Pittsburgh ? Pitt is right back where it was 10 days ago — the man it wanted to head its basketball team prefers to coach somewhere else.

Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser turned down the chance to return to his hometown as coach, signing a 10-year contract Friday to stay with the Demon Deacons.

The rejection was the second in as many weeks for the Panthers, who have won 57 games during the last two seasons but have lost twice in the postseason coaching derby.

Ben Howland, a year removed from winning the national coach-of-the-year award, left Pitt for UCLA last week without telling his players he was leaving. Howland resigned at Pitt even after the school offered a significant pay increase.

After Howland’s departure, one that had been rumored for a week yet still caught Pitt by surprise with its swiftness, the Panthers immediately targeted Prosser. Interim athletic director Marc Boehm and chancellor Mark Nordenberg interviewed Prosser at the Final Four in New Orleans.

Pitt was confident of landing the Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year, who grew up in Pittsburgh and has long talked of his love for the city’s sports teams. But when midweek arrived and Prosser had yet to visit Pitt’s new Petersen Events Center or the campus, Pitt officials requested his decision by Friday.

Some Pitt alumni were campaigning for John Calipari, but he wasn’t contacted by Pitt before announcing this week that he was staying at Memphis. Other alumni want Pitt to pursue another Atlantic Coast Conference coach, Pittsburgh native Herb Sendek of North Carolina State.