Memo to Gene Smith: Don’t buy any green bananas in the near future. Just sayin’ is all.
In the aftermath of the Reggie Bush scandal at USC and the sanctions handed down on the football program by the NCAA, Mike Garrett “stepped down” as the Trojans’ athletic director. Ahead of his school’s hearing in front of the NCAA, Garrett’s counterpart at Tennessee is reportedly out of a job as well.
Jim Murphy, vice chairman of the UT Board of Trustees, confirmed to the Knoxville News Sentinel this morning that Hamilton has decided to “resign” as the school’s director of athletics. An email, the paper reports, was sent by UT president Joe DiPietro Tuesday morning to the entire board informing them of Hamilton’s decision.
“He’s an outstanding guy who’s done a lot of good things for the university, so obviously we’re going to work hard to find somebody to replace him,”
The move comes as UT is set to appear before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions this week to answer questions regarding violations alleged in both the football program under Lane Kiffin and the basketball program under Bruce Pearl. Neither coach is still with their respective programs, with Kiffin bolting for the USC job after one year in Knoxville and Pearl fired for his significant role in the hoops scandal.
A press conference has been scheduled for 11 a.m. local time this morning.