Seton Hall Loses vs. Sportsbook Odds in NIT. Sportsbook results reflected Seton Hall losing in NIT action on Tuesday and the team wasted no time in firing head coach Bobby Gonzalez. The Pirates nearly made the NCAA Tournament this season but they just missed out and then played poorly against Texas Tech, getting blown out 87-69 even though they were the favorite at the Internet sportsbook.
Sportsbook statistics had Seton Hall winning 19 games this season. It is unusual for a coach to get fired after having such a good season but it was more than just wins and losses at Seton Hall. The loss to Texas Tech was ugly as forward Herb Pope was ejected for punching a Texas Tech player. Head coach Gonzalez got a technical foul in the game and that was his seventh technical 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 Seton Hall law school dean Patrick Hobbs who has been running the Athletic department since last year. “We have expectations as to how our coaches and players will conduct themselves, and they are expected to treat everyone they interact with, whether officials, the press or our students, with the utmost respect, maturity and professionalism. Those core expectations must be met.”
There was not much support for Gonzalez at Seton Hall. The university president was not happy with the conduct of Gonzalez. “I told him that I lost my confidence in his ability to coach and lead this program,” University president Robert Sheeran said, “I spoke with people on and off the campus and I made the decision. The decision was mine and it was in the best interests of Seton Hall University.”
Seton Hall did go 19-13 this season and stats at the Internet sportsbook indicated that they were 9-9 in the tough Big East conference. Many people believed that Seton Hall deserved an NCAA bid but it didn’t happen. Things really got bad after the team didn’t get a bid as Gonzalez kicked Robert Mitchell off the team on Sunday. It went from bad to worse on Tuesday against Texas Tech as the team was blown out at home in sportsbook results. “We respect the effort he put in,” Hobbs said. “He wanted to win. He wanted to be the right fit. But he’s a mercurial talent, a lightning rod. In the end, when you look at the totality of it, on the court, off the court, Coach Gonzalez was not the right fit for Seton Hall.”