UCLA basketball coach Steve Alford signs one-year extension

UCLA head coach Steve Alford signed a one-year contract extension that will tie him to the schooll through the 2020-21 season. (Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)

It took a dismal 15-17 season for Steve Alford to give his one-year contract extension back and a third trip to the Sweet 16 for the UCLA men’s basketball head coach to earn it back.

UCLA announced that it signed a one-year extension with Alford on Friday, linking the fifth-year head coach to the school through the 2020-21 season.

Alford led the Bruins to a 31-5 overall record last year and his third Sweet 16 run in four years in Westwood.

“Steve did an outstanding job, helping to produce one of the nation’s most exciting offensive teams in recent memory,” athletic director Dan Guerrero said in a statement. “There was a significant buzz about UCLA basketball around town and among the sellout crowds in Pauley Pavilion. As such, he certainly earned back the one-year extension that he had voluntarily returned prior to the season. We are looking forward to seeing what 2017-18 brings.”

UCLA hasn’t advanced to the Elite Eight since 2008 and Alford has yet to capture a regular-season conference title entering his fifth season after a Pac-12 tournament championship in 2014, his first year.

More on Alford’s extension