*NEW ERA*SWC*IS*BACK

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16 SWC COACHES

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The University of Connecticut is firing Kevin Ollie after six seasons as men’s basketball coach, citing an N.C.A.A. investigation into recruiting violations announced a couple months ago.

“It is unfortunate that this decision became necessary,” the university’s athletic director, David Benedict, said in a statement. “As with all of our programs, we hold men’s basketball to the highest standards. We will begin a national search immediately to identify our next head coach.”

The university said it was seeking to fire him for cause. Though Ollie’s contract pays him more than $3 million a season, the university may owe him nothing if he is fired with cause, The Hartford Courant reported.

Ollie plans to contest the decision to fire him with cause, saying in a statement, “I have always diligently promoted an atmosphere of compliance for all involved in the program,” ESPN reported Saturday night.

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Tubby Smith is no longer the coach at Memphis after two seasons, including a 21-win campaign this year. Former Tigers standout Penny Hardaway has emerged as the front-runner to replace him, sources told ESPN.

"After considerable deliberations and in the best financial interest of the University of Memphis, an agreement of separation with Head Men's Basketball Coach Tubby Smith has been reached," the school said in a statement. "Details are to be finalized, and no further comment will be offered."

Smith, 66, was on his way out of his office earlier Wednesday when he told reporters he was no longer the coach.

"I appreciate the opportunity to have led the University of Memphis basketball program for the last two years," Smith said in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday night. "I'm proud of the work my staff and I have done to serve the players, the school and the community in leading us to a 21-13 season this year. After 39 years in college coaching, I know that change happens and I wish the University and the team the best as they pursue a different direction. As a lifelong competitor I believe the game never ends and I'll be exploring my next move on and off the court in the coming weeks."

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Rick Pitino seems resigned to his fate. It’s sinking in that the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball that led to his firing at Louisville likely will be the end of his coaching career at that level.

“There was one job this past year that I really did want. They called the NCAA and the NCAA said, ‘We’re handcuffed. The FBI will not allow us to investigate, we can’t give you a yes or no on Rick Pitino because we’re not allowed to investigate,'” Pitino said in an interview with ESPN. “I’m not really thinking about coaching again in the future because I’m not in control of that. I feel it’s over for me.”

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Why did Tyronn Lue’s run as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers truly ended around 8 p.m. Eastern time on July 1, when LeBron James — via tweet — announced he would be leaving Northeast Ohio to join the Los Angeles Lakers. In truth, though, it ended after the Cavaliers were routed at home by the Atlanta Hawks a week ago.

In that game, both Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith — two stalwart members of Cleveland’s glory days with James in town — sat all 48 minutes as the Cavaliers were run off the court by a Hawks team in full tank mode. Afterward, Lue reversed course on an organizational mandate to stick with the team’s younger players, and gave Korver and Smith minutes in each of Cleveland’s next three games.

Sunday, the Cavaliers decided enough was enough.

The decision to replace Lue with his top assistant, Larry Drew, came as a surprise only in that Cleveland didn’t do this over the summer. That’s not to say Lue is a bad coach — he took on the task of running a team led by James and adeptly dealt with all kinds of drama, to the detriment of his health, in leading the Cavaliers to the city’s first championship in 50 years, amid three straight appearances in the NBA Finals. He will now get paid for at least this season and next, and will get another crack at a job in the future — and likely a pretty good one.

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Karl's first coaching job everybody knows he's going to do great the guy's a Hall of Famer

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Great coach really going to get the players to play I'm in a tough conference though can't wait to get started