AMHERST - University of Massachusetts athletic director John McCutcheon Saturday made his first public comments about the San Diego State athletic director's job since his candidacy was reported on Thursday.

"I did have a conversation with San Diego State. That's all it is at this point, a conversation," McCutcheon said before the men's basketball game against Charlotte at the Mullins Center Saturday night.

"They asked me questions and I asked them questions. I can't comment on it other than that," he added. "I don't know where it will or won't go from either side."

The San Diego Union Tribune reported Thursday that McCutcheon was among the leading candidates to succeed Jeff Schemmel who resigned in November.

McCutcheon said he is not sure what timetable San Diego State has for hiring a new athletic director.

And while McCutcheon declined to elaborate on the extent of his interest in that job, but went out of his way to say he's happy at UMass.

"I do want people to realize that it's nothing against UMass," McCutcheon said. "I love it here. I love the people who I work with here. I'm excited about being here. It's a great situation here.

"There are occasions when things come up and you feel like you at least need to have a conversation," he added.

McCutcheon has been the athletic director at UMass for the past six years. He previously worked in the California state university system at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo from 1992 to 2004.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.