Oregon State Fires Men's Hoops Coach Jay John

Kevin Mouton to serve as interim head coach for the Beavers.

Oregon State University men's basketball head coach Jay John has been relieved of his duties, Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis announced on Sunday night.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University men's basketball head coach Jay John has been relieved of his duties, Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis announced on Sunday night.

John, 49, was in the midst of his sixth season at OSU and had compiled a record of 72-97 overall and 28-68 in the Pac-10 Conference. The Beavers are 6-12 this season and 0-6 in the Pac-10 Conference.

"I want to thank Coach John for his contributions to Oregon State University and his tireless effort in trying to turn around the men's basketball program," De Carolis said. "I commend him for being an ambassador for the university and his solid record of graduating his student-athletes. However, our progress on the court has not been what we all had hoped for so we are moving in a different direction."

De Carolis has appointed Kevin Mouton (pronounced Moo-TAWN), associate head coach and six-year member of the Oregon State staff, as the interim head coach. The 42-year-old has previously coached at the Colorado School of Mines, Butler, Eastern Illinois, New Hampshire, St. Mary's and Nebraska.

John was the 19th head coach in the history of the program. He lead the 2004-05 team to the NIT, the program's first postseason appearance and only winning season since the 1989-90 season.

"I want to thank Bob De Carolis and Dr. Ed Ray for years of support," John said. "Also, I want to thank Mitch Barnhart and Dr. Paul Risser for giving me the opportunity to coach at OSU. My wife and I made a number of meaningful relationships in our six years and we are grateful for that."

John came to Oregon State in 2002 after a four-year stint as assistant coach at the University of Arizona. He also has coached at Jamestown Community College, Oregon, San Francisco and Butler.

Oregon State will embark on a search for John's successor immediately for a program that is the 13th-winningest in the nation. Beaver men's basketball has competed in 16 NCAA Tournaments, two Final Fours, produced 32 All-Americans and 12 NBA first round draft selections.

The Beavers return to action on Thursday, January 24th against USC at 5:30 p.m. in a game televised by FSN Northwest.

Source: OSU Athletics

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports