Pat Rafferty may not get an interview, but his advocates at least made their voices heard.

A group lobbying for the former Casper College men's basketball coach signed a petition and turned it in Thursday to Dr. Walter Nolte and Joanna Anderson, president and vice president at the school, asking that Rafferty be considered for the open coaching position.

The school narrowed its search to three finalists - former Northwest College coach Andy Jensen, Sheridan coach Joel Davidson and Wyoming assistant Shaun Vandiver - and interviewed them Tuesday through Thursday this week.

But when Rafferty - whose resume includes Division I coaching experience, a stint under Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum and experience at the professional level - didn't make the cut, a group that included fans and boosters became concerned.

"You can't argue, based on the candidates now, that Rafferty did not deserve to at least be a part of the interview process," said Dave DuBay, a former T-Bird assistant coach and player under Rafferty in the late 1980s. "That's all we were saying. You have to ask yourself, what kept him out of that selection (process)?"

Unlike other programs, especially many at higher levels, Casper uses a selection committee that includes both athletic and administrative members when selecting finalists for an open coaching position.

"When you've got more than one person that's accountable, you don't have anybody that's accountable," DuBay said. "If you bring in a coach and it doesn't work out, who do you blame?

"I just think that there's some things that could be done to enhance the selection committee."

Athletic director Bill Landen, who has just one vote on the seven-person search committee, sat down with DuBay and a few other fans and boosters behind closed doors on Thursday and helped explain the process.

"I think that there are people that didn't understand the selection process," DuBay said. "Now that people understand how it works, I think there are people that are a little bit more comfortable with it.

"But when you see somebody who has a title of athletic director, you make the assumption, based on Webster's (dictionary) and every other rational thought, that the athletic director is going to hire and fire. Here, that's not the case."

Landen was happy to keep the lines of communication open and help those involved help understand the process a little better and said later that he didn't anticipate any changes in the procedure in the future.

"I think, for the most part, the college is comfortable with that process," Landen said. "That's an institution-wide policy and it's worked pretty well in the past. What changes things with this job opening, or any coach, is that it's just a little bit higher profile.

"There's no plans, that I'm aware of, to change anything."

More importantly, Landen and the committee now have to decide who will coach the T-Birds.

With Nolte and Anderson out of town for the holiday weekend, Landen said a decision probably won't be made until early next week and he didn't anticipate bringing in Rafferty or any other new candidate.

"I think generally that the sentiment was that one of these three (finalists) would be a great coach for us," Landen said. "They made it pretty tough on the committee, that's for sure."

And Casper College booster club president Bruce Eddy re-emphasized that, despite the unhappiness from a number of boosters, they would stand behind the school's selection 100 percent when the decision is made.

"I appreciate every one of the people who have expressed an interest in this," Landen said. "I think we all want the same thing - great representatives out there on the floor who can hang another banner some day."

Contact sports reporter Eric Schmoldt at (307) 266-0578 or eric.schmoldt@trib.com