Indiana Basketball Coaching Search: Steve Alford firmly denies any interest in the Indiana job

ESPN asked Steve Alford about the Indiana job and this was his response:

"I am absolutely 100 percent not going to Indiana. Staying at UCLA. I am happy. Love it here. Have a great class coming in, and brand-new practice facility. Obviously, I love my alma mater. Committed to UCLA. I am not going to talk to Indiana. I am staying a Bruin."

The preceding quote was posted by Jeff Goodman.

Now, coaching searches involve a lot of cloak-and-dagger, double-speaking nonsense, but this is about as unequivocal of a denial as you'll get from a prospective candidate. We've certainly seen answers of this caliber not be backed up by subsequent actions, but for now it would be hard to make an argument that Alford will be on the sidelines for Indiana next year, despite continued proclamations from the national media since the job came open a little over a week ago.

More on this as it develops.

UPDATE: 1:41 AM

Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com confirmed with Alford's agent that he is not in the running for the Indiana job. This would seem to settle it.

Steve Alford's agent tells https://t.co/21qm56hx7e Alford's statement is a decision, he's out of the mix with IU.https://t.co/TAlCvSb7lF

— Jeff Rabjohns (@JeffRabjohns) March 25, 2017