College basketball notebook: Johnson out as Alabama coach

Alabama and basketball coach Avery Johnson parted ways Sunday, just three days after the Crimson Tide suffered an opening-round defeat on their home court in the NIT.

The two sides had spent the past few days negotiating a buyout of Johnson's contract, though no terms were announced on Sunday. Alabama will begin the search for its next coach immediately, according to the news release. Assistant coach John Pelphrey will serve as head coach in the interim.

The SEC now has three openings for a head basketball coach: Alabama, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. The top-seeded Crimson Tide were stunned 80-79 in overtime at home by Norfolk State on Wednesday night.

Johnson, who turns 54 on Monday, became Alabama's coach in 2015, but the Crimson Tide have made just one NCAA Tournament in his four seasons at the helm. Johnson went 75-62 with a 34-38 conference record in Tuscaloosa.

--California fired basketball coach Wyking Jones after two seasons and a 16-47 record.

Cal finished the season 8-23 overall and 3-15 in the Pac-12. In Jones' first season (2017-18), the Golden Bears were 8-24 overall and 2-16 in conference. Cal hired Jones, an assistant for two seasons, in March 2017 to replace Cuonzo Martin, who won 62 games in three seasons before leaving for Missouri.

Already, speculation has focused on some high-profile candidates, including Cal alum Jason Kidd, Nevada coach Eric Musselman and Russell Turner, whose UC Irvine team beat Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, according to John Canzano of The Oregonian.

--Tulane will name Georgia State's Ron Hunter as the Green Wave's new men's basketball coach, Hunter confirmed to ESPN.

Hunter, 54, replaces Mike Dunleavy Sr., who was fired earlier this month after three seasons and a 24-69 record -- including 4-27 in 2018-19. Tulane has not been to the NCAA Tournament since the 1994-95 season and has not posted a winning record since 2012-13.

As the head coach at Georgia State since 2011, Hunter has led the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament three times. Georgia State won three Sun Belt Conference regular-season championships and three tournament championships under his direction.

--Field Level Media