Minus a coach on the plane, but quite possibly with a coach at hand, Arkansas athletics director Frank Broyles returned sooner than expected late Saturday afternoon from his Razorback coaching hunt at the Final Four in Atlanta.

The Razorbacks have been without a head basketball coach since last Monday when it was announced Stan Heath would not be retained after five Arkansas seasons.

A new coach may be hired by Monday or even as soon as today, sources speculate.

Creighton coach Dana Altman and Memphis coach John Calipari are believed to have been under Broyles’ consideration before his return from Atlanta where he had been since speaking last Thursday night at an Alzheimer’s Foundation benefit in New Orleans.

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Kansas coach Bill Self, though he has said publicly he is not leaving Kansas, also has been the subject of Arkansas speculation.

Broyles mentioned none of those or any other coach in a prepared statement he issued upon his return through Kevin Trainor, the Arkansas assistant athletics director / sports information director who accompanied him to Atlanta. Jimmy Dykes, an ESPN sportscaster and former Razorback walkon player and former Razor- back grad assistant, also was on the returning UA school plane from Atlanta.

“ We had a productive trip to Atlanta, ” Broyles said in his statement Saturday night. “ It is clear that many talented and proven head coaches are intrigued by our coaching vacancy. We are continuing along in the process and are hopeful to fill the position soon. ”

Self’s season concluded last week with Big 12 champion Kansas losing to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. Prior to three seasons at Kansas, Self had successful head coaching tenures at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois.

Altman is reported to have dined with Broyles Friday night in Atlanta.

A source disclosed that Calipari, 48, also has been the subject of Arkansas interest. It’s been reported Broyles received permission from Memphis to talk with Calipari and confirmed they did talk in Atlanta.

Broyles doubtless has talked to or at least inquired of other candidates since expressing an offer to Texas A & M coach Billy Gillispie but never hearing from Gillispie other than a call from Texas A & M athletics director Bill Byrne that Gillispie intends to remain with the Aggies.

Broyles moved on to the Final Four and its coaching convention after it became apparent Gillispie would not be in Arkansas’ picture.

Calipari’s Memphis Tigers, 33-4 this season, made it to the Elite Eight after winning Conference USA championship and the Conference USA Tournament. He has a 374-134 overall record as head coach at UMass and Memphis with an NBA coaching stint in between with the New Jersey Nets.

A former Big Eight Coach of the Year during his four years as a young head coach at Kansas State, Altman, 48, has coached the past 13 seasons at Creighton, the same Omaha, Neb., based school from which Arkansas hired Eddie Sutton in 1974 for an 11-year tenure that built Razorback basketball into a statewide pastime before Nolan Richardson took it to national championship heights in 1994 during his 17 Arkansas seasons.

Altman’s overall head coaching record is 343-208. He’s 260-141 at Creighton with his 10 th-seeded Blue Jays losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Nevada.