Lost in the news shuffle dominated by the NCAA’s Big Ten and Big East tournaments was a bit of news that The Sports News and Yahoo! Sports’ Scoop Du Jour blog decided to float out there regarding the future coaching prospects for the Indiana Pacers. The news involves an old face Pacers fans are familiar with: Chuck Person.

A source tells Sporting News that Person is expected to be a candidate for head coaching jobs next year, particularly the one in Indiana, where Person played six seasons. He also served as an assistant coach for the Pacers under Rick Carlisle, and was interviewed as a candidate when Indiana fired Carlisle.

Person is drawing rave reviews in Los Angeles where, as an assistant coach, he has worked with Phil Jackson to improve the Lakers defense. Jackson, not one to pass out compliments unless for a reason, took time to heap some praise on Person:

“We kind of gave Chuck Person dedicated moments in practice to really work on our defense,” Jackson told reporters, according to the Los Angeles Times. “He’s been good with the guys and handled it really well. We’ve taken extra time defensively in practice rather than doing as much execution offensively as we have in the past.”

This is also not the first time Jackson has praised Person.

That sources are talking about new coaching candidates for the Pacers next year should not reflect poorly on current interim coach Frank Vogel, who took over for the fired Jim O’Brien back in January. Overall, the team has responded to Vogel better than they ever responded to O’Brien. But, the reality is Vogel is not a long-term solution.

Person, on the other hand, is a veteran assistant coach with tons of experience on the bench. He would bring energy and a renews emphasis on defense to a young Pacers team that could use a lesson in shutting down teams.

As TSN makes clear, any coaching change will be affected by the status of Larry Bird, currently the team’s president. Bird’s contract is up at season’s end, and there are no indications he and team GM David Morway will be brought back. Should Donnie Walsh return to the Pacers next season after rescuing the New York Knicks from the pandemonium of the Isiah Thomas years, look for Person to get serious consideration for the Pacers head coaching job. Walsh drafted person as a player back in 1986, and was rumored to want him as his head coach in NY.

The Indiana Pacers have fired Jim O’Brien in his fourth season as coach with the team, Yahoo! Sports and the Indianapolis Star have reported.

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Ron Hoskins/Getty ImagesJim O’Brien was hired to coach the Pacers in May 2007.

O’Brien was told of his dismissal during a Sunday morning meeting with Pacers president Larry Bird, the Yahoo! Sports report said. The Pacers have called a 4 p.m. ET news conference, according to the Indianapolis newspaper.

The Pacers sat in 10th place in the Eastern Conference at 17-27 after a 110-98 loss at Chicago on Saturday, their seventh loss in eight games.

Hired to reverse course for a team that had plenty of off-the-court troubles before his arrival, the Pacers have continued to flounder on the floor, missing the playoffs in each of his three seasons to extend a streak of missed postseasons to four.

The Pacers were 121-169 under O’Brien, dropping his career coaching record in the NBA to 303-327.

O’Brien, who succeeded current Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, had been out of coaching since he was fired by the 76ers after the 2004-05 season.

He also coached the Celtics from 2001 to 2004.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

By Chris Mannix, SI.com

The Indiana Pacers have fired head coach Jim O’Brien, a league source confirmed.

O’Brien compiled a 121-169 record in 3½ seasons with the Pacers. Indiana has faded after a strong start this season, dropping seven of its last eight, including a 21-point loss to Chicago on Saturday.

The Indianapolis Star is reporting that longtime O’Brien assistant Frank Vogel is expected to coach the remainder of the season.

However, a league source said that former Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is a strong candidate to land the full-time job. Brown was the Pacers associate head coach under Rick Carlisle from 2003 to 2005.

O’Brien’s firing was first reported by Yahoo Sports and the Indianapolis Star.