It seems Chris Lowery has shot down the Cowboys of Oklahoma State.

Various reports say that OSU officials were in Carbondale yesterday to talk to Lowery about their head coaching job.  No word on whether they made an offer.

But their visit only validated the speculation that Lowery was certainly someone the 'Pokes had their eyes on.

Lowery released this statement to ESPN's Andy Katz:

"My name has been linked to numerous job openings in the past several weeks, so I felt it was important for me to make my intentions clear. I fully intend to stay at Southern Illinois and continue to build upon our string of seven-consecutive postseason appearances. We have a great thing going at my alma mater, including the most highly-touted recruiting class in school history coming in next season. I appreciate the commitment the school and Director of Athletics Mario Moccia has made to me with a seven-year contract, and I'm excited about the challenges ahead."

So, at least for another year, Lowery remains in Carbondale.  But unfortunately, I'm guessing we'll go through this same sort of guessing game next off-season.  The price you pay for having a great coach.