Brown May Still Be in the UCLA Picture

Athletic Director Peter Dalis met Saturday with Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick, a former UCLA assistant coach, about becoming the head basketball coach at UCLA, but neither Dalis nor Harrick wanted to comment beyond saying that the meeting went well. Dalis said he intends to talk to two or three other coaches before making another offer.

After the shock he suffered Friday when his offer to Kansas Coach Larry Brown was turned down without warning, it’s no wonder Dalis is proceeding with caution.

Gene Bartow, who was 52-9 in his two years as the UCLA head coach before moving to Alabama Birmingham, is reportedly interested in the job.

Paul Westhead of Loyola Marymount continues to be mentioned as an obvious candidate, but UCLA has not yet contacted Loyola Marymount for permission to talk with Westhead.

Believe it or not, Brown--the same Larry Brown, who stunned absolutely everyone by turning down a “too generous” offer from UCLA--just might resurface on the list of candidates.

Calls were going back and forth Saturday between friends of Brown in Kansas and New York, and friends of Brown at UCLA, just as they were a week ago when the groundwork was being laid for the offer by UCLA.

It is thought by many that Brown made a quick decision and might want to reconsider.

Asked what UCLA’s position would be if that came to pass, Dalis said: “That’s conjecture. I don’t think I should comment on conjecture. Larry Brown has not contacted me, not even to tell me that he was staying at Kansas.”

It would take a phenomenal commitment to Larry Brown and a very understanding and forgiving nature on the part of UCLA officials to be willing to reopen the door to him again after the way he slammed it Friday, but there were people at UCLA who thought getting Brown might be worth the renewed effort.

Given a day to cool off, some of the same front-office folks who were ready to write him off forever after he rejected their offer Friday afternoon were softening a little on Saturday.

All just talk, nothing official.

Some of the factors being mentioned on the side of reconsideration:

--The man was exhausted after the pace he had kept up since winning the national title Monday night. He was up all night that night. He met with UCLA Chancellor Charles Young Thursday night in a meeting that went until 1:30 Friday morning, and then he was on a private jet at 7 a.m. His appearance at the Friday press conference in Lawrence, Kan., confirms that he was frazzled.

--He was under a lot of pressure, not just from UCLA and Kansas but from friends offering advice from all sides.

--Also, if he’s a little unpredictable, genius does have its privileges, some say.

--The bottom line is that he can coach and he wants to be at UCLA. He was still saying that even as he tried to explain why he was staying at Kansas.

Again, that’s just what’s being said as everyone associated with UCLA tries to deal with the trauma resulting from Brown’s actions on Friday. And it is all based on the assumption that Larry Brown really wants to be the UCLA coach.

But as Dalis said, “Who says he’s still interested in the job? He hasn’t told me that.”