Ryan Cost, a senior producer over at the Palestra, sent along this feature he put together after IU’s loss at Ohio State on Tuesday:

Kelvin is out the door and Dan is not our man, so that can only mean one thing: It’s coaching search time! Here’s a look at the candidates that could land in Bloomington. We’ll give you the pros, the cons and the bottom line. This morning: Xavier’s Sean Miller.

Pros: After serving three years as the top assistant to Thad Matta, Miller took control of the reigns at Xavier after Matta bolted for Ohio State and has compiled a 92-38 record in four seasons. The 39-year-old reached the Sweet 16 for the first time as a head coach with Saturday’s 85-78 win over Purdue. In his playing days, Miller was a point guard at Pittsburgh. He preaches defense and his club is allowing just 62.7 ppg this season. He seems to be the popular pick for those in the fanbase (alongside Tony Bennett of Washington State) who crave an “up and coming” coach. After all, Bob Knight was just that when he arrived in Bloomington at the age of 31 in 1971.

Cons: With Miller’s current deal at Xavier running through 2015-2016, would the university be willing to make the financial commitment to not only buy him out of his deal, but also reward him with a lucrative long term deal? That remains to be seen. You can be sure that the farther Xavier advances through March, the higher the price tag becomes for Miller. And other schools besides IU could come calling for his services. There is also a “buzz” that Miller would be more interested in coaching in the Big East given his playing background at Pittsburgh. He’s been described to me on several occasions by various people in the media as a “Big East guy.”

Bottom line: If Indiana wants to go young, Miller is right there with Bennett at the top of the list. Bennett might be slightly more attractive because he’d likely come at a lesser price, but if Miller makes it clear to the “blue ribbon” committee that he’s interested in IU, he’ll be given serious consideration. Most Indiana fans would be thrilled to have Miller at the helm and rightfully so: he can flat out coach.

This afternoon, PostmanE will break down Bruce Pearl of Tennessee.

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I’m back for our second installment of our All-Big Ten preview and this week we have our second piece of the puzzle, Jamar Butler of Ohio State. For those who didn’t see it, last week we profiled Raymar Morgan of Michigan State.

With Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook now in the NBA, Butler will be counted on by coach Thad Matta as the leader for the Buckeyes and I fully expect the Lima, OH native to respond to the challenge.

Butler was named honorable mention All-Big Ten last season by the coaches and the media as he started all 39 games, averaged 8.5 points per game and hit 85% of his free throws. He was second on the team in assists behind Conley Jr.

Expect those numbers to jump considerably as he’ll be expected to take on more of the scoring load while the Buckeye newcomers get acclimated to life in the Big Ten.

While he wasn’t the one getting the brunt of the attention as Ohio State made their remarkable run last season, Butler was one of the “glue” guys that held the team together. He knew the role he needed to play for the team to be successful and played it magnificently.

He’ll now step to the forefront in his final season in Columbus as the leader of what should be another fun Buckeye team to watch.

If you haven’t heard the name DeShaun Thomas yet, it’s about time you get educated.

Thomas, a 6′7″, 210 lb. sophomore-to-be at Ft. Wayne Bishop Luers, is regarded by many recruiting analysts as the top player in the class of 2010 and is a prime IU target.

Last month, Thomas gave a verbal pledge to Thad Matta and Ohio State, but has since backed out of the commitment. This was certainly welcome news for Hoosier fans.

The statistics put up by Thomas during his freshman season at Luers seem to back up the hype. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Jody Demling, Thomas scored more than 30 points eight times (including a school record 45) during his freshman season.

Early indications seem to be that Ohio State and Indiana are the schools to beat for Thomas. Thomas got his first college letter, as a 6′3″ sixth grader, from IU. He’s also mentioned Duke, North Carolina, Purdue and Florida as schools of interest.

When Kelvin Sampson took over the IU program, he stressed the importance of keeping the best players in state. His next big test in this department will be getting DeShaun Thomas to Bloomington in the fall of 2010.