Vols fire Donnie Tyndall
— -- The Tennessee Volunteers have fired Donnie Tyndall, as the basketball coach is "highly likely" to be found responsible for NCAA violations stemming from his time at Southern Miss, the school announced Friday morning.
A source with direct knowledge told ESPN's Andy Katz that Tyndall will be accused by the NCAA under the new coach control policy for financial and academic violations. A formal notice of allegations still needs to be sent to Southern Miss but the NCAA briefed Tennessee prior to the firing.
"It is disappointing that we have to take this action," Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said in a statement Friday. "It is highly likely that Coach Tyndall will face significant penalties at the conclusion of the NCAA's infractions process. We believe that this decision is in the best interests of the University of Tennessee."
Sources said that Tyndall was informed of the decision by Hart earlier Friday. The Vols have scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m.
The 44-year-old Tyndall, who left Southern Miss for Tennessee this past season, was being investigated by the NCAA for potential rules violations related to improper financial aid to a pair of Southern Miss players -- Matt Bingaya and Shadell Millinghaus.
According to the source, the violations centered on financial aid for non-qualified academic student-athletes who sat out a season as well as academic issues related to junior college transfers. Tennessee looked at the case as similar to Syracuse in that the head coach would be held responsible. The coach control penalty would have been imposed on Tyndall, whether he was personally involved or not.
The source said Tyndall will not receive a buyout since the university has broad discretion for cause to fire and because it didn't know of the violations committed under Tyndall's watch at Southern Miss.
Tennessee, according to the source, didn't want its head coach to be suspended again after it had gone through something similar when Bruce Pearl was suspended eight SEC games by the league for violations (Tyndall succeeded Cuonzo Martin, who followed Pearl).
Tyndall went 16-16 in his only season with the Vols.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was suspended for the first nine games of the 2015-16 ACC season by the NCAA under the new coach control rule. He is appealing.
According to the source, Tyndall would likely receive a suspension for the 2015-16 season. If it would be in the 2016-17 season, due to the pending investigation at Southern Miss, then Tyndall could outlast the suspension by sitting out. According to the source, the suspensions are for the specific season designated, not open ended whenever a coach returns to college.
ESPN's Andy Katz, Jeff Goodman and Chris Low contributed to this report.
