On the same day Auburn’s former basketball coach landed a new gig, a new face emerged in the school’s search for his replacement.

North Texas coach Johnny Jones will interview for the job some time this week, according to an online story in the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle on Monday evening.

Jeff Lebo, meanwhile, lasted all of 10 days on the unemployment line, as he was named East Carolina’s new head coach Monday. A press conference will be held today for Lebo, whose appointment is still pending approval from the ECU board of trustees.

Jones’ candidacy is the latest example of the revved-up pace to Auburn’s coaching search this week, as a number of top candidates are now officially done for the season after exiting from their respective tournaments.

Jones, 50, took North Texas to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past four seasons this year after beating Troy in the Sun Belt Tournament. The 15th-seeded Mean Green lost their first-round game to Kansas State last Thursday, 82-62.

Before Jones’ arrival in 2001, North Texas hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1988. Jones has been with the Mean Green for nine seasons, compiling a 150-121 record, which includes the 24-9 markfrom this season and two postseason appearances.

Jones has plenty of SEC ties. Nicknamed “The Bullet,” Jones spent four years as a player at LSU and 13 years as an assistant, appearing in two Final Fours (1981, 1986) and nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments. He also served as an assistant coach at Memphis for three seasons and Alabama for one before taking the job at North Texas.

Jones recently had his contract extended at North Texas through the 2014-15 season. He makes $200,000 per year plus incentives.

Athletic director Jay Jacobs, who has refused to comment on potential candidates, said he plans to give Auburn’s new coach a competitive SEC salary. Lebo made $785,000 per season, the lowest among the league’s coaches.

While Jones is a new name to consider, Tubby Smith might be one to drop off the wishlist.

The Minnesota coach, again, denied any link Monday to his alleged candidacy at Auburn — or any other job.

“There’s no truth to it,” Smith said in a Minneapolis Star-Tribune column. “I’m not a candidate for any other job.”

His name emerged as a top candidate Friday morning — shortly before the Gophers’ first-round NCAA Tournament game against Xavier — after a CBSSports.com article said Auburn was “close to hiring” Smith – a 19-year head coaching veteran who has had success at every stop of his career and boasts a 1998 national championship with Kentucky.

Smith and Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi, who said Friday that Auburn has not yet sought permission to speak with Smith, were both reportedly upset with the timing of the report. Minnesota bowed out of the Big Dance quickly, falling, 65-54.

“Happiness is very temporary … because I’m not happy now because we lost our last games, so I’m preparing for next year as hard as I can prepare,” Smith said. “I’m going out and I’m selling this program, selling the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, that we’ve got people here on our team, we’ve got administration [that] is backing us, we’ve got things in place, we’re preparing to build a new practice facility.

“That’s what I came here to do, and certainly I’m a guy that wants to fulfill my responsibilities to this program.”

The coach Auburn is searching to replace, Lebo, went 96-93 in his six years at Auburn. He was fired one day after the Tigers’ SEC Tournament loss to Florida, capping a disappointing 15-17 season. The Tigers never made the NCAA Tournament under Lebo and saw postseason play just once.

Lebo, who is 211-156 in his 12-year head-coaching career, has never made the NCAA Tournament. He replaces Mack McCarthy, a former Sonny Smith assistant at Auburn who is taking an administrative job at ECU.

If possible, the bar might be set even lower for Lebo at ECU than it was when he took the job at Auburn. The Pirates went 10-21 last year and were 4-12 in Conference USA. They haven’t had a winning record in 13 years and haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1993.

| 737-2561