Pacific-12 RUMORS & NEWS

Saturday Down South "Connor Vanover is coming home. The 7-foot-3 Little Rock native played only one season for Cal before deciding to leave the program via transfer and announced on Wednesday he plans to continue his athletic career at Arkansas to play in Eric Musselman’s program. Due to..." May 15

Arizona Daily Star "Already with a highly regarded recruiting class boosting expectations next season, Arizona improved its long-term future Tuesday when former Kentucky guard Jemarl (‘juh-MALL’) Baker Jr. announced he would transfer to UA. A 6-foot-4-inch combo guard from Menifee,..." May 15

San Jose Mercury News "The malaise afflicting the Pac-12’s major sports cannot be traced exclusively to missteps and miscalculations at the conference office. USC and UCLA are dragging everyone into their shared morass of losing on the field, underperforming on the court, mid-season coaching..." May 14

Larry Brown Sports "Sean Miller has miraculously been able to survive his involvement in the college basketball corruption scandal, but he may not be able to keep his job with Arizona for too much longer. Tim Montemayor, a host at 1580 The Fanatic in Arizona, reported on Thursday about Miller’s..." May 10

Bucky's 5th Quarter "The Kentucky Wildcats are still in the hunt for Jalen Johnson. The five-star small forward announced his final four on Saturday, and it includes Kentucky. Also making the cut were the Duke Blue Devils, Arizona Wildcats and Wisconsin Badgers. Though four schools..." May 05

ESPN "The NCAA has launched an investigation into the Arizona men's basketball program, a university spokesman confirmed to the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson on Friday night. In response to an open records request, Arizona officials would not release the school's communication with..." May 04

The Big Lead "Sean Miller is in deep trouble. For the third straight day, a central figure in the college basketball corruption trial took the stand and accused Miller of paying players at Arizona. It became even more clear on Thursday that he won’t survive this scandal. On Thursday,..." May 03

SB Nation "At this point, it almost doesn’t matter whether or not Deandre Ayton received a payment from Arizona or another affiliated party during his recruitment. As the second trial in the FBI’s college basketball corruption case continues in Manhattan, Ayton’s name has become..." May 02

ESPN "Federal prosecutors on Wednesday played a recording to the jury of a phone call in which former Arizona assistant Emanuel "Book" Richardson told aspiring agent Christian Dawkins that Wildcats coach Sean Miller was paying star center Deandre Ayton $10,000 per month..." May 01

Larry Brown Sports "UCLA tried hard to bring in as big of a coaching name as possible to replace Steve Alford, even doing what they could to dangle mega money in front of top candidates. In fact, one report says they offered to double the salary for Jay Wright to get him to leave Villanova, but that didn’t..." April 30

Yahoo! Sports "In 2017, Emanuel “Book” Richardson was having a conversation with his friend, Christian Dawkins, where Dawkins basically called Richardson an idiot. Richardson was making nearly $250,000 a year as an assistant coach for the University of Arizona basketball team, yet he was..." April 30

ESPN "Jurors in a federal criminal trial involving college basketball corruption on Monday heard a wiretap recording of a telephone call between defendant Christian Dawkins and business partner Munish Sood, in which Dawkins alleged that Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller "fronted" a deal..." April 29

CBS Sports "Clandestine video played in federal court on Wednesday showed convicted felon Christian Dawkins -- in a discussion with FBI agents -- sharing his belief that Arizona coach Sean Miller cheated while recruiting players. "And the the thing with [former Arizona assistant] Book..." April 24

Arizona Sports "Arizona basketball will benefit next season from the talents of grad transfer guard Max Hazzard, who will come over from UC Irvine, Stadium’s Jeff Goodman reported Tuesday. Hazzard will be eligible to play, 247Sports reported, adding that the Los Angeles native..." April 23

Pro Basketball Talk "Kevin Porter Jr. missed more than a quarter of his freshman season at USC due to injury. He missed another couple games due to suspension. When he played, he usually came off the bench. He’s only 18. But Porter has already shown enough to impress NBA..." April 18

CBS Sports "Bobby Hurley appears to be staying at Arizona State after reports in recent days linked the Sun Devils coach to the St. John's head coaching gig following Chris Mullin's decision to step down. Hurley announced in a statement on Thursday night that he is in talks for a long-term contract..." April 13

SI "USC's Kevin Porter Jr., will declared for the 2019 NBA draft and hire an agent, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony. The shooting guard from Seattle, Wash., averaged 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 47.1% shooting from the field during his freshman..." April 12

The Big Lead "Mick Cronin agreed to become the next basketball coach at UCLA on Tuesday, 100 days after the Bruins fired Steve Alford from the position. In the interim, UCLA stumbled and embarrassed itself repeatedly in its search for a head to its once-proud program. First off,..." April 11

Hoops Rumors "Stanford sophomore forward and potential lottery pick KZ Okpala has declared for the 2019 NBA draft, per Evan Daniels of 247Sports. Per new rules, he is permitted to sign with an NBA certified agent and still return to school if he withdraws his name by May..." April 11

Yahoo! Sports "The UCLA basketball coaching search is reportedly moving to the next name on its list. Again. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes has decided to stay with the Volunteers after negotiating a significant raise, Chris Low of ESPN reports.

April 09

Sporting News "Texas Tech has no intention of losing basketball coach Chris Beard. The 46-year-old led Tech to its first national championship appearance this year and has gotten the team to the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons during his first three years with the program. With..." April 09

Bleacher Report "UCLA will hope to get its basketball program back on track with the hiringof Mick Cronin as the team's newest head coach.  According to ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello, Cronin's deal is worth $24 million over six years.  TCU coach Jamie..." April 09

USA Today "Rick Barnes netted his second national coach of the year award on Sunday. And later Sunday, the fourth-year Tennessee coach was reported as a "serious candidate" for the UCLA job, according to 247Sports' Evan Daniels. The Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch..." April 08

Larry Brown Sports "Talks surrounding the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball job continuing to heat up, though one coach is distancing himself from the position. On Sunday night, 247 Sports’ Evan Daniels reported that Tennessee’s Rick Barnes was a serious candidate for the position...." April 08

WVLT "On the same day that Tennessee's Rick Barnes was named the Naismith national coach of the year, rumors are swirling about his future on Rocky Top. According to ESPN's Chris Low, UCLA has offered Barnes $5 million a year for an unknown number of years, while Tennessee has..." April 08

Seattle Times "Klay Thompson’s No. 1 is still the most popular jersey in Pullman these days, even though it’s been eight years since he played for Washington State. Athletic director Pat Chun announced that WSU will be retiring Thompson’s number, hinting the Golden State All-Star..." April 07

Larry Brown Sports "UCLA may be changing directions in their coaching search due to Jamie Dixon’s significant buyout. Dixon was believed to be the coach UCLA was targeting to fill their vacancy. However, his $8 million buyout was always a hurdle, and it may be too much for the Bruins’..." April 06

USA Today "There was a time not very long ago in UCLA basketball history that a coach who had been to three Final Fours was run out of town. It wasn’t so much that Ben Howland hadn’t done the job well — seven NCAA tournament appearances in 10 years and seven first-round NBA draft..." April 04

Los Angeles Times "UCLA officials have narrowed their focus on Texas Christian’s Jamie Dixon and Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin in the search to fill their basketball coaching vacancy after striking out with a slew of top targets, the Los Angeles Times has learned. Dixon..." April 03

Larry Brown Sports "Jamie Dixon appears to be high on UCLA’s list of potential men’s head basketball coaches, but there may be a big financial obstacle standing in the way of them hiring him away from TCU. Reports on Tuesday indicated that Dixon is nearing a deal with UCLA, but he has a..." April 03

Bleacher Report "Kentucky has reportedly offered head coach John Calipari the equivalent of a lifetime contract in response to UCLA's offer of a six-year, $48 million deal, according to Seth Davis of The Athletic. " April 01

Larry Brown Sports "The chatter surrounding UCLA’s search for a new head basketball coach has been oddly quiet, though we now know of at least one candidate to interview for the job. Former Bruin Earl Watson interviewed for the job, according to ESPN’s Jordan Schultz. Schultz says that Watson..." March 31

Larry Brown Sports "Cal appears to have a new candidate for the head basketball coaching job. According to CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish, the Golden Bears are looking at Mark Fox as a candidate. Former Nevada and Georgia..." March 29

The Score "California is currently negotiating a deal with Mark Fox to become its next head coach, sources told ESPN's Jeff Borzello. More to come. " March 29

Los Angeles Times "UCLA’s new basketball coach will have to find a new leading scorer. Sophomore forward Kris Wilkes announced Wednesday that he was hiring an agent and declaring for the NBA draft, ending the college career of a prolific scorer on teams that largely struggled to fulfill their..." March 28

The Spokesman Review "Washington State and San Francisco’s Kyle Smith are finalizing a deal that would make Smith the Cougars’ next men’s basketball coach, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported Tuesday. According to a Spokesman-Review source, the Cougars aren’t prepared to announce a..." March 27

Larry Brown Sports "Shareef O’Neal underwent successful heart surgery back in December, and doctors have officially cleared the UCLA freshman to resume basketball activity just over three months later. O’Neal shared the good news on social media Tuesday and thanked everyone for their support..." March 26

Larry Brown Sports "Jason Kidd left school early to go pro when he was playing for Cal in the 1990s, and that may end up ruining his chances of coaching there for the moment. According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium, Kidd has a way to go before securing his degree, making him less likely to be able to land..." March 25

USA Today "I’m not sure what was worse, that UC Irvine coach Russell Turner thought it was OK to be homophobic or degrade women in taunting an opposing player, or that he thought it was funny. It wasn’t either of those things.   Turner lingered with Oregon’s..." March 25

SI "Cal has fired head men's basketball coach Wyking Jones, the school's athletic director Jim Knowlton announced Sunday. The news was first reported by The Oregonian's John Canzano. It comes after the school had told Jones earlier this week..." March 24

USA Today " An accident is partly responsible for the 12th-seeded Oregon Ducks riding an eight-game winning streak into its matchup against the fifth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It might look like an act of genius that Oregon coach Dana..." March 22

Larry Brown Sports "John Calipari took to social media to seemingly respond to a report linking him with the UCLA head coaching job. A report surfaced on Wednesday that Calipari was showing interest in coaching the UCLA Bruins. Later that day, the Kentucky Wildcats coach took to his Twitter account to..." March 21