With rumors swirling that Oklahoma City may be interested in hiring Kevin Ollie as head coach (even though the Thunder still have a head coach, Scott Brooks), Ollie decided to defuse them on Wednesday morning.

"As I have said many times, I am proud and honored to be the head basketball coach at the University of Connecticut and I have no plans to pursue other opportunities," Ollie said in a statement, released by UConn. "We are already excited about next season and I am looking forward to preparing our team to be the best we can be on the court, in the classroom, and in our community."

Still ... reports continue to circulate that OKC wants Ollie as its head man. And that Ollie will listen. A source close to the situation said that Ollie's camp had not had any discussions with the Thunder as of earlier today. Of course, we're still very early in the process.

Thunder GM Sam Presti did visit Storrs in a scouting capacity -- as many NBA GM's do -- early in the season. And he was at UConn's loss at Tulsa on Jan. 13.