Tucking his massive frame onto a Thunderbirds chair in the corner of Erickson Gym, Shaun Vandiver looked around and soaked in the building.

The current Wyoming assistant coach didn't see anything like the Arena-Auditorium.

Everything about it still seemed to fit his eye.

"It feels like home," Vandiver said after his interview with Casper College on Thursday. "I look around here and I see full capacity on a Friday, Saturday night. I see the fans yelling and celebrating, supporting their team. At the end of the day, I truly see a chance for victory.

"I don't see junior college, I don't see Wyoming, I just see the program."

Most important, Vandiver can see himself leading it.

The last of three candidates to audition for the job Gary Becker opened last month with his resignation, Vandiver brought the least amount of head-coaching experience to Casper - zero - but perhaps the clearest vision of the future.

He outlined everything from recruiting and style of play to academics and office work, frequently stressing that he's ready to steer his own ship.

"At the end of the day, I had to sit down and ask myself if I wanted to run my own program now or later," Vandiver said. "I talked to my wife about it, I talked to (daughter) Aubrey about it, I talked to my little kids about it, they all said go for it. Do they want to leave Wyoming? No, but we'll still be in Wyoming.

"This was just timing. Basketball is basketball. If you're in it to make money, you might be in the wrong sport unless you get a little lucky. If you're doing it because it's what you love - and I love doing this, I love practice, I love recruiting - I'm going to do it wholeheartedly. Everything fell into place."

The Casper search committee now has to sort through the rest of the pieces, balancing Vandiver's resume against those of Sheridan coach Joel Davidson and former Northwest College coach Andy Jensen.

Regardless of any outside distractions, Casper ended up with three viable choices to pick up where Becker left off - and maybe take the T-Birds higher.

"Here's the thing, if I don't get the job, I'll still be supportive," Vandiver said. "I'll still come up for a few games and recruit, come for the state tournament, the crazy thing about this business we're in is that someday somebody's going to think I'm the right guy.

"Thunderbird basketball, I just see the chance for us to be truly successful. I look around here, and I want to see a banner up there. I want to see a banner that talks about Region IX champs, and I want a banner that says national champions. If I'm crazy for dreaming that big, I'm crazy.

"But that's why we play games, and every coach has to choose his own path."

It led Vandiver into an empty gym on Wednesday, one that hardly seems to compare to the Double-A.

This building, though, could belong just to him.

Contact sports reporter Austin Ward at (307) 266-0634 or austin.ward@trib.com.

T-BIRDS TRACKER

THURSDAY: Casper College closed out its three-day session of interviews for its vacant men's coaching position, bringing in Wyoming assistant Shaun Vandiver for the final audition.

'IT'S TIMING': Vandiver brought the least amount of head-coaching experience to Casper, but he said repeatedly that he's ready to run his own program.

He's spent the last three seasons on the bench at UW after stints at Bowling Green and Northern Colorado following his nine-year playing career in Europe.

HE SAID IT: "At the end of the day, I had to sit down and ask myself if I wanted to run my own program now or later." - Vandiver.