February 11, 2009 6:41 PM
- Text
Iowa State Cans Hoops Coach
(CBS/AP)
Iowa State fired basketball coach Wayne Morgan and his staff Friday in the wake of a possible recruiting scam.
Morgan's firing comes two days after CBS SportsLine.com reported that a number of college basketball programs may have steered more than $100,000 to a California business run by a junior college coach.
Jamie Pollard, ISU director of athletics, said during a news conference that he met the previous evening with ISU President Gregory Geoffrey and with Morgan.
"We informed him that we were making a change in the leadership of our men's basketball program, effective immediately," Pollard said.
The story on Wednesday alleged that D1 Scheduling, a company founded by Los Angeles Community College coach Mike Miller, might have been delivering LACC players to Division I schools, including Iowa State, that paid the company to arrange games.
"I think (any involved) coach would be putting his job in jeopardy," said Jim Haney, president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches told CBS SportsLine.com.
"The fact that we didn't make the NCAA tournament or then NIT contributed to this decision, but I want to emphasize it clearly is not the only reason for making this decision," he said.
The report said that D1 Scheduling turned a profit by taking a significant cut of the money paid by schools looking for opponents. Schools on the receiving end made far less than they would have if the games were made without a matchmaker.
According to the report, Iowa State, along with Iona, Louisiana Tech, Tennessee State, Howard and Norfolk State, have used D1 Scheduling to arrange matchups with each other. Those schools all have signed players from LACC.
CBS SportsLine.com reported that Iowa State appeared to be the centerpiece of the operation, and that under Morgan, ISU used D1 Scheduling to arrange guarantee games only when the other school also recruited LACC players.
Morgan's firing comes two days after CBS SportsLine.com reported that a number of college basketball programs may have steered more than $100,000 to a California business run by a junior college coach.
Jamie Pollard, ISU director of athletics, said during a news conference that he met the previous evening with ISU President Gregory Geoffrey and with Morgan.
"We informed him that we were making a change in the leadership of our men's basketball program, effective immediately," Pollard said.
The story on Wednesday alleged that D1 Scheduling, a company founded by Los Angeles Community College coach Mike Miller, might have been delivering LACC players to Division I schools, including Iowa State, that paid the company to arrange games.
"I think (any involved) coach would be putting his job in jeopardy," said Jim Haney, president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches told CBS SportsLine.com.
Pollard said the firing came after poor performance from the program, but that there were other reasons.
Read CBS SportsLine.com's original investigative story.
"The fact that we didn't make the NCAA tournament or then NIT contributed to this decision, but I want to emphasize it clearly is not the only reason for making this decision," he said.
The report said that D1 Scheduling turned a profit by taking a significant cut of the money paid by schools looking for opponents. Schools on the receiving end made far less than they would have if the games were made without a matchmaker.
According to the report, Iowa State, along with Iona, Louisiana Tech, Tennessee State, Howard and Norfolk State, have used D1 Scheduling to arrange matchups with each other. Those schools all have signed players from LACC.
CBS SportsLine.com reported that Iowa State appeared to be the centerpiece of the operation, and that under Morgan, ISU used D1 Scheduling to arrange guarantee games only when the other school also recruited LACC players.
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