A Typical SLU Move

Even when they do something right they do it wrong.

Soderberg fired at St. Louis U.

St. Louis University basketball coach Brad Soderberg was fired Tuesday after five seasons with the school.

The school announced the move in a statement that said the success of its new campus arena, scheduled to open for the 2008-09 season, was contingent on a men's basketball program that could contend for conference championships.

SLU was 20-13 last season, the school's first 20-win season since 1997-98, and finished in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic-10 Conference. But the Billikens haven't made it to the NCAA tournament since 2000.

Soderberg produced NIT bids in his first two seasons at SLU, but the school did not make it to the postseason his final three seasons. He's 80-74 overall with a career record of 211-147.

The school said it will begin the search for a replacement immediately. It said Soderberg was fired after an "extensive review of the state of the men's basketball program" since the end of the season. In the statement, the school said it did not "anticipate" making further comments regarding the change.

I don't mind getting rid of Soderberg, he had a legitimate shot and the Bills simply couldn't produce the kind of ball Soderberg promised. His recruiting was never good enough.

However, why wasn't this done a month ago?

Jeff Gordon wonders the same thing:

The timing of the move was curious, though, since athletic director Cheryl Levick had publicly supported Soderberg during the Billikens’ up-and-down 20-13 season.

If SLU was going to fire Soderberg, why wasn’t this decision made shortly after the Billikens failed to garner an NCAA or NIT berth?

Why did Levick, Father Lawrence Biondi and Co. wait until so many other schools did their hiring and firing?

If administrators were concerned about Soderberg’s recruiting skills -– a legitimate issue after his ’06 fiasco -– why did they make this move after the signing date?

And didn’t the school commit to Soderberg for one more year, giving him an opportunity to coach a veteran team and sell the new Chaifetz Arena to recruits?

I'm hoping this means that they have an established name in mind for the new coach that will represent an obvious "step up." If so, they'd better introduce him no latter than tomorrow.

I'm tending to think Levick and Biondi do NOT have anyone lined up and that this will be an ill considered fiasco, even though Brad deserved the sack.