Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images(PITTSBURGH) — After one of the worst seasons in program history, the University of Pittsburgh fired head basketball coach Kevin Stallings on Thursday.
Stallings spent two seasons in charge of the Pitt program. In a statement, athletic director Heather Lyke expressed appreciation for Stallings’ “commitment to our program.”
Stallings replaced Jamie Dixon after the latter left Pitt to take the head coaching job at Texas Christian University.
Dixon’s Panthers won 20 games in 12 of his 13 seasons in charge. Stallings won just 24 out of 65 games including an 0-18 run in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season.
Pitt also lost their lone ACC Tournament game, marking just the second 0-19 mark in ACC history. The school was the only Division I team not to win a conference game this year.
Part of the team’s struggles can be attributed to the loss of senior forward Ryan Luther, who missed the remainder of the season after suffering a foot injury in December.
Attendance at Pitt home games dropped by 50 percent from 2016-2017, with just over 4,000 fans showing up per game.
Prior to taking over at Pitt, Stallings had coached 17 seasons at Vanderbilt University, going 332-220.
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