UNC Wilmington fires McGrath at 5-14 start to season

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — C.B. McGrath has been fired as head coach at UNC Wilmington in the midst of a losing season and a winless conference record.

UNCW Athletic Director Jimmy Bass announced the move in a news release on Monday evening.

McGrath was an assistant to Roy Williams on North Carolina’s national championship-winning teams in 2005, 2009 and 2017. He left the program in 2017 to coach the Seahawks. McGrath also played for Williams at Kansas and was on the Jayhawks’ coaching staff before moving with Williams to Chapel Hill.

In his stint at Wilmington, McGrath’s teams complied a 26-58 overall record in three years. This season’s team is 5-14 overall and winless in six Colonial Athletic Association games. The Seahawks face Hofstra on Thursday.

Assistant coach Rob Burke has been named interim coach, and the school said a national search for McGrath’s replacement will begin immediately.