In March, ESPN reported former Arkansas and St John’s coach Mike Anderson was suing SJU for wrongful termination. On Thursday, more details came out.
Per ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, Anderson is stating in the lawsuit that St. John’s fired him for cause so that they could avoid paying his buyout and instead use the money saved to hire Rick Pitino. Pitino was officially hired hours after Anderson’s suit became public and 10 days after Anderson was officially let go.
Anderson is suing for $45.6 million, $11.4 of which is the amount he had remaining on his deal with St. John’s. The additional money is punitive, per Medcalf’s report.
The school had said in its firing that one of the reasons Anderson was terminated was because of his “failure to perform your duties and responsibilities in a manner that reflected positively on St. John’s University.” Anderson said the cause was “wholly without merit.”
St. John’s went 68-56 and 30-46 in the Big East during Anderson’s four seasons and did not play in the postseason. He was hired there in 2019 after he was dismissed from Arkansas. With the Hogs, in eight seasons, Arkansas went 79-64 in SEC play and made three NCAA Tournaments and two NITs.
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