Notre Dame Assistant Coach a Top Candidate for Irvine Job

Matt Kilcullen, an assistant at Notre Dame, emerged as one of the leading candidates for the UC Irvine men’s basketball coach job as the application deadline passed Tuesday.

Kilcullen, in his sixth season at Notre Dame, said he has “talked on the phone with them” about the Irvine job.

Asked if he had been interviewed in Irvine, Kilcullen declined to answer, saying such information should come from the school.

Kilcullen, the veteran member of Digger Phelps’ Notre Dame staff, previously was an assistant at Siena (N.Y.) and spent three seasons as head coach at Castleton (Vt.) State College.

Irvine Athletic Director Tom Ford, who has said he will interview “five or six” candidates, has met with Washington State Coach Kelvin Sampson and Villanova assistant John Olive, although it is unclear if those meetings are considered interviews.

Ernie Carr, an Irvine assistant who has been interim head coach at Saddleback College, a UCLA assistant and head coach at Dominguez High School, will be interviewed Thursday.

Among other candidates who have been contacted either by Irvine or its intermediary, Raycom Management Group, is Ken Burmeister, a DePaul assistant and former head coach at Texas San Antonio. In four seasons, his teams at San Antonio compiled a 72-44 record and earned an NCAA tournament berth in 1987-88.