Pittsburgh ? Pittsburgh is waiting from the phone call from Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser.

Prosser, the top choice to succeed Ben Howland, is weighing whether to pursue a job with a top-10 program in his hometown or stay at a school that badly wants to keep him.

Prosser held his annual end-of-season meeting Wednesday with Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman, who is believed to be preparing a contract extension that would hike Prosser’s $800,000-a-year salary. Wellman gave football coach Jim Grobe a 10-year contract in January.

Pitt interim athletic director Marc Boehm and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg targeted Prosser as their No. 1 choice last week and interviewed him at the Final Four in New Orleans. At least publicly, they haven’t shown interest in any other coach.

The only other coach known to have talked with Boehm and Nordenberg is assistant coach Jamie Dixon, who is being pushed by the players. Dixon, however, has no Division I head-coaching experience, though he was interviewed recently for vacancies at Wright State and Illinois State.

Prosser, the Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year, has everything Pitt identified as wanting in a new coach: an excellent career record, success at every school he’s coached, a commitment to his players academically and no taint of any NCAA sanctions. He was a high school athlete in Pittsburgh and began his coaching career in nearby Wheeling, W. Va., where he coached a high school team to a state championship.

Pitt has essentially put its search on hold as it waits for Prosser to decide if he wants to visit the campus and the Petersen Events Center, the 12,508-seat on-campus arena Pitt opened this season. The arena is one of the best in college basketball.

But all the reasons that attract Pittsburgh to Prosser are the same reasons why Wake Forest wants to keep Prosser, the former Xavier coach who is 45-18 in two seasons with the Demon Deacons.

As Prosser emerged from his meeting Wednesday with Wellman, a petition containing hundreds of names urging him to stay was plastered on the coaches’ office door.

“There isn’t anyone who doesn’t want Skip to be the coach at Wake Forest,” Wellman said.

Prosser said he was “humbled” by the support, but has declined to say how intrigued he is by Pitt’s interest.

Pittsburgh’s biggest selling point could be the same one that enticed Howland back to his native Southern California: the chance to coach a high-profile school in his hometown. One problem, however, might be Boehm’s status. Prosser said he wouldn’t consider a job in which he wouldn’t have a strong working relationship with the athletic director.