PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -Rutgers is still hoping to reach a buyout agreement with basketball coach Fred Hill.
The university did not put out a release Friday to update Hill’s status in the wake of reports that he wouldn’t be retained because of multiple violations of the conduct clause in his contract. And athletic director Tim Pernetti did not return a telephone message by The Associated Press on Friday.
Hill was informed by the university Thursday that he wouldn’t be retained, The Home News of New Brunswick reported, quoting a source close to the situation.
Hill got in trouble April 1 when he yelled obscenities at coaches from Pittsburgh after a baseball game at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are coached by Hill’s father and Rutgers had just defeated the Panthers.
A Pittsburgh school official complained to Pernetti on Friday and Pernetti told Hill to stay away from future Rutgers-Pittsburgh games, but he disobeyed the order.
the program that had gone 47-77 in his four years as coach, including a 15-17 mark this season.
Hill’s 13-57 record in Big East play is the worst in league history for anyone who coached at least three years.
Had Rutgers fired Hill after the season, it would have had to pay him almost $1.6 million. The university has offered Hill a $600,000 buyout, but the coach wants twice the amount, the newspaper said.
Former St. John’s coach and current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla and former Ohio State and Boston College coach Jim O’Brien are considered the leading contenders to replace Hill.
Fraschilla, who did not return a telephone message left Friday by The Associated Press, has not coached since 2002 at New Mexico.
O’Brien led Ohio State to the Final Four in 1999, but was fired in 2004 after admitting he loaned money to a recruit from Serbia whose family needed help in the worn-torn country. He eventually won $2.2 million plus interest for wrongful termination.
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