No word better describes Kansas University’s search for a men’s basketball coach than whirlwind. The Jayhawks’ acquisition of Bill Self went faster than a speeding bullet.

Now, KU’s search for a new athletic director will be, comparatively speaking, a zephyr.

Chancellor Robert Hemenway isn’t in any hurry to find Al Bohl’s replacement, thanks in large part to the availability of Drue Jennings, a retired CEO who has been bridging the gap as interim AD like the Golden Gate spans San Francisco Harbor.

Hemenway, off to NCAA meetings in Indianapolis the rest of this week, doesn’t plan to start the search process until next Monday when he’ll meet with Jennings and others to draw up a plan of attack.

“Our goal,” Hemenway said, “will be to hire the best possible person in the country.”

KU fans everywhere certainly hope so. It goes without saying Hemenway must be more thorough than he was last time. Hemenway was spoiled by inheriting Bob Frederick, a Gene Budig appointee, and he didn’t dot enough i’s or cross enough t’s in searching for Frederick’s replacement.

By the way, Frederick, who now serves as an assistant to the chancellor while teaching sports administration courses, has been mentioned in some circles as a possible re-hire. That’s news to him.

“I have absolutely no interest in returning to athletic administration,” Frederick said Wednesday. “I’m very happy teaching and enjoying life.”

It’s a business

Kansas University interim athletic director Drue Jennings speaks at a recent news conference. Hemenway said Wednesday the search for a permanent replacement for Al Bohl would begin Monday.

Frederick worked 14 years as KU’s AD and in contemporary times any span of more than 10 years in that job is an eternity because of the unending necessity to generate more and more revenue.

“It’s running a business. It’s a business up there,” said Mike Maddox, a member of KU’s 1988 NCAA championship team and current member of the KU Athletic Corp. board. “We owe the endowment association a lot of money and we need to make some hard decisions.”

Maddox, who has a degree from the KU School of Law and is president of Intrust Bank in Lawrence, has been mentioned as a possible successor to Bohl, but he treads lightly around that speculation.

“It’s flattering to have people think you would do a good job,” Maddox said.

In-house, the leading candidates are — in alphabetical order — John Hadl, Jay Hinrichs and Richard Konzem.

Hadl needs no introduction. He’s a KU icon whose primary job is to hob-nob with the rich and faithful who supply so much of the monetary lifeblood of KU athletics.

Hinrichs administers the Williams Fund, the entire spectrum of donors big and small. He worked many years as an administrator with the Kansas City Royals before returning to his alma mater.

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Konzem is a long-time KU administrator and the man who basically oversaw the day-to-day operation of the athletic department during Bohl’s 20-month tenure.

Hadl, Hinrichs and Konzem all have strong KU ties and there appears to be a consensus, in the wake of the bad taste of Bohl’s tenure, that Hemenway needs to hire someone who bleeds crimson and blue.

No limits

Hemenway hasn’t given any indication, though, that he will limit the search to people with KU backgrounds.

A handful of people with Kansas connections have jobs in athletic administration around the country. Betsy Stephenson, a former Kansas assistant AD, is a senior staffer at UCLA. Mike Bohn, a former KU quarterback, is AD at Idaho. East Carolina AD Mike Hamrick was a KU aide, but that was 20 years ago. And Hamrick was interviewed before KU hired Bohl.

Another non-administrator with KU connections who might be considered is booster Kurt Watson, a Wichita banker and insurance agent.

If the Jayhawks go outside, it has been speculated Ron Guenther, the AD at Illinois, might want to follow Self to Kansas, but that’s not likely. Guenther has been at Illinois for years. He was in the development office at IU before taking over the Fighting Illini athletic department.

Other qualified ADs around the country include Eric Hyman of TCU, Jim Copeland of SMU, Jeff Hathaway of Colorado State, Bob Bowlsby of Iowa and Brad Bates of Miami of Ohio. The list could go on and on.

One name that can be subtracted, however, is Jennings.

“I do not want to be considered for the full-time AD,” the 56-year-old Jennings said Wednesday.

Jennings, who lost his wife Sue to a cancer-related illness last September, has found solace with his daughter Gwen, 32, and his son Matt, 29, both of whom live in the Kansas City Metro area. Jennings has one grandchild and another on the way in a week or so.

How long? No one knows

Even though he commutes to Lawrence daily from his home in Leawood — “It’s only 35 minutes” — Jennings said he is enjoying his pro-tem term in the Kansas athletic director’s office.

Neither he nor Hemenway know how long that term will be.

“He and I never agreed on a date,” Jennings said. “But it’s reasonable to expect we’ll have a full-time AD before the end of summer.”