Seton Hall fires coach

Fed up by his antics on and off the court, Seton Hall fired basketball Coach Bobby Gonzalez on Wednesday after a 19-win season.

The dismissal came roughly 12 hours after the coach known as “Gonzo” endured an 87-69 loss in the opening round of the NIT, a game in which Seton Hall forward Herb Pope was ejected for hitting a Texas Tech player below the belt and Gonzalez picked up his seventh technical foul of the season.

“Performance and success are not measured solely by wins and losses, but also in the conduct of those associated with the program,” said Patrick Hobbs, the university law school dean who has been overseeing the athletic department since July.

The Pirates went 19-13 this season, including 9-9 in the Big East, both four-year highs for Gonzalez. However, he failed to get Seton Hall to the NCAA tournament, posting a 66-59 overall record and a 29-45 league mark.

Gonzalez led Manhattan to four 20-win seasons and two NCAA tournaments in seven years before replacing the fired Louis Orr at Seton Hall.

Hill stays at Rutgers

Fred Hill will return for a fifth season as Rutgers’ head coach.

Rutgers went 15-17 this year, giving Hill a 47-77 mark. The Scarlet Knights’ 5-13 record in Big East play was their best under Hill.

“Hill’s future had been in doubt for month, but the troubled economy might have helped him. Rutgers would have owed him nearly $1.5 million if it fired him — he earned $520,500 this past season — a big bill for a cash-strapped state. Because he is coming back, Hill will earn an additional $300,000. He also will get a $100,000 bonus for being on the job after April 5.

Cal suspends Amoke

California starting forward Omondi Amoke has been suspended indefinitely by Coach Mike Montgomery for a violation of team rules, a blow for the eighth-seeded Golden Bears heading into their NCAA opener against No. 7 Louisville on Friday in Jacksonville, Fla.

The school provided no further details about what the 6-foot-7 sophomore did to be suspended. Cal is coming off its first Pac-10 regular-season title in 50 years.

Amoke moved into the starting lineup late in the season and had started 14 games total. He was averaging 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds

Education first

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says college basketball teams that don’t graduate at least 40% of their players should be banned from postseason play.

Duncan said that his idea represents a low bar and over time it should be raised.

NCAA spokesman Bob Williams says a ban based on graduation rates unfairly penalizes current players for the academic performance of athletes from years ago. He says the NCAA already has a system in place that penalizes schools if they do not meet academic benchmarks.

Under Duncan’s idea, a dozen teams in this year’s men’s NCAA tournament would be ineligible, including Kentucky, which graduated 31% of its players over the period measured by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.