With the season ending for some teams this week, it should come as no surprise that the coaching carousel is starting to kick into gear.
Just a couple of days after Southern Illinois head coach Chris Lowery got the axe comes news that Jim Baron is out at Rhode Island with two years still left on his contract. The Rams struggled this season, finishing 7-24 overall and 4-12 in Atlantic 10 play. But Baron had been coming off of four consecutive 20 win seasons, although there was a sense of frustration given that URI hadn’t made an NCAA Tournament during his tenure. Also, according to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com, people in the state were upset about Baron’s $600,000 salary.
Baron coached 11 seasons in Kingston, RI.
His son, Billy, transferred to URI from Virginia and became eligible this season. He averaged 13.0 ppg in 20 games. Pete Thamel broke the news on twitter this morning.