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Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes has emerged as a candidate for the UCLA vacancy, sources told ESPN.
It is unclear whether there have been extensive discussions, but both sides have shown interest, sources said. The news of Barnes' candidacy has been reported for the first time by 247Sports.
Barnes has been in Tennessee since 2015 and he has been in Texas for 17 seasons. He led the Volunteers to a share of the SEC title in the regular season last season, and placed them as the No. 1 team in the country for several weeks this season. The Tennessee season is over in Sweet 16 with a defeat against Purdue.
Barnes was named the Naismith 2019 year coach on Sunday.
UCLA fired Steve Alford on New Year's Eve and has been looking for a replacement for three months. They targeted Tony Bennett of Virginia, but sources told ESPN that he was postponing any discussion until later. The Cavaliers will face Texas Tech in the national championship game on Monday night.
UCLA had discussions with John Calipari of Kentucky, but signed a lifetime contract with the Wildcats. They also began talks with TCU's Jamie Dixon, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement on Dixon's $ 8 million buyout with the Horned Frogs.
According to reports received on Sunday, Lon Kruger of Oklahoma had an interview with UCLA, but Kruger issued a statement on Sunday night in which he denied any connection to the Bruins.
"I did not interview for the position at UCLA, and I had no contact with anyone," Kruger said.
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