The search for Mike Miller’s replacement as head men’s basketball coach is down to five, with athletic director Barbara Burke announcing the list of finalists Thursday.

The finalists are David Cason, Brian Fish, Doug Novsek, Kareem Richardson and Jay Spoonhour.

Carson is an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, where the Commodores won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) tournament. Finishing with a record of 25-11, Vanderbilt was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Carson has been at Vanderbilt for one season, while previously spending six seasons at Tulsa (three seasons as assistant coach), and also coaching at TCU, Manhattan, Notre Dame, as well as Eastern. He was also the director of basketball operations at North Carolina for three seasons.

Fish, an assistant coach at Oregon, finished the season with a record of 24-10, but lost in the quarterfinals of the NIT post-season tournament. Fish is in his first season with the Ducks, after previously coaching at Creighton, San Diego, TCU and Marshall.

Novsek is the assistant coach at Nevada, where the Wolf Pack won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Nevada finished with an overall record of 28-7, losing in the quarterfinals of the NIT post-season tournament. He is in his sixth season as an assistant for Nevada, while also coaching at Nebraska, Illinois State, Texas State and Indiana State. Novsek, who played college basketball at Southern Illinois-Carbondale, was a runner-up for the Illinois Mr. Basketball award in 1982.

Richardson is currently an assistant coach at Xavier, where the team is set to take on Baylor in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Richardson is in his first season with the Musketeers, having previously coached at Drake, Missouri-Kansas City, Evansville, Wright State and Indiana State. A native of Rantoul, Richardson first coached at the University of Indianapolis in 1997.

Spoonhour, the head coach at Moberly Area Community College in Missouri, led the team to a 22-8 record. The team lost in the NJCAA Region 16 tournament. Spoonhour is in his third year as head coach, and is the son of Charlie Spoonhour. Jay Spoonhour was an assistant coach at Missouri, Saint Louis, UNLV, Texas San-Antonio and Valparaiso.

Each of the finalists are set to interview on campus in the next two weeks, depending on availability, according to a press release from the Eastern athletic department.

 Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].