Oregon State has fired head men's basketball coach Craig Robinson for failing to make an appearance at the NCAA tournament during his six year tenure with the Beavers. Oregon State has not qualified for the NCAA tournament since 1990.
"This was a difficult decision, but after further evaluation, I believe it is in the best interests of our student-athletes, our basketball program and our University," Oregon State athletic director Bob De Carolis said, cbs news reports.
Robinson, who is the brother-in-law of President Barack Obama, had brief successful spells at Corvallis. He led Beavers to 18 wins in 2008-09 season and 21 games in 2011-12 season.
The rest of the season was marked by poor performances. In 2011-12 season, the team scored 7-11 in conference and eventually missed out on the NCAA tournament. In 2012-13 season, they went 14-18 in and 16-16 (8-10 Pac-12) in 2013-14. Plus, the team fared miserably in the Pac-12, even in this season.
Overall, Robinson recorded 94-105 with Oregon State without qualifying for NCAA and NIT.
Beavers athletic staff decided to buy out the remaining three years of Robinson's contract. He will therefore receive $4 million, 10 times Obama's salary of $400,000, ESPN reports.
The university athletes were shocked by the decision as Robinson and his staff was busy recruiting last week. Maryland Nick Faust pledged to the Beavers just five days ago, cbs sports reports.
Prior to Oregon State, Robinson had stints with Brown for two seasons (30-28) as head coach and served as an assistant at Northwestern and Princeton. As a college athlete at Princeton, the 6-foot-6 forward was named Ivy League player of the year twice.
The basketball program will not only miss Robinson's leadership, but also some of its players. Roberto Nelson, Devon Collier and Angus Brandt have all graduated, Eric Moreland has been drafted early into NBA draft, Hallice Cooke has transferred and starting point guard Challe Barton from Sweden decided to compete overseas.
De Carolis hopes to quickly find a replacement. "We want to move quickly, but we want to make the right choice. So fast but deliberate," USA Today reports.
