With that, the message boards sizzled, and Martelli, who has said many times St. Joe's was his dream job and he had no plans to go anywhere, decided he'd better respond.

"I have not indicated an interest in Providence," Martelli told the Daily News. "Providence has not indicated an interest in me. I've not talked to anybody at Providence and Providence has not talked to anybody here at Saint Joseph's, or to me or to my family."

Or to Martelli's representative, Dennis Coleman.

"It's just one those [things] and it's running wild," Martelli said. "My athletic trainer came in and said the athletic trainer at Providence contacted him today [asking], 'What kind of guy is Phil Martelli?' ''

Tim Welsh was let go at Providence after the season. It is an interesting job with great tradition, but much of that tradition came years before the Big East became a mega-conference with serious programs and big-time coaches all over the map.

"My sons [Phil, an assistant coach at Niagara and Jimmy, an assistant at Robert Morris] are getting solicited on who I would take as a staff," Martelli said. "It's just out of control. It's not even fun."

Martelli is not sure how the Providence connection started. But it did.

"I don't know anything about it," he said. "I haven't given it a thought. I haven't thought whether I'd even think about it."

Meanwhile, the rumors/conclusions continue in this age of the message board where everybody has an "informed" opinion, including the St. Joe's fans and those that have no particular use for anything to do with St. Joe's.

"The Yahoo! version of the [St. Joe's] fans [say], 'I'm a Benedict Arnold because I said this was my dream job and I would never leave,' '' Martelli suggested.

"The other fans at some of the other institutions in Philadelphia that love me so much, if I end up not getting it, they're going to say, 'See, he's not good enough and he failed again' and all this other stuff. I just don't want to be involved in all that."

Well, Martelli might not be involved in the Providence job. But, given today's climate, he is involved in the rumor/fact world we live in. *