All Hogs

Mike Anderson Has Legit Reason for Suing St. John's

Firing former Razorbacks coach "for cause" looks like cheap way to hire Rick Pitino

Andy Hodges

(David Butler II / USA TODAY Sports)
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's become pretty clear St. John's wanted Rick Pitino as basketball coach more than former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson.

It would be hard to prove prior contact, but court cases tend to dig up a lot of that stuff. Ask Auburn coach Hugh Freeze how that can happen.

St. John's dumped Anderson "for cause" and if they expected the former Razorbacks coach to just walk away they obviously didn't know him very well.

As Nolan Richardson has said over the years, there's a fiery side to Mike and if he feels somebody is making stuff up to avoid paying him what he is contractually owed, well, there's going to be a fight.

St. John’s said in Anderson’s termination letter, which was obtained by ESPN, that the 63-year-old failed “to create and support an environment that strongly encourages student-athletes who are in the men’s basketball program to meet all university academic requirements.”

It didn't take long for the backlash from even national media people to hit social media.

The school also said it was firing Anderson for “failure to perform your duties and responsibilities in a manner that reflected positively on St. John’s University … in actions [that] brought serious discredit” to the university, along with a “failure to appropriately supervise and communicate with your assistant coaches.”

Several sources told the New York Post the culture under Anderson in recent years had deteriorated significantly.

The Red Storm players have come out and disputed the reasons listed for Anderson's dismissal. Apparently after Pitino's first press conference, a lot of them might not be back.

Somehow, the guess here is this whole thing is going to end up in a settlement somewhere along the way.

All of the facts aren't out there on both sides of the issue, but it's not really hard to guess neither one really want a long, drawn-out fight to the death. The university got the man they apparently wanted in place and Anderson may not have the stomach to fight the thing past the arbitration phase.

Anderson, who would’ve been owed $11 million if fired without cause, denied the school’s allegations to ESPN.

“I vehemently disagree with the university’s decision to terminate my contract for cause,” Anderson said. “The for cause accusation is wholly without merit and I will be aggressively defending my contractual rights through an arbitration process.”

All of it's probably not over for awhile.

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Andy Hodges
ANDY HODGES

Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.