Brad Stevens said he won’t be in the running for the upcoming vacant Indiana men’s basketball coaching job.
Stevens, the president of basketball operations for the defending champion Boston Celtics, told Field of 68 on Friday that he is not a candidate to replace coach Mike Woodson, who won’t return to the Hoosiers after this season.
“I thoroughly appreciate being a Celtic and love the people I get to work with every day,” Stevens told the media network.
Stevens, an Indiana native, is well-versed in college basketball in the state of Indiana, having led Butler to back-to-back national championship games in 2010 and 2011 during his six seasons coaching the program.
His success with the Bulldogs led to his surprise hiring as head coach of the Celtics in 2013, a job he had until he transitioned to Boston’s de-facto general manager in 2021.
Though some thought a return to the sideline, in his home state, could be in play, Stevens dispelled that talk Friday.
Last week, Indiana announced that Woodson, 66, would step down at the end of the season. The Hoosiers, 15-11 overall this season after a loss to UCLA on Friday night, are heading toward their second consecutive season without an NCAA tournament appearance.