The Connecticut Huskies announced on Saturday that the school would be terminating the contract of head coach Kevin Ollie for “just cause”. The 2014 National Championship winning head coach has struggled to field a competitive roster since that spectacular season.
The school announced back in January that it was involved in an NCAA investigation and it was speculated that it was involving recruiting. The school has made it seem like they are firing Ollie because of this investigation, but speculation immediately appeared that this was just an excuse to justify the termination of the contract.
UConn keeps Jim Calhoun even though he used an agent to recruit a player but fires Kevin Ollie with cause over workouts? Please. This is about wins and losses, nothing more. A good lawyer will get Ollie his full buyout. https://t.co/3tWBpp9HGY
— Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg) March 10, 2018
Kevin Ollie may likely seek his full buyout, but could just decide to move on after several disappointing seasons. The firing came just two days after an opening round loss to SMU in the AAC Tournament. It isn’t every day that college basketball sees a coach that won a National Championship have his contract terminated.
UConn will now look for its next head coach and Ollie may just make a mid-major team very competitive in a few years. The former Huskies player and coach will have to look for a new chapter in coaching while Conneticutt will try and fight back into the National scene.
The Huskies have three recruits committed in the 2018 class including four-star point guard James Akinjo, three-star forward Emmitt Matthews Jr, and three-star center Lukas Kisunas. There is no word yet on if these players plan on staying with the Huskies or not.
