The slowest firing of a coach EVER

The situation involving Fred Hill Jr.’s status as head basketball coach at Rutgers has gotten downright comical. For those of you who are unfamiliar, here are the highlights:

* Hill led Rutgers to a 15-17 record this past season, and his four-year record is 44-77. On March 17, he was told by Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti that he would be retained. This didn’t exactly thrill Scarlet Knight Nation.

* At a Rutgers baseball game on April 1, Hill Jr. unleashed a torrent of f-bombs and other colorful language at Pitt coach Joe Jordano. What got Hill Jr. so passionate?  It’s a family thing, his father Fred Sr. has been the baseball coach at Rutgers for 27 years.

* Word came out last week that Rutgers was going to fire Hill Jr., but as of now he’s still in a weird state of limbo, sort of like Milton Waddams:

The kicker in all of this is the fact that Rutgers feels that Hill’s tirade, among other things, left him in breach of contract.  Whether or not Hill was in breach will make a big difference in regard to his settlement, as laid out by the Newark Star-Ledger:

Though previous reports pegged the amount due Hill under the remaining three years on his contract at $1.8 million, the figure is actually closer to $2 million, counting a recent $100,000 bonus he is due for being the head coach as of April 5 and because of an expected academic bonus of $30,000 that will kick in when the next Academic Progress Rate (APR) is released. That brings the total to $1.96 million that Hill is owed.

Rutgers has offered a $600,000 settlement, which Hill has declined. Hill had been given until Monday to accept the offer, at which point it was assumed he would be notified that he would be fired with cause.

The article, found here, goes on to lay out the various scenarios that could play out if he is fired with cause.

Not surprisingly, roster depletion (along with a hefty dose of embarrassment) has hit the program, with Greg Echenique already having transferred to Creighton, Pat Jackson looking to do the same and leading scorer Mike Rosario having just gotten his release so he can also r-u-n-n-o-f-t.

When Hill Jr. brought in that talented trio of sophomores, expectations for Rutgers went through the roof.  Heck, Rosario was a Jersey City kid who toiled for Bob Hurley at St. Anthony’s and was the first McDonald’s All-American to ever sign with Rutgers.

Now, Hill Jr.’s greatest recruiting coup will finish his college career somewhere else.  Hey, if you can’t coach ‘em up, something’s gotta give, just ask Dino Gaudio.  But where Wake Forest was was quick and decisive with that firing, Rutgers has been slow and inept with this one.

While the school figures out how to rid itself of its basketball coach by the cheapest means possible, the mess for the next coach (Fran Fraschilla, Jim O’Brien or some other poor bastard) will only get bigger.  Even with a 96-team tourney, don’t expect to find Rutgers dancing for a while.