Princeton coach Joe Scott hopes to recreate some college basketball magic along the Front Range.

In 2004, Scott led a moribund Air Force program into the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Now he hopes to repeat that success with the University of Denver.

Sources confirmed Scott will be introduced as the Pioneers' new men's basketball coach at a news conference today at the university.

"It's a great opportunity here . . . ," Scott told ESPN.com on Tuesday.

"There's a commitment here. I think it's a good place and a good fit."

Scott went 51-63 in four seasons with Air Force but is best remembered for leading the team to a 22-7 record during the 2003-04 season after the program had only two 10-win seasons since 1990.

A four-year letter-winner for Princeton during the 1980s, Scott served eight seasons as an assistant at his alma mater under coach Pete Carril and his successor, Bill Carmody, before taking the job at Air Force before the 2000-01 season.

He had been the Tigers coach since the 2004-05 season.

Air Force's senior class, which has a program-record 89 victories going into tonight's National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal game against DePaul, was recruited by Scott.

Scott went 15-13 during his first season with Princeton but could not keep the Tigers in NCAA Tournament contention after replacing current Georgetown coach John Thompson III, slipping to 12-15 in his second season and 11-17 this season, including a 2-12 record in the Ivy League.

Scott's Princeton- style attack of back cuts and scrappy defense could provide a spark to a DU program in need of energy.

DU athletic director Peg Bradley-Doppes indicated she wanted to hire someone who had midmajor coaching experience, and Scott's track record of recruiting at such highly regarded academic institutions as Air Force and Princeton fits DU's profile in the Sun Belt Conference.

Scott, the 2004 Mountain West Conference coach of the year, inherits a team that went 4-25 this season, mostly without coach Terry Carroll, who went 79-99 in six seasons. He took a leave of absence in December and never returned. He was fired this month.