Columbia, Mo. ? Missouri basketball coach Quin Snyder, sought by Washington for its vacancy, said Sunday night that he plans to remain with Tigers.

“We have some very special players on our team and we have made a tremendous investment in each other over the last few years,” Snyder said in statement released by the school.

“We are building a very special and unique program at Missouri and I am certainly excited about the potential that lies ahead.”

The school said Snyder would not comment further until Wednesday.

Snyder, who has guided the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons and to the round of eight this year, was considered a prime candidate for the Washington job because of his strong ties to Seattle. He’s a native of the Seattle suburb of Mercer Island and still has family in the area.

Washington is looking for a coach to replace Bob Bender, asked to resign last week after three consecutive losing seasons.

Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges has not commented publicly on her search for a coach but received permission to talk with Snyder, Gonzaga coach Mark Few and Saint Louis’ Lorenzo Romar, who played for the Huskies.

Jim Daves, the assistant athletic director for media relations at Washington, said Sunday night that Hedges would not have any comment until she announces the hiring.

Several reports over the weekend said Hedges met with Snyder on Friday in Sun Valley, Idaho, where Snyder and his wife, Helen, were on vacation. Reports also said that Snyder was offered the job, a point Daves corrected Sunday.

“We have not offered our job to anyone,” Daves said.

Doug McIlhagga, a spokesman for Saint Louis University, said the school understood that Romar and Hedges were to meet Sunday.

“Considering coach Romar’s positive feelings about the future of the team, we’re hoping he continues to be the coach at Saint Louis University,” McIlhagga said.

In three seasons since replacing Norm Stewart at Missouri, Snyder is 62-38. Missouri went 24-12 this season, losing to Oklahoma 81-75 in the West Regional final.

Last year, Snyder signed a two-year extension to his original deal with the school, placing him under contract at Missouri through the 2005-06 season.