By now, you're surely aware of the ESPN.com report that the Los Angeles Lakers plan to gauge Kevin Ollie's interest in their head coaching job, now that Mike D'Antoni has resigned. It was inevitable -- and, in fact, something that's been rumored for a while now, before D'Antoni left the position. And it will be something we'll be hearing a lot more of, not just in respect to the Lakers but Oklahoma City, the Knicks, maybe even the Celtics at some point.

As I discussed with Paul Nanos this afternoon on 979 ESPN Radio, I don't think Kevin Ollie's going anywhere. At least not yet. Just as Shabazz Napier said following the championship parade a few weeks ago, and Ollie essentially agreed.

For one, the Lakers aren't exactly an ideal landing spot right now. There's the Kobe Bryant drama, and the prospect that the team could be in a rebuilding phase for the next few years. A more likely scenario might be the Thunder, where Kevin Durant is an unabashed fan. But they have a coach, they're in the playoffs, and if they have any semblance of success in the playoffs, they probably won't fire Scott Brooks.

Plus, remember, Ollie could have taken a job with the Thunder after he retired from playing four years ago. Instead, he decided to come home to become Jim Calhoun's assistant (and, for all intents and purposes, UConn's coach-in-waiting). The man values his family life in Glastonbury, where his son, Jalen, is a senior in high school who'll attend prep school next year and his daughter will be beginning high school in a couple of years. Hard to believe he'd want to leave for the Midwest or West Coast ... yet.

From that perspective, the Knicks or Celtics would make a lot more sense. But seems the Knicks are intent on Steve Kerr, and the Celtics aren't about to give up on Brad Stevens ... yet. Check back in a couple of years on that one.

And don't forget, Ollie has preached loyalty from the time he returned to UConn. He's gone out of his way numerous times praising the players -- Napier, Niels Giffey, Tyler Olander, etc. -- who could have bolted the program after the postseason tourney ban was announced but remained loyal to the program. It's hard to believe Ollie would leave so quickly, no matter what kind of money the NBA could throw his way.

And make no mistake, the NBA can throw a lot more money Ollie's way than Warde Manuel ever could. (Through a spokesman, Manuel has said that there is "no update" on any contract extension talks with Ollie to this point). But remember: Ollie would have about as iron-clad grip on a job as any coach in the country would have in college basketball, what with a national title on his resume after just two seasons on the job. It's hard to imagine a scenario where Ollie would or could lose his job at UConn any time soon.

The shelf life for an NBA coach, on the other hand, is a lot shorter. Go through a couple of losing seasons, particularly in New York or L.A., and they'll be calling for your head. What's a more attractive financial future: making, say, $3 million a year for what could be 15, 20, 25 more years, or making $6-7 million a year with the prospect of getting canned lurking at the end of any disappointing season? Sure, Ollie could become the next Gregg Poppovich or Doc Rivers. But for every Poppovich or Rivers, there are dozens of guys who only last a couple years as head coach.

And let's also remember: if Ollie were to leave UConn now, he'd have to pay about a $2.5 million buyout.

Kevin Ollie may well wind up head coach of the Lakers or Thunder or Knicks or Celtics or who knows who else. I just don't see it happening now. Not yet.

UConn isn't slated to leave Bradley Airport until about 7 p.m., meaning it won't land in Cincinnati until about 9 p.m. Usually, Kevin Ollie meets with the traveling UConn media when the team arrives at its hotel, usually just before dinner. But since the Huskies won't be arriving until later tonight, Ollie did a conference call with the beat writers today at 4:30 p.m.

First question, of course: How's DeAndre Daniels?

Ollie said that Daniels is "about 75-percent to play" in Thursday's Top 25 bout with Cincinnati. Daniels had been getting better but has experienced some back spasms lately. His ankle, Ollie said, is "about 85-percent."

Here's what Ollie had to say about Cincinnati:

“Their intensity, how they play every night, whether they score 40 points or 80 points, they have an identity. They try to take out your first, second, third options. I don’t want to get in a game where we’re playing against their set defense. We wanna be able to rebound. At the end of the day, it’s gonna be a grind-out game. We’re not gonna be in fast breaks all night. Cincy’s playing at a high level, we want to go in there and hopefully give them their first (AAC) loss.”

(what makes their defense so tough?)

"They switch a lot of things, take you out of your first, second options. We're gonna have to be disciplined as a team. They’ve got Justin Jackson back there on the back line, he's long, active, aggressive. That tends to lead to a good defensive team. They pressure, but also have length to play in the halfcourt."

(on Jackson)

“He’s found his niche, being that tough person on the back line for them, and using that athleticism on the offensive end. He’s a face-up guy, he’s able to take five-men off the dribble, and he’s been able to take that 10-footer, too. His touch is underrated.”

(on Sean Kilpatrick)

"He's their finisher for them ... When they need a bucket, he’s going to get the ball. Short clock situation, he attacks or shoots the 3. He’s a great player, he needs everyone’s attention. We’re going to do it as a committee. We want to make it hard for him each and every time he touches the ball. Not only the person guarding him, we want Sean Kilpatrick to see four other UConn jerseys staring right at him.”

*** Meanwhile, went over to Cincinnati's practice today at its nice facility at the Lindner Center (next door to Fifth Third Arena. Sort of the same idea as UConn's new basketball facility, although this building houses football and other sports' locker rooms, as well as staff offices, etc.)

Here's some of what Mick Cronin had to say:



Cronin added:

(on whether Napier and Kilpatrick are the two best players in the league)

"Obviously, you have to throw Russ Smith in there. If you throw out statistics, Justin (Jackson) has to be in the mix, as far as being impactful ... (Napier) makes NBA shots. I'm lying in bed with my iPad watching him make Kobe Bryant-type shots. You don't know how he's getting them off, never mind making them. When he gets in a rhythm like that, it's scary."

(on Napier also leading AAC in assists)

"Good coaching, getting the ball in the right guy's hands. They run a million pick-and-rolls for him. You can't give him the same look for 40 minutes. If he gets comfortable against you, you're in trouble, so we're going to be prepared to give him different looks."

(on the AAC)

"We've got a great league this year. You look around college basketball, there's a lot of parity. But we've got five really good teams in this league, and obviously we've got two of them this week (Cincy plays at SMU on Sunday)."

*** Justin Jackson, who leads the AAC in blocked shots:

"They've got great guards ... You've got Napier and (Ryan) Boatright ... Boatright is a younger Napier, that's how I feel. Same type of guard, same type of player, he shoots well, they've both got the same type of quickness."

Sean Kilpatrick on matching up against Napier:



Asked Kilpatrick about the game-winning shot he hit in Storrs two years ago to beat the Huskies:

"I'd say out of my top-five (college memories), that may be No. 2. I'll take the Syracuse game that we had in the Garden as the top one. But that atmosphere, playing in Storrs and being able to hit a big shot like that to help my team win, that was something that was a really inspiring moment for me. I appreciate that shot a lot."