La Salle has fired men's basketball coach Ashley Howard after four seasons, the school announced Monday.
The school announced that associate head coach Kyle Griffin will serve as interim head coach while a search for Howard's replacement is underway. That search will begin immediately.
The Explorers' season ended in the Atlantic 10 tournament with a 71-51 loss to Saint Louis. They finished 11-19 overall and 5-13 in the A-10 this season.
Howard has struggled since taking over in 2018, failing to finish above .500 in any of his four seasons at the helm. He showed promise in his first two seasons with the Explorers, going 8-10 in the Atlantic 10 in 2018-19 and going 15-15 overall in 2019-20. But they were just 20-35 (11-24 in conference play) over the past two seasons.
La Salle is considered arguably the most difficult job in the Atlantic 10 due to its resources and facilities, and the Explorers have been to just one NCAA tournament since 1992.
Before being named the head coach at La Salle, Howard spent five seasons as an assistant coach under Jay Wright at Villanova, winning national championships in 2016 and 2018. The Philadelphia native also has experience as an assistant coach at Xavier, Drexel and La Salle. He played his college ball at Drexel.