Duquesne fires Everhart as men's basketball coach

Duquesne University men’s basketball coach Ron Everhart has been fired.

"I appreciate all Ron has done for our men's basketball program," said Director of Athletics Greg Amodio. "He stepped into a difficult situation six years ago and was able to make Duquesne competitive in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Although the program has improved, our goal has always been to compete for the A-10 championship and consistently be in the hunt for high-level postseason play. I feel a change in leadership is necessary to help us refocus on that goal."

Duquesne finished the 2011-12 season -- Everhart's sixth- - with a 16-15 record in tying for ninth place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 7-9 record. The Dukes lost at Massachusetts in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship.

"I want to thank Duquesne University for a great opportunity," said Everhart. "I am very proud of the significant improvements the program made in the past six years. I am also very proud of those who played for me - both for the awards and honors they were able to achieve and for the way they represented the University."

Everhart, who was named Duquesne's men's head coach on March 29, 2006, compiled a 99-89 record in six seasons on the Bluff (46-50 in regular season Atlantic 10 play). His overall record stands at 273-261 in 18 seasons. The Fairmont, W.Va. native won his first career post-season game in 2011, when he led the Dukes to an 87-76 win at Montana in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational. Everhart's Dukes suffered first round losses at Virginia Tech in the 2009 National Invitation Tournament and at Princeton in the 2010 CBI.

The 2009 NIT was Duquesne's first post-season appearance since 1994.

His teams went 3-5 in Atlantic 10 Championship play with all three wins coming in 2009 when DU advanced to the title game prior to losing to Temple. The Dukes dropped their opening game in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Everhart had two years remaining on his contract.

WPXI