Pitt Fires Head Coach Kevin Stallings After Disastrous Season
Pitt has fired head coach Kevin Stallings after two seasons, the school announced Thursday. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports was first to report the news.
The Panthers’ 2017–18 season, which ended on Tuesday with a loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the ACC tournament, was an unmitigated disaster. Pitt finished the year 8–24 overall and 0–18 in ACC play. It was the only team in the nation not to win a conference game this season and didn’t pick up any wins over major-conference teams.
Stallings was hired in 2016 after a long run at Vanderbilt during which he made seven NCAA tournament appearances. He went 16–17 in his first season with the school, after which five players transferred.
Stallings was given a six-year contract when he was hired and is owed a $9.4 million buyout. The school was trying to negotiate that down to $7.5 million, Pittsburgh radio host Colin Dunlap reported, but Stallings refused to budge.
“I want to express my appreciation to Coach Stallings for his commitment to our program,” athletic director Heather Lyke said in a statement. “In moving forward, we have tremendous expectations for our men's basketball program at Pitt and I believe we can achieve great things within the Atlantic Coast Conference and nationally. A national search for the next Pitt head coach will begin immediately.”
