Volunteers 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 of 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, who was 16-16 in his lone season with the Vols, was informed of the decision by Hart earlier Friday. Tennessee will now look for its third coach in three years and fourth in six years.
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.
Southern Missi announced in January that it was self-imposing a postseason ban for its men's basketball program and acknowledged the investigation centered on the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years, when Tyndall was the Golden Eagles' coach.
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 from Tennessee since the university has broad discretion for cause to fire if he is found to have committed an NCAA Level I or Level II violation "whether the conduct occurred during (Tyndall's) employment with the university or another NCAA-member institution."
The Vols also were unaware of the violations committed under Tyndall's watch at Southern Miss.
While Tyndall was at Morehead State, the program was placed on probation for two years in August 2010 because of violations related to booster activity. The school's self-imposed penalties included the loss of one scholarship and other recruiting restrictions. At Tyndall's introductory press conference last year, Hart said he reviewed the situation "very thoroughly" and had no concerns about it moving forward.
"I don't shy away from responsibility," Tyndall said during that introductory news conference. "I learned from it, I grew from it and I certainly never expect to go through it again."
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).
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is 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. However, because the investigation is still pending at Southern Miss, the suspension could also be for the 2016-17 season. According to the source, the suspensions are for the specific season designated, not open ended whenever a coach returns to college, so Tyndall could outlast the suspension by sitting out.
Andy Katz, Jeff Goodman and Chris Low of ESPN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
