Steve Alford has agreed to become the coach of the UCLA Bruins, the school announced Saturday. The decision ends a weeklong search to replace Ben Howland; a search that was uncharastically difficult considering the caliber of the school. Read more after the jump.
Alford took the job after coaching for six seasons at New Mexico, where he averaged more than 25 victories a season and reached three NCAA tournaments. The 48-year-old previously coached Iowa for eight seasons and Missouri State for four, reaching three more NCAA tournaments.
The problem is that according to ESPN’s sports business reporter Darren Rovell, Alford had agreed to a 10-year, $20 million deal with New Mexico just ten days ago. This makes things difficult for his players that committed to the school on the basis that he would remain the coach. Alford’s buyout was just $150,000 and would have raised to $1 million had he remained until Monday. Alford’s current New Mexico team was his best, spending much of the season in the top 15 of the rankings and winning 29 games, including the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships. The season ended with disappointment when the Lobos were upset by Harvard in the NCAA tournament.
UCLA had it’s own issues finding a new coach after a widely regarded undue firing of Ben Howland. He was fired after taking the Bruins to three Final Fours in ten years, but took an early exit this year to Minnesota without UCLA’s star player Jordan Adams who suffered an ankle injury.
UCLA, considered by most one of the top five college basketball jobs in the country, found at least two of its initial candidates – VCU’s Shaka Smart and Butler’s Brad Stevens – uninterested in the job. Those decisions surprised many Bruins fans, who still see the program as a desirable spot. Coaches, however, point to the school’s relatively modest commitment to budgets, the challenge of managing the many off-court and recruiting distractions of Los Angeles and the fact that schools of all sizes are now paying extremely well – especially in comparison to the cost of living on L.A.’s west side.
