high?"
Marshall, 50, answered questions in largely the same way he has in recent years, saying he likes his current job, while stopping short of guaranteeing an eternal stay.
"Doing my job has always, for me, been the No. 1 goal," he said Friday, a day before the ninth-seeded Shockers faced second-seeded Ohio State for the right to play in the Final Four.
"We live well in Wichita. We love Wichita. Everything is in place for us to be there for a long time."
Marshall, unsuccessful in his efforts to convince the national media that Kansans don't live in mud huts and travel by covered wagon, went into more details, talking about the Shockers' facilities, including a locker room scheduled for offseason renovation; an administration that isn't interested in a football team taking resources away from basketball; the unlimited use of a private plane for recruiting; and a budget that lets him do what he wants for his program.
"I'm not in search of anything," Marshall said.
"I've got a great life, great family, great community I live in, great school, great administration, great players. This could be a destination job for me. Now it may not be, but I'm just saying I'm not in a big hurry and I never have been."