Amaker says he has been fired by Michigan

By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said Saturday he has been fired.

Amaker's sixth season with the Wolverines ended Thursday night with an 87-66 loss at Florida State in the NIT, a disappointment for a team that expected to reach the NCAA tournament this season.

Michigan went 22-13 this season. Amaker's record at Michigan was 109-83, with three 20-win seasons, but only 43-53 in the Big Ten.

The former Duke star was under contract through the 2010-11 season. But, according to his contract, which was obtained last week by The Associated Press in a Freedom of Information Act request, the school could fire him without cause by giving him $900,000.

Amaker was hired in March 2001 to replace the fired Brian Ellerbe. He inherited a mess, stemming in part from the school's lackluster facilities and the Ed Martin scandal. Martin, a former booster, told the federal government he lent $616,000 to Wolverines Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock in what the NCAA said was the largest financial scandal in its history.

In four seasons at Seton Hall, Amaker led the Pirates to a 68-55 record, a trip to the round of 16 in the 2000 NCAA tournament and three NIT bids. Before that, he spent nine years on Mike Krzyzewski's staff at Duke, where he was a four-year starter in the mid-1980s.

Amaker's wife, Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, is the University of Michigan's associate dean of students.

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/38549/

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So, any early guesses on candidates?

 

Check the "Coaching changes" thread. The Michigan basketball coaching job isn't important enough to devote a thread of its own.

 

Yeah, it's not like it's something to get our SEC fanboys all revved up. :

 

If Royce Waltman at Indiana State gets a three-page thread over his firing, I don't see why Amaker can't have his own.

 

Thank you, Buckw

 

Whoever gets it will inherit a pretty good recruiting class with Alex Legion and Corperryale Harris (yes, that is his name).

 

I and some buddies were talking about the recruiting class during the game. You're right, it's good.

As for the firing, Michigan should never have hired a Duke alum in the first place!

 

Couldnt be any worse than the fraud they just let go