Life does not appear to be getting any easier for USC men’s basketball coach Kevin O’Neill in the wake of his drunken altercation Thursday night. For those of you who have not heard, O’Neill and his wife, Roberta, reportedly got into it with a notable Arizona booster in a hotel and Roberta (and possibly Kevin) allegedly struck the man. O’Neill was suspended for the remainder of the Pac-10 tournament (their run ended Friday), and USC athletic director Pat Haden acknowledged that “additional discipline” is a possibility. Could that additional discipline come in the form of termination?
The March to Madness called our attention to a report from Point Guard U, the site that first reported the hotel confrontation, which states that O’Neill will be fired on Monday. USC was bounced from the Pac-10 tournament by Arizona on Friday without O’Neill and their NCAA tournament hopes may have been squandered with the loss.
However, Haden has had little tolerance for nonsense since he was hired and he was not in charge when O’Neill was brought in as head coach in 2009. With that in mind, it would not be stunning to hear that O’Neill will be fired. LBS is currently working on confirming the accuracy of the report.
UPDATE: USC’s media relations has informed LBS that any firing of O’Neill would be news to them and that it would come out of nowhere. They also termed Point Guard U’s initial report as having 25% accuracy.
UPDATE II: O’Neill has been re-instated as the team’s head coach to guide them through the post-season which could include an NCAA tournament berth. Athletic Director Pat Haden says he still faces additional institutional discipline and a fine.
