Responding to rumors that Minnesota coach Tim Brewster could be a candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Kansas, UM athletic director Joel Maturi told the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Tuesday that he “can’t guarantee” Brewster will be back with the Gophers next season.

“There are rumors that he’s going to Kansas, so I don’t know,” Maturi told the paper. “What can I say? So I can’t guarantee it, no. I can’t guarantee the decisions of other people.”

“I’m smart enough to know that (Brewster’s) not going to tell me; nor is the athletic director (Lew Perkins) at Kansas going to tell me until it’s a done deal,” he added. “I chatted with (Brewster) about it very, very briefly. I told him I’m getting tired of all of these Kansas calls. That’s kind of been my conversations with him. I know how the game is played. I know how it is. I’m respectful of that. I’m not going to believe the rumors until they’re fact. I’m not going to knee-jerk react one way or the other because of it.”

Maturi also told the paper that he had not been contacted by Kansas officials seeking permission to speak with Brewster. Prior to speaking with Buffalo coach Turner Gill — the only confirmed coach to have spoken with KU officials — Perkins contacted the school beforehand.

Brewster, whose 6-6 Gophers will play in the Insight Bowl for the second straight season, has two years remaining on a five-year contract that will pay him roughly $1 million annually.

In the past three seasons, Minnesota has gone 14-23 under Brewster.