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By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Bob Bender is no longer the coach at the University of Washington as of Tuesday night, but whether he was fired or resigned will be announced at a news conference Wednesday in Seattle, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com.
Washington athletics director Barbara Hedges will make the announcement after meeting with Bender on Wednesday morning.
Bender, 44, was 116-142 in nine seasons with the Huskies. Washington finished eighth and qualified for the Pac-10 tournament this season, but finished 11-18 overall. The Huskies were in the Sweet 16 in 1998 and made the NCAA Tournament again in 1999.
Under Bender, the school made the postseason in four consecutive seasons -- 1996-99 -- which no other Washington coach had done.
Pittsburgh coach Ben Howland, who has ties to the West Coast at UC-Santa Barbara and Northern Arizona, will become one of the leading candidates for the position, along with Saint Louis coach and former UW player Lorenzo Romar.
Local speculation has always been that Missouri coach Quin Snyder, a Seattle native, and Gonzaga coach Mark Few would be candidates if the job ever opened but that seems less likely given their current success level.
Howland has only been at Pittsburgh for three seasons but has the Panthers in the Sweet 16. The Panthers and Howland were expected to meet after the season about an extension.
Bender, from Bloomington, Ill., played a season at Indiana University before transferring to Duke, from where he graduated in 1980. He joined coach Mike Krzyzewski's staff as an assistant in 1983, and became a head coach in 1990 at Illinois State.
"Any time a change like this comes about, I don't think anybody is really ready for it," Washington senior Grant Leep said. "It's tough to deal with. Everything he's done these nine years, he's done with class. Everybody who's played for him has as much respect for him as you can have for anybody.
"Whatever direction the program goes, they've lost a great coach and a great man."
Bender is the only person in NCAA history to play for two different teams in the national championship game. He played for Indiana's 32-0 national champion in 1976 before going to Duke. He played for the Blue Devils' NCAA runner-up team in 1978.
Bender's overall record as a head coach is 176-199. He spent 1990-93 at Illinois State before moving to Washington.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What do you think of this?
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Hey Pac10 - Bob Bender out at U-Dub!
