Reports have indicated that UCLA basketball has now seen the end of the Steve Alford era as he has apparently been relieved of his duties.
A new dawn of UCLA basketball is here. Steve Alford, the Bruins’ coach for the last five and a half seasons, has been terminated as the head of the program.
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Seth Davis of CBS Sports has reported the news via Twitter. An official announcement is expected tomorrow.
BREAKING: UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero has decided to terminate Steve Alford as basketball coach, @TheAthleticCBB has learned. Official announcement expected tomorrow. No indication yet who will serve as interim coach for remainder of the season.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) December 31, 2018
With the Bruins losing to Liberty on Saturday, supporters of UCLA basketball had enough of Alford’s inability to claim victories in winnable games and keep the Bruins relevant as one of the elite programs in the country. In response, the UCLA Athletic Department finally made the long-awaited decision to terminate Alford’s contract.
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UCLA is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, a three-game double-digit losing streak, and a two-game home losing streak. Losses to Belmont, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and Liberty prompted the removal. This is in addition to Alford’s inability to get the Bruins past the Sweet Sixteen and claim more than one Pac-12 regular season or tournament championship.
Alford finishes his tenure at UCLA with a record of 124-63 (.663), which is only the seventh best outcome by the nine coaches since John Wooden was in charge.
With Alford gone, it is expected that either assistant Tyus Edney or Murray Bartow will be made interim head coach until a proper replacement can be found (which might not happen until the end of the season).
For now, fans can rejoice in the fact that a coach that should have never been hired at UCLA has now been exiled from the program. Stay with Go Joe Bruin as we will keep you updated with this on-going information.