UC Irvine Coach Russell Turner a Candidate for the VCU Job

Multiple sources have confirmed that VCU has reached out and interviewed UC Irvine head coach Russell Turner during the Final Four festivities in Indianapolis this weekend. Turner just finished his sixth season as the head coach of the Anteaters.

VCU reportedly offered their coaching vacancy to Rice head coach Mike Rhoades earlier on Monday but the two sides did not come to an agreement. The Rams have also interviewed former assistant and current Chattanooga head coach Will Wade and current VCU assistant Jeremy Ballard.

While Turner has made his hay on the west coast as an assistant for the Golden State Warriors and Stanford, he's a Virginia native and a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College about an hour southwest of Richmond. Turner was offered the George Mason job earlier this year but turned the Patriots down. It was speculated that the key reason Turner turned down the Patriots was due to his wife's job with UCLA's medical school. VCU has one of the best medical schools in the country, just to add to the intrigue a little more.

Turner has gone 90-80 as the head man in Irvine and lead the Anteaters to a Big West title and the NCAA Tournament this year.

Sources still insist that VCU would like to wrap up their coaching search by Wednesday.