Ventura’s Mathews Seeking Basketball Job at UC Irvine

Phil Mathews, the Ventura College basketball coach for the past six seasons, said Wednesday that he will interview for the head coaching job at UC Irvine.

Mathews graduated from Irvine in 1972 and was an assistant coach there from 1972-77. He will interview at Irvine on Saturday and said he believes that there are at least six candidates.

The position opened up when Irvine’s coach of 11 seasons, Bill Mulligan, announced his retirement last month.

Mathews said he is not eager to leave Ventura but was drawn to the position because of his strong ties to Irvine.

“I’ve played there, I’ve coached there and graduated there, so obviously I have some loyalty there,” Mathews said. “I’m happy here. We’ve got a real nice program here. We win; kids graduate.”

Mathews’ 1990-91 team finished 30-5 and was undefeated in Western State Conference play for the first time in his tenure at the school. Mathews has a 153-43 record at Ventura and his team won the state title in 1987.

Kelvin Sampson, who is in the process of renegotiating his contract at Washington State, already has met with an Irvine official, according to Jim Livengood, Washington State athletic director. Villanova assistant John Olive said he has met with an Irvine official, and Ernie Carr, a UC Irvine assistant, said that he will interview for the position today.