Mike D’Antoni: From Lakers to Thundering Herd?

Well, this would be quite a step down.

Mike D’Antoni, the former Knicks mastermind who currently appears to be coaching out the string with the Lakers, has had feeling-out chats with his alma mater, Marshall University, about its coaching vacancy — and there is mutual interest, according to CBSSports.com.

D’Antoni’s stint in Los Angeles — one of the NBA’s true glamour coaching jobs — has soured as the 24-47 Lakers have nosedived in the Western Conference standings and injured superstar Kobe Bryant has delivered a series of extremely lukewarm appraisals of the offensive guru’s future with the club.

The latest: In response to a question on Dan Patrick’s radio show about whether D’Antoni had earned another year on the job, Bryant said, “I don’t know. It’s been tough on him. The two years that he’s been here, he’s been dealing with so many injuries left and right. He hasn’t really gotten a fair deal, fair shake at it since he’s been here.”

And the specter of Phil Jackson looms over D’Antoni in Hollywood. The Lakers hired D’Antoni early in the 2012-13 season when Jackson, hired earlier this month as president of the Knicks, was interested in returning to the bench where he won five rings.

“I didn’t really understand it much either,” Bryant said.

D’Antoni compiled a 121-167 record in three and a half seasons with the Knicks, pushed out in March 2012 after the buzz of Linsanity wore off.

D’Antoni played at Marshall in his home state of West Virginia from 1970 to 1973. The Thundering Herd have not made the NCAA Tournament since 1987, and are coming off a season in which they went 11-22 with a 4-12 mark in Conference USA under Tom Herrion, dispatched earlier this month.

The CBS report said Marshall has backers willing to put together the money to lure D’Antoni, who has never coached in the college ranks.