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Bruin Report Online States Big Money UCLA Donors Want Change

By Mike Regalado

Feb 12, 2016; Tucson, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford calls to his players during the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2016; Tucson, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford calls to his players during the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports /
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The UCLA Scout site Bruin Report Online has proclaimed that big money donors are requesting a coaching change with the basketball program.

Things are getting a little more heated with the UCLA Basketball program. A day after UCLA got run out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament by USC by the score of 95-71, fans and donors have turned up the volume on their displeasure with UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford.

RELATED: UCLA Is Embarrassed By USC In The Pac-12 Tournament

Last week, a UCLA fan started an online petition directed at UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero calling for a change with Alford.

Guerrero responded to that in an email, mostly agreeing with the main points of the petition, but the end message made it seem as though Alford would be retained.

All of that seems to be put on hold at the moment as there is apparently movement behind the scenes. As BRO reported earlier today, there is a large group of big money donors that are very unhappy.

In the article, UCLA Donors Calling For Change, Bruin Report Online author Tracey Pierson states that there is a large number of donors that are threatening to stop supporting UCLA Basketball if Alford is not terminated.

"Some prominent people related to the basketball program and the UCLA athletic department are trying to personally raise money to go toward the buyout, according to sources."

Alford’s contract has a $10 million buyout, which lessens every year, but would not decrease (for the first time) until after the 2016-17 season.

This is definitely a shift in the recent information regarding Alford and his future with UCLA. Though it has been speculated that Alford would get at least one extra year, specifically because he has wrangled a Top 10 recruiting class, fans and donors are speaking loud enough to get the attention of the athletic department to act now.

Pierson adds that there is a rumor that the donors will have a conference call with Guerrero about the situation with Alford, which by pure speculation only, will determine the final outcome with the current UCLA coach and his time in Westwood.

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So is this the last we see of Steve Alford? That is unknown, but if the donors get their way, it just might be

Go Bruins!