Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino's choice for the Big East's next commissioner is Jay Bilas, saying the ESPN analyst would be a "grand slam" hire.

Pitino, writing on his website, said "who should be the Big East's commissioner" is one of the questions he gets asked the most.

"Well [Big East founder] Dave Gavitt’s vision could be carried out by one man that has come to the necessary way of thinking towards the future," Pitino wrote. "That man is Jay Bilas.

"I would take a portion of the Syracuse and Pittsburgh money [each school paid the Big East $7.5 million to join the ACC in 2013], give him a 5-year contract and pay him 2 million per year. He has charisma, knows T.V., has a legal background, outstanding presence, and a creative thinker. He would be a grand slam."

Bilas is a college basketball analyst for ESPN and also a practicing attorney.

Pitino wrote the Big East's replacement for former commissioner John Marinatto should possess: "a presence that Presidents and Athletic Directors will respect; a strong personality and creative thinker; a television background and a total understanding of the diversity of its constituents and an ability to bring football into the limelight."

Sources told CBSSports.com the number of candidates for the Big East's commissioner has been narrowed to about 10. The league hopes to have a new commissioner hired by Sept. 1, when the league begins renegotiating its media rights deal with ESPN.