Interesting news to wake up to on a Saturday morning! Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman is reporting that two anonymous sources have informed him that Indiana University offered Washington State head coach Tony Bennett the head coaching job on Friday.

Bennett, who just finished up his second season in the Palouse with a Sweet 16 appearance, is 38 years old. He took over at Wazzu after his father’s retirement and has led the Cougars to some very impressive recent success, including two consecutive NCAA tournament berths and a top-15 national ranking.

How true is this story? I do not know. Bennett is one of the names that’s been very close to the surface during this whole process, so IU moving on him wouldn’t shock me. I imagine there are a couple other schools (California, for instance) where they’re thinking the same thing, so it might be a case where IU feels the need to move quickly.

UPDATE @ 11:29 AM: It’s been an interesting morning so far. ESPN Radio has reported that Bennett told Washington State he’s leaving…but didn’t say for where. In that same report, it was noted that Bennett was one of two finalsts for the California job…but no mention of even being a candidate for IU, let alone having been offered the job. There has been no official news out of IU or Washington State.

UPDATE @ 12:17 PM: Andy Katz has weighed in…and he says hold the horses.  One of Katz’s sources hopped all over this story, claiming that no offer has been made to Bennett. They also claim that Mike Montgomery is high on the candidate list (WHY????), and that Sean Miller’s buyout is too much for IU to afford. Oh, how thrilling.