Penn coach Fran Dunphy is reportedly Temple’s top choice to replace John Chaney, who retired Monday after 24 seasons at the school. Dunphy is in his 17th year at the helm of the Penn program, and owns a 310-161 record there. He is busy preparing his team for its upcoming NCAA Tournament game against second-seeded Texas in Dallas on Friday. Some of the other names mentioned in connection with the Temple vacancy include Drexel’s Bruiser Flint, former Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins, and former Owl assistant Dean Demopoulos. Temple hosts Akron in the opening round of the NIT on Tuesday, though top assistant Dan Liebovitz will be coaching the Owls instead of Chaney, who will be with his ailing wife.

Slant: The Temple job actually makes more sense for Dunphy than going back to his alma mater La Salle did two years ago. It’s a much more high-profile program in no need of a serious rebuild and with far superior facilities and resources. Penn finds itself in nearly the identical situation as Princeton two years ago when John Thompson III’s name was linked to the Georgetown job and he found himself answering questions about that at the NCAA Tournament press conferences. Like the 2003-04 Princeton squad, Penn is junior-led and its senior point guard is the only graduation loss in the starting lineup. In a bizarre coincidence, both teams received low seeds and were paired with Texas. The distractions can’t help a Penn team that already faces a very tough task in preparing for an opponent regarded by many as a favorite to reach the Final Four. Should Dunphy depart, a list of potential replacements at Penn very likely would include longtime Lafayette coach and former Penn assistant Fran O’Hanlon, former Penn player and assistant and current Siena head man Fran McCaffery, former Penn assistant and current Cornell coach Steve Donahue, and Brown coach Glen Miller.