Sam Houston’s Jason Hooten frontrunner for NMSU men’s basketball head coach

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - The waiting game continues in Las Cruces as New Mexico State appears to have zeroed-in on a candidate for their men's basketball head coach vacancy.

While no official word has come from NMSU, a source tells ABC-7 the frontrunner for the job is Jason Hooten, the current head basketball coach at Sam Houston State.

According to the source, NMSU officials flew out to Huntsville, TX last week to meet with Hooten.

ABC-7 was also told Hooten will be visiting the NMSU campus later this week.

Hooten started his coaching career as an assistant at Tarleton State from 1993-2004.

That was the same school he finished his playing career at in 1991.

However, the majority of his coaching career has been spent at Sam Houston State.

He started as an assistant coach at Sam Houston in 2004 before he was named the head coach of the Bearkats in 2010.

Thirteen seasons later, Hooten is coming off his best season to date.

This past season he lead the Bearkats to a 26-8 overall record, 14-4 in WAC play.

Sam Houston made it to the second round of the NIT before they were eliminated by North Texas.

Hooten's overall record at Sam Houston is 260-168.

NMSU has yet to announce anything official regarding the coaching search, and no news conferences have been scheduled for this week.

But if the signs are to be believed, it appears Hooten is just a signature away from being the next head coach at NMSU.