The three candidates: Oregon State’s Bob De Carolis, IU Associate AD Scott Dotson and Indianapolis lawyer Fred Glass. De Carolis has done a stellar job out in Corvallis, Dolson has the IU ties that some supporters of the program covet and Glass has experience working with the NCAA and is a superstar lawyer.

De Carolis had the buzz last weekend, but Glass is the name with momentum if you believe John Decker of Hoosier Nation. He’s got an impressive resume, but I’m not sure the AD position in Bloomington is the best place for a man who has never led an athletic department. The same can also be said for Dotson. De Carolis seems like the safest bet (and most intriguing) of the three, but Oregon State will probably do its best to keep him.

With that said, I post this question to you: Of these three candidates, who would you like to see IU hire and why? Bring it in the comments.

While De Carolis declined to discuss the Indiana situation with reporters in Seattle, he issued a statement through the school’s sports information director that did little to clarify the talk he might be offered the job this week.

“At this time it would not be appropriate for me to respond to rumors and speculation about the position of Director of Athletics at Indiana University,” the statement read. “Officials at Indiana University have a process for this position and I want to respect it. Therefore, I do not wish to make any comments that might directly or indirectly compromise this process.”

De Carolis, approached after Oregon State’s win, was asked why he could not say yes or no to whether he was interested in the job.

“You’ve got the statement,” he said. “Do what you want with it.”

De Carolis has Big Ten connections from his tenure at Michigan — and no doubt the Indiana athletic directorship would involve a hefty pay increase. The athletic director, who according to the school’s Web site would start in January, would be in charge of a $54 million athletic department budget.

Here are a few points of interest after a quick read of De Carolis’ bio: He helped rescue Oregon State athletic department from a deficit of $12.5 million; he’s no stranger to overseeing renovation projects as “Beaver Nation” now enjoys $115 million worth of enhancements to Reser Stadium and it appears he’s been able to bump up donations to his department by a solid margin while in Corvallis. The fact that he’s refusing to talk about the opening and issuing statements leads me to believe that an offer could be in the cards.