Steve Alford to Indiana is a very real possibility

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Indiana fired its coach today and UCLA’s Steve Alford is a natural candidate to return to his alma mater

The way Steve Alford fondly – and consistently – references his home state, it seems impossible for him to have no interest in coaching Indiana.

The Hoosiers are in need of a new coach after Tom Crean was fired earlier today, creating an opening at the UCLA head coach’s alma mater. Alford’s stock is peaking after a 29-4 season at the most high profile program in a coaching career with stops at Southwest Missouri State, Iowa and New Mexico before UCLA. Perhaps the only job he’d leave for is Indiana, where he was the leading scorer on the 1978 national champions.

“Obviously, that was 30 years ago,” Alford said. “I was a part of that. I stood on a stage with a great group of guys and won a national championship. It’s my home state. I played there. So obviously all that comes up, but I love UCLA. I love Los Angeles. You’re talking about arguably the greatest brand anywhere on that planet and we got things going at a very high level right now.”

Alford’s large buyout complicates things for both sides, but there is certainly a chance there will be a strong desire on each end to cut through that and make a deal.

There are plenty of reasons why the timing could be perfect for Alford to justify leaving UCLA after four seasons. His son Bryce is a senior. Lonzo Ball is sure to leave for the NBA and leading scorer TJ Leaf is a good bet to declare for the draft after one season too. Even less heralded freshman Ike Anigbogu might leave for the NBA considering his rising stock. Junior 7-foot center Thomas Welsh’s departure isn’t out of the question either. In other words, it’s possible that the entire UCLA starting lineup is on its way out.

There are also plenty of reasons to stay, five to be exact.

Alford signed the consensus No. 2 recruiting class in the country for 2017.

His current UCLA team is too talented for Alford not to focus on what could be a deep run in the NCAA tournament, but there is a real possibility he could be the Indiana coach shortly after UCLA’s season is over. He was asked if he would at least take a call about the job.

“That’s really going to be my comment about that situation,” Alford said. “I don’t want that to be about what this is about. This is about us. This is about what this group of guys are doing and that’s what my focus is.”