ESPN Men's Basketball

Oklahoma and Jeff Capel seem destined to complete a new deal sooner rather than later.

Oklahoma President David L. Boren and Capel each issued statements on Friday confirming that work is underway on the third-year coaches' contract.

The proposed deal, which will eventually be submitted to the university's Board of Regents for approval, comes on the heels of recent speculation regarding Capel heading to other schools.

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Joe Murphy/Getty ImagesOklahoma coach Jeff Capel led his Sooners to a 30-6 overall record this season.

"We're very pleased and proud of the leadership Coach Capel has provided to our basketball program and the significant improvements that he and our team have made," Boren said. "We intend to provide a reasonable raise for Coach Capel next year based on his performance and the compensation of his peer group. The final action on this matter will of course be made by the OU Board of Regents."

In the days before Oklahoma's regional final loss to North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, Capel told ESPN.com that he had no interest in the vacant Virginia job, which was eventually given to former Washington State coach Tony Bennett.

"Our program has made tremendous strides the last couple of years and I continue to be excited about the direction it's heading," Capel said in his statement Friday. "I appreciate the relationship I have with President Boren and Joe Castiglione, and we've had very good discussions about my agreement at the University of Oklahoma. I look forward to completing that process and my plan certainly is to remain at OU."

Capel began his coaching career as an assistant at Old Dominion University in 2000 before moving to VCU as an assistant and eventually taking the head job, becoming the youngest NCAA Division I head coach in 2002.

His Sooners posted a 30-6 mark in 2008-09, finishing second in the Big 12 behind Kansas with a 13-3 conferece record.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz contributed to this report.