USC men’s basketball coach Kevin O’Neill declined comment regarding an unconfirmed report that he will be fired Monday.

“At this point, I don’t want to comment,” he told ATVN Friday shortly after tip-off of the Pac-10 Men’s Tournament championship game.

PointGuardU.com, the Arizona basketball site that initially reported on the altercation between O’Neill and Arizona booster Paul Weitman, reported in the headline of its existing story that the coach will be fired after the weekend.

O’Neill declined to comment on reports that his job may be in jeopardy, but did say that he was talking with USC officials. In addition to planned meetings with school administrators, O’Neill says he and Athletic Director Pat Haden “have been in continuous touch.”

Rumors that the Trojan coach may be fired have swirled since Pat Haden’s decision to suspend O’Neill for the Pac-10 Tournament shortly before Thursday’s game.

According to media reports, O’Neill and his wife got into an altercation with Weitman in the lobby of the team’s hotel. Weitman, an Arizona booster, has apparently known O’Neill for many years. O’Neill was an assistant at the school and was once publicly tabbed as the school’s coach-in-waiting.

PointGuardU’s story does come with serious red flags. Not only does the site’s claim that the coach will be let go come without any attribution or context, the story itself hasn’t been updated since yesterday: only the headline has changed. The photos posted of O’Neill allegedly at the bar where the altercation took place are worth a second look as well. The two photos appear to be the same image, one version flipped and cropped to a smaller size.

Larry Brown Sports, a popular sports blog, says USC media relations officials told the site a coaching change would be “news to them,” and described the initial PointGuardU story as only 25% accurate.

O’Neill says that he hasn’t read some of the articles that imply he may lose his job, but does not blame the authors for conjecturing.

“The bottom line is everyone is entitled to their opinion,” he said.

Asked to elaborate on the experience of watching the Trojans fall in the Pac-10 semifinals to Arizona, the coach reiterated his remorse for the actions that led to his suspension.

“[Watching from home] was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in basketball. I let our players down, I let our university down...but I’m proud of our guys.”

ATVN.org will continue to monitor this story.