We are roughly a year removed from the George Washington basketball program finding itself in a scandal thanks to then head coach Mike Lonergan. At the time, he was fired for alleged misconduct while dealing with his players. Now, however, he and the university have reached a settlement off the hardwood.
Per a university release:
“Shortly after Mr. Lonergan was terminated he informed the university that he was considering legal action for breach of his employment contract with GW and for defamation,” a statement released Wednesday said, “because his termination was improper and without just cause and media reports about his termination contained factual errors and misinformation.
“GW denies Mr. Lonergan’s allegations, denies that the university or any of its employees acted wrongly or have any liability, and has no comment on the veracity of the media reports whose accuracy Lonergan disputes. Mr. Lonergan and the university have reached a settlement that will avoid litigation and put this dispute behind them. The terms of the parties’ agreement are confidential.”
It is worth noting that after initial reports surfaced over the alleged misconduct, few things from either side — George Washington or Mike Lonergan — became public.
The school replaced Lonergan with Maurice Joseph. At first, it was just as an interim coach, then being promoted to full-time. Joseph led the Colonials to a 20-15 record as the team’s interim coach last year, and signed a five-year contract with the school in March.
As for the story moving forward, it will be interesting to see what kind of work in the basketball field Lonergan is or isn't able to land after this entire debacle.
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