University of Alabama athletic director Mal Moore has been granted permission to speak to Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Anthony Grant about Alabama’s vacant position.

VCU athletic director Norwood Teague said Moore contacted him late Saturday night seeking permission.

Alabama’s job came open when Mark Gottfried resigned in late January.

Some reports have pegged Grant as one of the top targets for open jobs at Alabama and Georgia. One report said Georgia officials met with Grant in Atlanta this weekend and offered him the job.

But in an e-mail sent to several media outlets, Georgia sports information director Claude Felton strongly denied the report by TotalUGA.com, saying “in my time here at UGA, I don’t know that I have seen more erroneous reporting.”

According to the report, Georgia President Michael Adams, Bulldogs athletic director Damon Evans and senior associate athletic director for student services Carla Williams met with Grant and discussed specifics and financial terms.

“I can say with complete authority that neither Damon Evans nor Dr. Adams has ever had a conversation with Anthony Grant as of today, Monday, March 23,” Felton wrote in the e-mail.

Felton said Adams, Evans and Williams attended Georgia’s game in the NCAA women’s tournament in Duluth, Ga., on Saturday and then flew to Nashville, Tenn., to attend the Southeastern Conference gymnastics championships.