Former Connecticut great and nine-year Cincinnati head coach Jamelle Elliott was fired as head coach of the Bearcats, the school announced Wednesday.
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The decision drew the ire of a number of prominent people around college basketball, including Elliott’s former coach, Geno Auriemma.
“Positively disgraceful that Jamelle Elliott was let go at Cincinnati,” Auriemma tweeted. “Anyone interested in that job would be well advised to do their homework.”
He added this:
Janelle Elliot is one hell of a coach. And one of the finest human beings in our profession.
— Geno Auriemma (@GenoAjustsayin) March 22, 2018
The decision to let Elliott go after nine seasons is hard to square with the direction of the Cincinnati program. The most recent season saw the Bearcats finish 19-13, including 10-6 in the American Athletic Conference, and a 12-6 record at home.
About that home: Cincinnati arranged for the Bearcats to play in a high school gym, while the men received the chance to play on the Northern Kentucky college campus. Elliott and the Bearcats made the best of it, but the unequal treatment didn’t sit well with many.
The underlying numbers reflected the progress of the program as well. Per HerHoopStats, Cincinnati rose from 326 to 216 to 163 in points per 100 possessions nationally over the past three seasons, while their defensive mark jumped from 325 to 133 to 97 over that time.
Jamelle led Cincy to their best record in 15 years. She didn’t utter a word of complaint when her AD moved the team to a high school gym this season. Wow... good luck to the next coach. https://t.co/dCAR4IvSrr
— Rebecca Lobo (@RebeccaLobo) March 21, 2018
While the Bearcats are graduating Ana Owens and Shanice Johnson, Elliott was set to return the rest of her rotation, including three starters, to a team on the rise as it returned to the renovated new arena. A trio of three-star recruits from 2017, Andeija Puckett, Iimar’i Thomas and Michaela Porter were all expected to step forward as sophomores.
Now, Cincinnati has a new arena to offer a potential new head coach. But those in the candidate pool are also going to see how Elliott was treated. And they’re certainly going to hear what Geno Auriemma had to say when she was forced out.