Reynolds’ status still remains under review

Long Beach State’s appearance in the NCAA tournament will not have any bearing on whether Coach Larry Reynolds gets a contract extension, 49ers Athletic Director Vic Cegles said Tuesday.

“As I have said from day one, we are going to evaluate the entire program at the end of the season,” Cegles said. “That hasn’t changed.”

Reynolds is in the final year of a five-year contract. The 49ers were 11-43 in his first two seasons but have gone 42-19 the last two seasons.

His team is the subject of an ongoing NCAA investigation that resulted in three-game suspensions for players Kejuan Johnson and Mark Dawson and an indefinite suspension for assistant coach Reggie Howard, who still has not returned to the team.

“Everything needs to be evaluated,” said Cegles, in his first year as athletic director.

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Long Beach State and Tennessee, the 49ers’ first-round opponent Friday, have never met in a basketball game, but Reynolds and Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl have.

Reynolds was an assistant for UC Riverside and Pearl was coaching Southern Indiana when the teams met for the Division II national title in 1995. Southern Indiana won, 71-63.

John Masi, head coach of that UC Riverside team, is now an assistant under Reynolds.

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Pearl, in his second season at Tennessee, is approaching Friday’s game with caution because of his experience as an underdog.

In 2005, he coached No. 12-seeded Wisconsin Milwaukee to upset victories over No. 5 Alabama and No. 4 Boston College.

This time, Long Beach is seeded No. 12 and Tennessee is No. 5.

“Long Beach State reminds me of my old Wisconsin Milwaukee teams,” Pearl said. “Undersized, very athletic, great one-on-one players -- and seven seniors. It’s a dangerous matchup.”

In each of the last six NCAA tournaments a team seeded No. 12 has upset a No. 5.

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peter.yoon@latimes.com