Butler announced Friday it was firing men's basketball coach LaVall Jordan after five seasons.
Jordan met with athletic director Barry Collier multiple times since the Bulldogs' season ended, sources told ESPN, but the amount of buyout money Jordan would be owed in case of a firing dropped on Friday.
"After a thorough evaluation, I have come to the decision that a change in the leadership of our men's basketball program is needed," Collier said. "These decisions are never easy, but are incredibly more difficult when it impacts a high-character Bulldog who has represented our university so well for many years. I want to thank LaVall for his dedication to our program, and we wish him and his family all the best moving forward."
Jordan took over at his alma mater in 2017, leading the Bulldogs to an 83-74 record during his five seasons at the helm. The Bulldogs went to the NCAA tournament in his first season, winning 21 games and beating Arkansas in the first round of the tournament. In 2020, Butler was poised for a high seed in the NCAA tournament before it was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic; the Bulldogs were 22-9 entering the Big East tournament that season.
In the 2021-22 season, Butler disappointed despite preseason expectations of competing for an NCAA tournament bid. The Bulldogs brought nearly everyone back from their 2020-21 team, but finished just 14-19 overall and 6-14 in conference play. Their season ended with a 65-61 loss to Providence in the Big East tournament.
Prior to taking over at Butler, Jordan was the head coach at Milwaukee for one season. He spent 13 years as an assistant coach, starting his coaching career as an assistant at Butler under Todd Lickliter before going to Iowa and Michigan.
Ohio's Jeff Boals is considered one of the leading candidates to replace Jordan, sources told ESPN.