Apparently a 15-point loss at home was the last straw for UCLA and head basketball coach Steve Alford.
According to multiple reports and first broken by The Athletic’s Seth Davis, . An official announcement is expected Monday, according to Davis.
There was no report on who would fill in for Alford for the remainder of the season.
According to 247Sports’ Tracy Pierson, Alford and the university spent most of Sunday Per the report, Alford’s contract called for a $2.6 million buyout if he was fired before May 1, 2019. Pierson stated that after Saturday’s loss to Liberty — UCLA’s fourth in a row — “influential donors put pressure on UCLA’s administration to make a change.”
Multiple reports Sunday night stated UCLA has already begun a coaching search, or at the very least started compiling a list of potential candidates.
After starting the season 4-0 and reaching No. 17 in the AP poll, UCLA is 3-6 since and at 7-6 sits only a game better than .500 with Pac-12 play beginning Thursday.
In five-plus seasons in Westwood, the 54-year-old Alford went 124-63, making the NCAA Tournament four times. His best season came in 2016-17, when the Lonzo Ball-led Bruins finished the season 31-5, losing to Kentucky in the Sweet 16 and landing at No. 8 in the final AP rankings.
UCLA also advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of Alford’s first two seasons.
In 24 seasons at Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico and UCLA, Alford is 509-269 and has led his team to the NCAA Tournament 11 times. He was a two-time All-American as a player at Indiana in the mid-1980s.