Cincinnati has fired men’s basketball coach John Brannen, reports Sports Illustrated‘s Pat Forde. The Athletic‘s Justin Williams was first to report the firing.
The university previously opened an investigation in March and suspended Brannen on April 3 after six players—including four members of the 2020 freshman class—entered the transfer portal in a span of a few days due to a rift with Brannen.
Tim Morris will serve as interim head coach while the university searches for a replacement.
Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham wrote in a statement that the program decided to move on from Brannen, per Williams.
“The decision to move in a new direction comes after a thorough review of our program, which included conversations with student-athletes, coaches and staff, as well as with Coach Brannen,” Cunningham said.
Brannen was hired in 2019. Since joining the program, seven players who Brennan personally recruited left the program.
Initially, there was no timeline for Brannen’s return and it was believed that the review being conducted was in order to look for something that would justify the for-cause firing of Brannen.
Brannen’s attorney, Tom Mars, previously told Forde, “there’s absolutely no basis here for coach Brannen to be terminated for cause.”
“I’ve thoroughly reviewed everything that’s being investigated by UC’s outside counsel,” Mars said. “From what I can tell, it appears that Jeff Long must have given UC’s AD a copy of the David Beaty playbook.”
On Friday, Mars echoed the same sentiments, sending Forde a text that Bearcats football coach sent to Brannen on April 3, the day Brannen was suspended. The text read, “This is bulls— and the way it’s being handled is bulls— as well.”
The Bearcats finished 12–11 in 2021 and didn’t qualify for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
