Nevada hires Steve Alford, former coach of UCLA, and offers him a 10-year contract to succeed Eric Musselman

Former UCLA coach Steve Alford has signed a 10-year contract to become Nevada's next coach, the school announced Thursday.

Alford was shot 13 games in his sixth season in Westwood after the Bruins started with a 7-6 record including a four-game losing streak and home defeats against Belmont and Liberty. He will succeed Eric Musselman, who left Reno last week for take the same position in Arkansas.

Alford is presented Friday afternoon at 11 am ET.

"There is no better coach than Steve Alford to continue the sport of basketball in Nevada and we are excited about the next chapter," Nevada sporting director Doug Knuth said in a statement. release published by the school. "Finding a leader of the caliber of Alford coach demonstrates the support of our community and our university.There is a great tradition of basketball Wolf Pack and the future is even more promising."

Alford has recruited at a high level at UCLA with the top 25 recruiting classes each year and three top 10 classes overall, including the top six in the last two years. But his loss to the Bruins was accelerated by his lack of playoff success. He missed the NCAA tournament once (twice, including his last abbreviated season), but only three times more advanced than the second weekend of the tournament, he never reached the Elite 8.

"Being able to continue my career in a close-knit community that has shown its support for the basketball program is exactly the occasion that Tanya and I were looking for, and we are delighted to be in Northern Nevada," he said. Alford. "I look forward to getting to work as we seek to build on the established tradition and momentum of this great program.I want this to be the last step of my career. coach."

In Nevada, expectations for Alford will be moderate compared to UCLA. Although the Wolf Pack has competed in the NCAA Tournament in each of Musselman's last three seasons and has recorded 29 consecutive winning seasons before his departure, the program is expected to experience an exodus of talent. As a result, Alford could undertake a minor rebuild, although Nevada has recruited at a high enough level to compete at the highest level of MWC.