NOTEBOOK: ARIZONA ASSISTANT HIRED AS LMU COACH.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Rodney Tention, an assistant at Arizona the past eight years, was hired Tuesday as the men's basketball head coach at Loyola Marymount.

Tention, 41, succeeds Steve Aggers, who was fired last month after five years on the job. The Lions were 11-17 last season and finished eighth in the West Coast Conference with a 3-11 record. They were 55-90 overall and 19-51 in the WCC under Aggers.

``Loyola Marymount has given me the opportunity to pursue the goal I have had since I entered this profession, and that is to become a Division-I head coach,'' Tention said.

--USC hires assistant: USC basketball coach Tim Floyd added former Pepperdine assistant Gib Arnold to his coaching staff, Floyd's first new hire from outside the program.

Arnold spent the past two seasons at College of Southern Idaho.

Floyd retained assistants Jim Saia and Bob Cantu, although their roles are not yet defined and could change.

Saia said he interviewed for the vacant Fresno State job at the Final Four in St. Louis. He is one of five candidates for the position.

USC received a commitment from point guard Colin Robinson of Diamond Bar High. Robinson averaged 25.9 points and made 103 3-pointers for the Brahmas last season.

- Scott Wolf 

--Olson expecting Adams back: Although junior forward Hassan Adams has declared for the NBA Draft, Arizona coach Lute Olson expects to have him back next season.

Not long after Illinois beat the Wildcats 90-89 in overtime in the Chicago Regional final, the 6-foot-4 Adams applied for the draft but did not sign with an agent - leaving himself the option of returning for his final year of eligibility.

--A&M center going pro: Swingman Antoine Wright plans to forgo his senior year at Texas A&M, and he declared for the NBA Draft.

--Augustus given Naismith accolade: LSU's Seimone Augustus won the 2005 Naismith Trophy as Women's College Basketball Player of the Year.

--Former Orangeman dies: Edwin ``Eddie'' Moss, who played point guard for Syracuse from 1977 to 1981, died Saturday in Durham, N.C., after a long battle with cancer. He was 45.

--Big West coach honored: Pacific's Bob Thomason was named as the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to their first ranking in the Associated Press poll.

Thomason led Pacific to a 27-4 record, including an 18-0 mark in the Big West regular season, and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.