St. John's and Anderson are working on an agreement

Former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson is in negotiations to become the next head coach of St. John's, confirmed sources at ESPN.

Anderson, 59, appeared as the favorite on Thursday night, according to sources. Yale's James Jones, former coach George Mason and Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt were among the other coaches.

Newsday was the first to announce that Anderson would be traveling to St. John's.

The position proved difficult to fill after Chris Mullin stepped down as coach earlier in the month. The first choice of school to replace Mullin, Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, has decided to stay in Tempe and has signed an extension of contract. St. John's then sued Porter Moser of Loyola Chicago, but Moser refused the Red Storm after visiting the Queens Campus and had an interview. Tim Cluess, of Iona, withdrew his name from consideration Thursday morning.

Anderson was fired by Arkansas last month after eight seasons as head coach of the Razorbacks. During his stay in Fayetteville, Anderson led Arkansas to the NCAA Tournament three times. Before taking up his duties in Arkansas, Anderson spent five seasons in Missouri. He has competed in three NCAA tournaments, including an Elite Eight race in 2009. Anderson has also been head coach at UAB for four seasons, winning at least 20 games every four seasons and advancing to the tournament. NCAA three times.

The native of Birmingham, Alabama, began his coaching career as Nolan Richardson's assistant coach, first at Tulsa, his alma mater, for three seasons, then in Arkansas for 17 seasons .

Anderson would replace Mullin, who resigned from his position earlier this month. Mullin, the greatest player in the history of the program, led the Red Storm for four seasons. He led St. John's to a participation in an NCAA tournament this season, his first since taking on the position of head coach, but the Red Storm lost in the First Four against Arizona State.

After the season, Mullin had many controversial meetings with sports director Mike Cragg, which led to speculation about his professional status. Mullin announced his resignation the day after the national championship game.