GONEZO: BOBBY GONZALEZ FIRED

Brendan Prunty reports:

Hours after his first postseason game at Seton Hall ended in defeat and embarrassment, Bobby Gonzalez's tenure at the school is over. Gonzalez, the Pirates' fourth-year head coach, was forced out by Seton Hall today, according to two people with knowledge of the decision-making process.

The people, who asked to remain anonymous because all news regarding Seton Hall employees is supposed to be announced by the university, said that what got Gonzalez removed was not on-court results. His end as coach is because of what's been viewed within the Seton Hall community as a pattern of behavior that is not reflective of the image the school wants to present.

Update from Prunty 12:30PM:

Upon exiting the meeting with university officials shortly after noon on Wednesday, Gonzalez - cell phone glued to his ear on his way out of Walsh Gym - did not stop to talk to a Star-Ledger reporter. He shook hands, did not break stride and hopped in his car and drove off.

WOW.  For now, the blog name and twitter name will not be changing.  I'll will be back later with my thoughts. The off-season just got VERY INTERESTING.  What coaches should we look at? Have at it.

Update 12:39PM: Press conference at 2:00PM with Joe Quinlan and Patt Hobbs, reports Mike Vorkunov.  

Jerry Carino adds: 

The sources indicated that Gonzalez never signed the contract extension that was worked out in principle during the fall, leaving the university on the hook for a relatively small amount of money. Gonzalez had one year left on his original year, one that paid him roughly $400,000 per year all told.

The coach's stormy reign-which included and endless string of confrontations with university staff, high school and fellow college coaches and members of the media-reached a tipping point last night when sophomore forward Herb Pope was ejected after punching an opposing player in the groin during a blowout loss to Texas Tech in the first round of the NIT.  "Last night was the last straw," the source said.

Update 1:05PM: Mike Francessa opened his show with: 

"I know for a fact before SHU hired Bobby, Tom Pecora turned them down. Maybe Pecora will get back in the mix."

Update 1:30PM: Adam Zagoria tweets:

Alif Muhammad says Seton Hall commit Jamir Hanner will stay with his verbal commitment "right now"

Things are getting interesting...

SHU Athletics official release:

"Performance and success are not measured solely by wins and losses, but also in the conduct of those associated with the program," Hobbs said. "We have expectations as to how our coaches and players will conduct themselves, and they are expected to treat everyone they interact with, whether officials, the press or our students, with the utmost respect, maturity and professionalism. Those core expectations must be met."

Adam Zagoria 2:40PM: 

Pat Hobbs on SHU hiring a new coach: "We will begin the process immediaetly. We would like to get the right coach in place as soon as possible and I can't really predict when that will be concluded."

Zagoria with quotes from Fuquan Edwin: 

I'm still thinking about still going there. They need to find a new coach and I just need to build a relationship with him as soon as possible.

"I'm still thinking about still going there."  Awesome.  It shows he wasn't coming for Gonzo.   That's two-for-two so far, if they hold up.  

Jerry Carino provides quotes from the Msgr. Sheeran's portion of the conference call:

"I met with Bobby Gonzalez today and in a very brief meeting informed him that he was no longer the men's basketball coach."

"The gist of it was he had lost my confidence as president in his ability to coach and lead."

"The decision is mine, and I make that in the best interests of Seton Hall."