Frank Haith agrees to Tulsa deal

Missouri coach Frank Haith has verbally agreed to become the next coach at Tulsa, Haith confirmed Friday morning in a text to ESPN.com.

A source close to the situation disclosed the news Thursday.

Haith, who traveled to Tulsa on Thursday afternoon to finalize the deal, will replace Danny Manning, who left for Wake Forest earlier this month.

A surprise hire by Missouri out of Miami three years ago, Haith led the Tigers to the NCAA tournament in two of his three seasons. He had a 76-28 record at Missouri.

The Tigers went to the NIT this past season and will lose Jordan Clarkson, Jabari Brown and Earnest Ross.

Brown, who had transferred to Missouri from Auburn, led the Southeastern Conference with 19.9 points per game last season. Missouri went 7-8 after the start of February and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years.

While Missouri plays in the high-profile SEC, Tulsa might be a more stable situation for Haith.

The Golden Hurricane went 17-16 and played in the CBI tournament two years ago. This past season, Tulsa improved to 21-13, won the Conference USA tournament and reached the NCAA tournament with a young team. Sophomore guard James Woodard was a second-team all-conference pick, and forwards Rashad Smith, Lew Evans and D'Andre Wright and guards Shaquille Harrison and Rashad Ray were sophomores who played significant roles.

Next season, the Golden Hurricane will be moving to the American Athletic Conference, which includes national champion Connecticut.

Haith served a five-game suspension to open this past season as a result of discipline handed down by the NCAA for failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance while coaching at Miami.

An NCAA investigation found that Haith and an assistant coach had provided former booster Nevin Shapiro $10,000 after he threatened to expose previous improper contact with high school recruits and amateur coaches.

Shapiro initially demanded Haith return a $50,000 donation, but the coach refused. The unidentified assistant then loaned Shapiro $7,000, which he later repaid. The NCAA also found that Haith helped his assistant pay off Shapiro's mother.

Shapiro is a former booster and a convicted felon serving a 20-year sentence for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme.

Haith's suspension was tied to a larger 2½-year NCAA investigation of Miami that also involved the football team.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.