EAST ST. LOUIS — The East St. Louis Flyers could soon have a boys basketball coach for the 2012-13 season.

East St. Louis Athletic Director Leonard Manley confirmed Friday the school is close to naming a coach and that the decision will "probably" be announced next week.

"We do not have a new coach as of this time. Nothing official," Manley said in a phone interview Friday.

The Flyers are looking for a replacement for Ray Coleman, who was told in April he would not be retained.

Coleman, who took the Flyers to the Class 3A Springfield Super-Sectional, led the Flyers to 47 wins the past two seasons.

Among the candidates is St. Louis University assistant Tony Young. Rumors swirled Friday that Young had been named the Flyers coach.

Manley said those rumors were not true.

"He (Young) is one of the excellent applicants that we are considering," Manley said.

Young was a standout guard at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he also spent two seasons as a graduate assistant.

Young helped the Salukis to the NCAA Tournament every year as a player, including the Sweet 16 his senior season, and was considered a lockdown defensive guard. He was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Defensive team three times and was named to the Collegeinsider.com Defensive All-America team.

Young still ranks fifth on SIU's career steals list with 171. He scored 1,069 points and handed out 204 assists in his Saluki career. As a senior, Young was voted first-team All-MVC.

A native of Schaumburg, Young helped his prep squad claim the Class AA state title in 2001. He earned a bachelor's degree from SIUC in 2007.

Some of the information for this story was furnished by the St. Louis University website.