Cuonzo Martin has agreed in principle to be California’s next head coach according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Martin led the Vols to 24 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance last season. Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart met with the media at 2:30 pm to discuss the men’s basketball program.

“We had a great run through the tournament and I want to recognize the job that Cuonzo Martin did as our head basketball coach and that his staff did making the contributions that they collectively did in order for us to end with a very memorable basketball season,” Hart said. “Cuonzo Martin is an outstanding person. He was a terrific role model for our student-athletes, specifically our men’s basketball players, and I know I and everybody connected with our athletic department and university wish him nothing but success at Cal.”

In his three years at Tennessee, Martin compiled the third-winningest record in the SEC but was the league’s 11th-highest paid coach. Just two weeks ago, Dave Hart announced UT was working on a contract extension for Martin. “We are working on modifications to Cuonzo’s current contract and will release details of those adjustments when finalized,” Hart said. No contract details were announced in the last two weeks.

Martin was heading into the fourth year of his five-year contract which paid him $1.35 million annually.

“The past three seasons here at the University of Tennessee have been extremely rewarding for me, my family and my staff. We accepted some unique challenges when we took over this program in 2011, but our recent run to the Sweet Sixteen proves that our blueprint for achieving excellence both on and off the court can generate tremendous results,” Martin said in a statement two weeks ago.

In his Tuesday afternoon press conference, Dave Hart said he offered Cuonzo a contract that would have paid him $1.8 million annually through the 2017-18 season. Those numbers would have made Martin the 8th to 9th highest paid coach in the 14-team SEC.

The California job opened when Mike Montgomery, who starting coaching the Bears in 2008, retired after the 2014 season. Montgomery took Cal to the NCAA Tournament in four of his six seasons at the helm. Martin will be publicly announced as the head coach of California this afternoon.