The University of Tennessee has fired Donnie Tyndall as head coach of the men’s basketball team amid NCAA’s investigation into his tenure at Southern Mississippi.
Tennessee Basketball’s official Twitter account released the news Friday morning: “Tyndall is highly likely to be found responsible for serious violations of NCAA rules.”
The release said Tyndall was highly likely to be responsible for Level I or II NCAA violations, and that he has been terminated “for cause.” As a result, Tennessee won’t have to honor Tyndall’s $3 million buyout.
Director of Athletics Dave Hart said the news is disappointing.
“It is disappointing that we have to take this action,” Hart wrote. “It is highly likely that Coach Tyndall will face significant penalties at the conclusion of the NCAA’s infractions process. We believe that this decision is in the best interest of the University of Tennessee.”
The university will hold a press conference on Tyndall’s termination in the Ray Mears Room at Thompson-Boling Arena at 11 a.m. Friday. 10News will stream the press conference on wbir.com and provide coverage on WBIR. Ellen, which airs at that time, will move to 10News2.
Shortly before Tennessee announcement about Tyndall’s termination, the university removed Tyndall’s bio from its website.
NCAA called Tennessee on Thursday to discuss its investigation into Tyndall’s tenure at Southern Mississippi. The call was essentially an informal presentation of the findings that will be in a formal Notice of Allegations in a few weeks.
The investigation reportedly stems from possible financial assistance that was given to Southern Miss players who were academically ineligible at the time. Under the NCAA’s Proposition 48, ineligible players are able to take coursework to become eligible before receiving a scholarship. But the investigation, first reported by Bleacher Report, will examine how tuition fees were handled for those ineligible players.
Within two weeks after news of the allegations first broke, two of Donnie Tyndall’s staff at Tennessee resigned.
In response to those allegations, Southern Miss has placed a self-imposed postseason ban for this year.
Contributing: The Tennessean, govols247
