Washington State fires Ken Bone
Mar 18, 2014, 11:43 AM | Updated: 12:42 pm
By Brady Henderson
Washington State has fired mens basketball coach Ken Bone after five seasons.
The move, first reported by Jeff Goodman of ESPN, has since been confirmed by athletic director Bill Moos. In a press release, Moos said he informed Bone of the decision Tuesday morning.
“I appreciate what Ken has done for Cougar Basketball, leading us to the postseason twice in the last four years, and I thanked him for his service to WSU,” Moos said. “But at this point we need to revitalize our fan base, particularly our student body, and position this program to compete for championships.”
The Cougars finished the season 10-21 after a first-round elimination in the Pac-12 Tournament last week. It was their second straight losing season under Bone, who has a career record at Washington State of 80-86. His tenure included trips to the NIT seminfals in 2011 and the CBI finals the following year. He leaves with the sixth-most wins in school history.
Moos said the search for Bone’s replacement will begin immediately and that he expects to name a new head coach as soon as possible.
Bone was an assistant at Washington and then the head coach at Portland State before replacing Tony Bennett at Washington State in 2009.