ST. LOUIS (AP) -Basketball coach Brad Soderberg was fired Tuesday after five seasons at Saint Louis despite the school’s first 20-win season since 1998.
The school said the success of its new campus arena, scheduled to open for the 2008-09 season, was contingent on a team that could contend for conference championships.
Saint Louis went 20-13 last season and finished in the middle of the Atlantic-10 Conference. The Billikens haven’t made it to the NCAA tournament since 2000.
The school said it fired Soderberg after an “extensive review” and said it will immediately begin the search for a successor.
Saint Louis finished its season with a 60-40 loss to George Washington in the semifinals of the Atlantic-10 tournament semifinals. The school moved to the Atlantic-10 in 2005-06.
The new arena is named for Richard Chaifetz of Chicago, a 1975 graduate of the school whose $12 million donation for the arena was announced in February. The school said it is $7.5 million short of its fundraising goal.
Saint Louis will have four starters back next season, losing only senior center Ian Vouyoukas. Forward Tommie Liddell, who will be a junior, led the Billikens with a 15.4-point average.
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