Only had him on a 5-year, $5million deal, so "only" had to pay him the remaining $3M of the deal.
Cal fired men’s basketball head coach Wyking Jones on Sunday, an announcement that appeared to be a drastic reversal from only two days prior, though the school claims it had been in the works for nearly a week.
Athletic director Jim Knowlton said he made the decision last week to fire Jones, who went 16-47 in the first two seasons of his five-year, $5 million deal. Knowlton met with the players Tuesday, and under the impression that Jones was staying, some considered transferring.
On Friday, sophomore guard Darius McNeill announced his intention to leave Berkeley, and others contemplated the same as university sources believed Jones would be retained — even after the school’s first back-to-back 20-loss seasons.
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While Cal figures out how to deal with paying someone $3 million not to work in addition to the cost of hiring a head coach — on top of massive debt and currently trying to finance softball and beach-volleyball facilities — here are the other names to consider:
St. Mary’s Randy Bennett is typically in these talks, though he laughs sometimes. Nevada’s Eric Musselman was considered a favorite before Jones was promoted from assistant coach. USF’s Kyle Smith and UC Irvine’s Russell Turner were mentioned throughout the season, and Montana’s Travis DeCuire has been passed over for the position twice.
“As I looked at where we were today and where we were going, we just didn’t have a flight path that would really help us to become exceptional,” Knowlton said. “It’s never easy. There’s never a right time. I just felt at the end of the season, once I finished my evaluation, that was the right time to make this decision.”