WASHINGTON - Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said he fired Craig Esherick last Tuesday because the coach didn't meet expected on-court "standards of excellence."
In explaining his decision, DeGioia re-established the lofty goals students and alumni feared had eroded since Hall of Fame coach John Thompson resigned five years ago.
"We evaluate the success of our program by three standards," DeGioia said Wednesday in a phone interview from San Francisco, where he was traveling on university business. "We want the very best educational experience for the students. We want to ensure that we conduct ourselves with the highest standards of integrity. And we want to win the national championship."
DeGioia said Esherick did an exceptional job on the first two planks, but that "the performance of the program on the court was not consistent with the standards of excellence that we expect."
DeGioia fired Esherick after calling the coach home from a recruiting trip in Kansas. The firing came on the eve of a protest rally arranged by alumni who were upset over many facets of the program, but DeGioia said the timing was coincidental.
Esherick was surprised by his dismissal. Buoyed by DeGioia's recent vote of confidence, the coach had boasted of his accomplishments in recent weeks and said he "may be here for another 30 years."
AUBURN: Coach Cliff Ellis will meet with university president Ed Richardson today amid speculation his job is in jeopardy. The Tigers failed to make the postseason a year after advancing to the NCAA Tournament's round of 16, continuing an uneven tenure for Ellis that includes a SEC title, a losing record in league games and an NCAA investigation. The Tigers went 14-14, 5-11 in the SEC, after being picked to finish second in the Western Division. They were shut out of the postseason for the second time in three seasons.
