As questions about Steve Prohm’s job status abound, Murray State is going into silent mode.

Prohm, the Racers’ first-year head basketball coach, has been connected to the vacancy at Mississippi State. The Parker Executive Search firm contacted him last week on behalf of MSU, which is trying to replace the retired Rick Stansbury.

Prohm has not responded to messages from the Journal, but Murray State athletics director Allen Ward has told media in Paducah, Ky., that he feels confident about retaining Prohm.

When reached by the Journal via email on Tuesday, Ward said, “At this time, I’m not making any further comment as to coach Prohm and his contact with MSU. I hope to have a statement in the coming days.”

After five seasons as a Murray State assistant, the 37-year-old Prohm took over as head coach this past season, leading the team to the Ohio Valley Conference title and a 31-2 record. The Racers lost to Marquette in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

Murray State is currently working on a new contract for Prohm, whose current deal runs until 2015. He has a base salary of $195,000, according to the Paducah Sun.

Football additions

Mississippi State has added two members to its football staff, the school announced Wednesday.

Niel Stopczynski has been hired as assistant recruiting coordinator, while Brett Elliott joins as an offensive graduate assistant.

Stopczynski replaces Mark Ouimet, who left in October after 18 months on the job. Stopczynski previously worked in various roles at Northwestern and at Ball State, his alma mater.

Elliott replaces Eric Stuedemann, who left in February to become quarterbacks coach at UT Martin. Elliott played for MSU head coach Dan Mullen for one season at Utah, where Mullen was quarterbacks coach, before transferring to Linfield College.

Following his playing career, Elliott remained at Linfield for four years as QBs coach.

brad.locke@journalinc.com