Mike Anderson to file lawsuit vs. St. John’s over firing

Former St. John coach Mike Anderson said he will file an arbitration suit against the school after he was fired “for good cause”.

Under his contract, Anderson would have been owed $11 million had he not been fired for cause and he believes he was wrongfully terminated. The school has had “serious” talks with Iona head coach Rick Pitino, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel.

According to the resignation letter obtained by ESPN, Anderson was fired because he “failed to create and support an environment that strongly encourages student-athletes participating in the men’s basketball program to meet all academic requirements of the university,” “not their duties and responsibilities.” fulfilled in a way that had a positive impact on St. John’s University… in actions [that] brought the school serious disrepute” and “a failure to adequately supervise and communicate with your assistant coaches”.

Anderson denies the allegations.

“I strongly disagree with the university’s decision to terminate my contract for cause,” Anderson said in a statement to ESPN. “The allegation of cause is completely unfounded and I will aggressively defend my contractual rights through arbitration.”

Jay Morakis, CEO of M Group Strategic Communications, confirmed that Anderson has hired attorney John Singer of Singer-Deutsch, who is currently working with Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule in his $5 million arbitration against the Carolina Panthers.

Anderson finished his four years at St. John’s 68-56 overall and 30-46 in the Big East. During his time at St. John’s he did not reach the NCAA tournament.

Another former Big East coach followed a similar path when he believed he had been unfairly fired. Last year, a referee ordered UConn to pay former head coach Kevin Ollie $11 million after he was fired for cause following allegations of NCAA violations.