The UCLA Bruins recently fired head coach Steve Alford and have started to look elsewhere for his replacement. There have been plenty of rumors about who might get the job, including former Chicago Bulls and Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg. Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan was asked about his interest in the position on Wednesday:

Alford was in his sixth season with the school and had gotten off to a disappointing 7-6 start this year before being canned. Overall, Alford went 124-63 with UCLA, leading the Bruins to four NCAA Tournament appearances, three of which resulted in Sweet 16 trips.

UCLA's athletic director Dan Guerrero said in a statement:

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“Throughout my career as an athletic director, I have maintained a belief that making a head coaching change during a season is rarely in the best interests of our student-athletes or program. In this case, however, it is now clear to me that what is best for our current students and for the overall good of the program, is to make this change now. While Steve led us to three Sweet 16 appearances, we simply have not been performing at a consistent level and our struggles up to this point in the season do not bode well for the future. On behalf of UCLA Athletics, I want to thank Steve, Tanya and the entire Alford family for their commitment to UCLA and wish them all of the best in the future.”

Whether or not Donovan will actually be a candidate position is up in the air, but he certainly seemed to shut down any of those rumors with his answer.

The Thunder are 23-13 on the season and currently sit in third place in the NBA's Western Conference. They will face off next against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.