When Mick Cronin left UC for UCLA last week, John Brannen emerged as a frontrunner to replace him.
But many fans and former players of the Bearcats showed support for Nick Van Exel, a star guard from the Bob Huggins era who is currently an assistant coach for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.
Van Exel expressed interest in the UC job, Kenyon Martin endorsed him and Terry Nelson said Van Exel "got the standard 'thanks for your interest' reply.