Anderson not interested in UT

Mike Anderson helped trim Tennessee’s list of possible men’s basketball coaches when he pulled his name out of the race.

The Alabama-Birmingham coach interviewed for the UT vacancy on Thursday and decided to stay the course with UAB two days later.

"I’m excited about what we have going here at UAB and what we’ve accomplished," he said in a statement. "I’m looking forward to being the head coach at UAB and continuing the success we’ve experienced the last three years."

Anderson has led the Blazers to a 65-35 record and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 finish a year ago.

Bruce Pearl of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dana Altman of Creighton, and Bobby Lutz of Charlotte also have been interviewed by UT athletic director Mike Hamilton.

So where does Hamilton go from here to find a replacement for Buzz Peterson?

Presumably, a pecking order has been determined. This is when deals are struck or shattered.

Tennessee’s search reaches a critical stage for Hamilton.

He has to find "his guy," the right guy to turn around a program floundering in recent apathy after a 61-59 record the past four years.

Champ Search of Los Angeles was paid $25,000 to compile a list of candidates, test the waters and do some background checks.

Cedric Dempsey, former NCAA President and head of Champ Search, has said repeatedly his firm compiled a strong list of candidates.

That’s coming from the man who hired Lute Olson to coach at Arizona back in 1983.

It’s time for the negotiations to begin.

Pearl has a track record of success at various levels and the personality of a showman.

Possible pitfall: Pearl admits he likes to set up roots.

He was a longtime Iowa assistant for Dr. Tom Davis and spent nine seasons at Southern Indiana, turning that school into a Division II power with a 1995 national championship.

Pearl is 86-38 in four years at UWM, reaching the Sweet 16 this season with victories against Alabama and Boston College, his alma mater.

"It was hard for me to leave Evansville and it would be hard for me to leave here," Pearl has told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I am not a nomad."

Pearl, endorsed by former Tennessee star Ernie Grunfeld, has four children and his oldest son is a junior in a Milwaukee high school.

Altman has built and sustained a winning program at Creighton, turning the Bluejays into NCAA tournament regulars.

Possible pitfall: He is obviously set up in Omaha. Like Pearl, he’s not a "nomad."

Altman has been at Creighton since 1994, compiling a 218-111 record, and spent four years prior to that at Kansas State.

Lutz has won and won often at Charlotte, a school in the heartland of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Possible pitfall: Lutz was one of the first names mentioned as a possible Peterson replacement, but talk seems to have shifted to Pearl and Altman.

An announcement could come early this week if Hamilton finds "his man" and his man is ready to rebuild consistency at Tennessee.

Mark Burgess covers Tennessee men’s basketball. He may be reached at 865-342-6277.