UC Irvine’s Ford Moves Quickly to Find Replacement for Mulligan

One of the first moves UC Irvine Athletic Director Tom Ford made to talk with a basketball coach about Irvine’s opening met with a request.

“Wait until after Saturday,” asked the athletic director, who preferred that his coach not talk to Ford until after a big game.

But Ford continues to move quickly in the search to replace Bill Mulligan, who resigned Wednesday with five games remaining in his 11th season.

Ford has named a five-person search committee. Its members are Don May, a junior basketball player; Lyman Porter, a professor in the graduate school of management; Thomas Parham, director of career planning and placement, and director of the counseling center; Richard G. Sim, president of the investment properties group of the Irvine Co., and Ford.

Ford maintains his desire to hire a “name coach,” but acknowledges many such coaches might not be willing to move.

Knowing the unlikelihood of securing such a coach hasn’t stopped Ford from calling before.

“When I was recruiting at Houston, I called (Duke Coach Mike) Krzyzewski, and his team had been named No. 1 the day before. He said, ‘Gosh, your timing is really poor.’

“It’s just like asking for money,” Ford said. “You don’t know until you ask.”

Money could be a stumbling block for Irvine, which faces a budget crisis because of impending cuts in state funds.