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Colorado State expected to part ways with Larry Eustachy

Colorado State v UNLV

LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 26: Head coach Larry Eustachy of the Colorado State Rams looks on during a game against the UNLV Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center on February 26, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. UNLV won 78-70. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Colorado State is expected to part ways with head coach Larry Eustachy, sources confirmed to NBC Sports.

Eustachy has been on paid administrative leave since Saturday, which came days after the University opened up an investigation into the culture that the coach has created within his program and his conduct and behavior towards his team.

His associate head coach, Steve Barnes, has been in the interim role in the days since.

According to the Denver Post, the decision is the result of the school determining that Eustachy violated a zero tolerance mandate that he was given after an investigation into this same issue back in 2013-14. That investigation found that Eustachy verbally and emotionally assaulted the players on his roster. The athletic director at the time recommended that Eustachy be fired, but he was overruled by the university president, who is still with the school.

One source told NBC Sports that the sticking point would end up being whether or not the school could fire Eustachy for cause. His contract has a significant buyout -- according to the Post, more than $3 million -- and Colorado State is not a school that can flush money like that away. A violation of that zero tolerance policy is believed to be enough to fire him for cause.

Sources told NBC Sports that South Dakota’s Craig Smith and Drake’s Niko Medved, both former CSU assistant coaches under Tim Miles, are two names that will be involved in the search for a replacement.

Colorado State is 10-16 this season and 3-10 in the Mountain West, easily the worst season that Eustachy has had in Fort Collins. He made the 2013 NCAA tournament but has yet to be back. Last year, the Rams went 24-12 and 13-5 in the MWC. In 2003, Eustachy lost his job as the head coach at Iowa State after photos of him drinking with and kissing students at Kansas State and Missouri were made public.