Tulsa Fires Head Men's Basketball Coach Doug Wojcik

Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik has been fired by the university after seven seasons.

The University held a press conference on Sunday afternoon at the Reynolds Center, with athletic director Ross Parmley making the announcement, citing decreasing ticket sales and overall fan apathy.

"After substantial consideration, we have decided to make a change in our head basketball coaching position," Parmley said. "This is a business decision based on some serious challenges we have in basketball. Since 2005, we have seen a 35-percent decrease in season ticket sales, a 43-percent decline in revenue and growing apathy among our fan base.

Tulsa went 17-14 overall this season and 10-6 in Conference USA play.

Wojcik was hired to begin the 2005-06 season as Tulsa's coach and compiled a 140-92 overall record in his seven seasons as coach.

"We appreciate the efforts and contributions Doug has made to our basketball program in his seven years," Parmley said. "He has honored our student-athletes and The University of Tulsa through his strong representation of both."

He increased or matched the team's total number of wins in each of his first four seasons, jumping from 11 wins in 2005-06 to 25 wins in 2007-08 and 2008-09. Over the past three seasons, however, his win total has fallen each year, going from 25 down to 23, 19 and 16 this year.

His team did not make the NCAA tournament in any of his seven seasons, though it did reach the NIT twice and won the College Basketball Invitational tournament in 2008.

Wojcik came to Tulsa after two seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State University. He was named the Tulsa head coach in March 2005.

The Hurricane's last NCAA appearance was in 2003.

TU's attendance numbers for men's basketball also saw a sharp dropoff this season.

Wojcik has been at the helm for seven years. In that time, he's averaged 20 wins per season. Last month, he passed Clarence Iba for the most wins all-time in Tulsa school history, beating out Iba's 137-win mark and finishing with 140.

University president Steadman Upham said the university wishes Wojcik success in his future endeavors.

"As head coach, Doug Wojcik represented the university and our men's basketball program with great integrity, and we are grateful for his many contributions to TU," Upham said.

Check back with this story for more updates as details become available.