In a wowing move following Seton Hall's humiliating loss to Texas Tech in the opening round of the NIT, Seton Hall has fired men's basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez.
With all the attention centered on embattled St.John's coach Norm Roberts and Fred Hill, whose paltry overall record would indicate his days at Rutgers are numbered, who would of thought Gonzalez would get his pink slip first?
Seton Hall hastily arrived at the decision and the immediacy of Gonzo's firing comes less than 24 hours after the Hall's disappointing, season-ending loss.
Gonzalez's penchant for recruiting players with dicey pasts and oft-perceived character issues has garnered notice. Gonzalez has long carried a reputation for putting himself first, his players second.
Incidents involving Gonzo's questionable handling of his players, recruits and even the media were exposed in recent bombshell piece in the New York Times.
Gonzalez, who recruited God Shammgod, Corey Wright Sr., Derrick Brown and Jamel Thomas--all New York City products--to Providence under Pete Gillen and ascended
Manhattan College to new heights with former NBA guard Luis Flores, is a significant local presence in the metro-area.
But Gonzalez's baggage and personal rifts with players have created major causes for concern. The fiery man who they call "Gonzo" is now Gone-zo.
"Performance and success are not measured solely by wins and losses, but also in the conduct of those associated with the program," said Patrick Hobbs, the Seton Hall law school dean who has been "overseeing the athletics department since July," in an interview with ESPN.
"We have expectations as to how our coaches and players will conduct themselves, and they are expected to treat everyone they interact with, whether officials, the press or our students, with the utmost respect, maturity and professionalism. Those core expectations must be met."
Last night, the Pirates were beat, battered, and bludgeoned in every aspect of the game before a ghostly audience (it felt like an NJIT or junior college game), en route to Texas Tech's 87-69 throttling of the Pirates.
Matters exacerbated when Herb Pope was ejected in the first half for clocking Darko Cohadarevic in his GENITAL REGION. Twice.
The Pirates, playing with an injury-negated Jeremy Hazell (held to six points on 3-for-10 FG) and without Pope's presence in the paint and versatile scoring, sputtered.
Only at Seton Hall can a double-double machine with major NBA draft stock go from being the Pope to becoming jolly St. Nick's nut-cracker.
Simply put, Pope embraced the Tony Skinn within him.
Pope re-enacted the anemic antics of the former George Mason guard, who made national headlines when he delivered a between-the-legs punch to former Hofstra combination guard Loren Stokes during the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association tournament.