STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Jerry Dunn resigned as Penn State's basketball coach Monday following two poor seasons, including a 7-21 finish this year.

Intriguing job opening

The Penn State job is one of the more intriguing openings because of its league affiliation and facilities. And there is talk among the coaching circle that the Nittany Lions will be willing to pay top dollar. Some of the top names being mentioned for the job are Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli, Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski, Penn coach Fran Dunphy, former UCLA coach Steve Lavin and East Tennessee State coach Ed DeChellis. But this list isn't limited to this crew. The Nittany Lions' field will likely expand, especially if a mid-major or lower profile coach in a high-major conference does well in the NCAA Tournament. --by Andy Katz, ESPN.com

He spent eight years at Penn State, going 117-121 and 45-87 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions won just seven games each in his last two seasons.

"I would like to have had more success over the past two seasons,'' Dunn said in a statement. "But I am proud of our efforts and what we have accomplished over the past eight years.''

At a news conference Monday night, athletic director Tim Curley said Dunn was not asked to resign and that a national search would begin immediately for a successor.

"We need to be consistently competitive and we need to be contenders each year for the NCAA tournament. That's our immediate goal,'' Curley said.

Mild-mannered off the court, Dunn often clashed with his players. Gyasi Cline-Heard considered transferring after his junior year, and Jon Crispin, a starter on the 2001 team, transferred to UCLA after his sophomore season.

Dunn became Penn State's first black head basketball coach when he replaced Bruce Parkhill in 1995.

Dunn's stay was much like Penn State's basketball history -- a rare outstanding year, a couple of bleak seasons and a lot of mediocrity.

In 2000-01, the Nittany Lions reached the NCAA regional semifinals, beating Providence in the first round, then stunning No. 2-seeded North Carolina. It was the first time since 1954 that Penn State had won two games in the NCAA tournament.

But if 2001 represented the best of Penn State basketball, the following two years might have been the worst. The Nittany Lions lost their home opener to Yale on the way to a 7-21 record (2-14 in the Big Ten) in 2001-02 -- their worst showing since 1992-93. They lost seven games by 20 points or more.

Penn State lost its first six nonconference games this season, including two to Ivy League teams. The Nittany Lions' 0-10 start in Big Ten play was the worst since Penn State joined the league in 1992, and their 2-14 conference record tied the 1992-93 season as the worst since joining the Big Ten.

Despite the struggles, Dunn insisted after the team's final game that he wanted to stay at Penn State. He met individually with players Monday to tell them of his decision.

"I was kind of surprised he resigned,'' forward Ndu Egekeze said. "I sure wasn't expecting it.''

Dunn came to Penn State in 1983 as an assistant to Parkhill. Before that, Dunn was an assistant at George Mason.