Add Monmouth's King Rice as a name to watch in the Vanderbilt coaching search, as the Hawks headman has met with the school, sources told Adam Sparks of The Tennessean.
Rice is no stranger to the Commodores program, serving as an assistant under the recently departed Kevin Stallings from 2006-11.
The 47-year-old left Vanderbilt for the Monmouth position following the 2010-11 season, and after initial struggles, has resurrected the Hawks program. After posting just 33 wins combined in his first three seasons as head coach, Monmouth has 46 wins the past two years, including a 28-8 mark this past campaign.
Under Rice's watch, the Hawks play a free-flowing style, featuring bench celebrations that brought the program national attention. The meeting comes as somewhat of a surprise, as the school signed Rice to a five-year contract extension just over a month ago.
The Commodores are also reportedly interested in Duke's Jeff Capel and Valparaiso's Bryce Drew for the position.
Josh Newman of the Ashbury Park Press in New Jersey originally refuted Sparks' report that Rice had met with Vanderbilt, before following that up with a tweet seeming to suggest something could be imminent.
Stay tuned, as it appears this saga is just beginning.