NIU head basketball coach Jim Molinari confirmed to The Northern Star Wednesday that he has been interviewed for the vacant head coaching job at Bradley University.

“I’m involved in the process of exploring my options,” Molinari said. “I interviewed earlier this week.”

Molinari denied rumors that a formal announcement of his departure for the Peoria school would take place within the next few days. “There won’t be an announcement this week. I haven’t made a decision in my mind yet,” said Molinari, who expects to make a decision “by the end of the week.”

“I’ve been open to Bradley because it’s in the Midwest,” Molinari said. He did not say if he has been definitely offered the job.

Bradley Athletic Director Ron Ferguson has said that a new coach could be named sometime this week or by the middle of next week.

“(We) are getting closer,” Ferguson said. “We’re down to a reasonable number of candidates.” Ferguson would not comment on whether or not Molinari is one of the finalists. “We’re still under the confidentiality pledge,” Ferguson told the Daily Herald.

The position at Bradley opened when Stan Albeck resigned on March 5. Albeck had three-straight losing seasons during his five-year career, including an 8-20 mark this season.

At Bradley, a private college with an enrollment of 5,000, Albeck earned in the neighborhood of $175,000 in base salary and TV and radio contracts. Molinari, in the second year of a three-year contract, earned $69,000 in base salary.

Chuck Buescher, the head coach at Peoria Central High School, has been reported to be a front-runner, along with Molinari, for the Bradley job.

In his two years at the Huskies’ helm, Molinari compiled a 42-17 mark, including a 25-6 record and an NCAA Tournament bid this season.

Molinari, an assistant coach at DePaul before coming to NIU, has been the subject of rumors about several coaching jobs, the most recent being the opening at Texas A&M.