An extension for University of Hawaii men’s basketball coach Benjy Taylor is still in discussion, although Taylor and UH remain apart on the length and type of a possible deal.

Despite Wednesday’s 61-57 home loss to Cal Poly in overtime to open Big West Conference play, Taylor’s camp believes he can leverage a stronger offer from the university with a successful close to what’s been a surprising season thus far.

The Star-Advertiser’s Dave Reardon reported Wednesday that Taylor received and declined a one-year offer from UH.

The offer was said to have remained in the conversational stage and not in official written form. But had he agreed, Taylor would have kept the interim head coach tag for an additional season while technically remaining associate head coach, said Taylor’s agent, William Phillips. UH would have the right to hire a new head coach to replace Taylor at any time.

Taylor took over as interim coach in the wake of Gib Arnold’s firing on Oct. 28. He was Arnold’s associate head coach for three seasons and a standard assistant coach for one year.

UH is 12-5 overall and 0-1 in Big West play heading into Saturday’s contest against Cal State Northridge at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH has played under the shadow of a nine-month-long NCAA investigation, but notched wins over Pittsburgh, Nebraska and Colorado in nonconference play and took then-No.11 Wichita State to overtime before losing 80-79.

Phillips expressed incredulity at the offer from UH.

"An extension to continue as the interim coach for a short period of time has been offered," Phillips said. "And, quite frankly, I represent a number of coaches and I’ve never received an offer to continue as an interim coach. Either an interim coach comes in and they do a well enough job so that the interim tag is taken off, and they’re given a deal. Or, they don’t do a well enough job and the school decides to do a search or hire someone else."

Phillips said the offer was a maximum of one year and involved a similar level of pay to what Taylor is currently receiving — his associate head coach’s salary plus a monthly stipend as interim head coach. The total is believed to equate to around $190,000.

"Conversations are still ongoing," said Ben Jay, who resigned as UH athletic director on Dec. 9 but still holds that position while UH seeks a replacement. Jay declined to address Phillips’ comments.

Taylor declined to comment on the extension talks Friday. But his camp isn’t shy about its desire for a better offer.

"That’s our hope," Phillips said. "I mean, one of the things (Taylor) is not afraid of is, if in fact they (UH) decide to open it up and have a national search firm come. Because one of the things (the firm) is going to do is take a look at what he has done with the team by the end of the year."

The agent added that UH’s previous offer would not allow for Taylor to be competitive in recruiting.