Saint Louis' Spoonhour Quits

Charlie Spoonhour retired Friday after seven season as basketball coach at Saint Louis. He had two years left on his contract.

"There's just a point when you have to get off the merry-go-round, and that point is now," Spoonhour said at a news conference. "I feel that this is what I need to do."

There had been reports that Spoonhour would leave the Billikens at the end of a frustrating season.

The season ended for Saint Louis (15-16) Thursday night with a 70-61 loss to Louisville in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament. With a losing record, the team is ineligible for even the NIT.

Spoonhour said he knew it was time to quit when it became more difficult to get over losses early in the season.

"Losses are really hard to get over," he said. "To do the things you need to do, it finally got to be work. And I always said if it got to be a real job, I'd quit."

The 59-year-old Spoonhour said he has no desire to coach again but possibly could scout for an NBA team.

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