Tulane fires Dunleavy after winless conference campaign

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tulane has fired third-year basketball coach Mike Dunleavy on the heels of a winless American Athletic Conference campaign.

Dunleavy, a former NBA player and coach, has struggled throughout his only stint as a college coach. He went 24-69 during three seasons at Tulane and never posted a winning record. This season, Tulane went 4-27 and lost its last 21 games, including all 18 conference contests.

Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen, who hired Dunleavy, offered public support for the coach as recently as last month, asserting that Dunleavy was “not going anywhere,” and that recruiting has improved.

Now Dannen, who announced his decision to fire Dunleavy on Saturday, says he concluded after “a comprehensive evaluation” of the program that “a leadership change was necessary” to maximize the potential of not only Tulane basketball, but the whole athletic department.