Cleveland U. Fires Mackey, Cites Drug Use
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CLEVELAND — Cleveland State University fired basketball Coach Kevin Mackey today, two days after he admitted to a cocaine and alcohol problem.
“I fired Kevin Mackey, but really he fired himself,” university President John Flower said at a news conference.
Flower said Mackey’s behavior had “made a mockery” of ethical and moral standards.
Mackey was arrested Friday night as he drove away from a reputed drug house. A urine test showed he had .20 of a gram of alcohol per 100 milliliters of urine, above the legal limit of 0.14 of a gram. The test also showed some cocaine in his system.
At a news conference Tuesday, Mackey called his problems with drugs and drinking a “descent into hell.”
He has pleaded innocent to charges of driving while intoxicated, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle and violation of the open container ordinance.
Mackey, 43, was hired as Cleveland State’s head coach in 1983, after he had served as an assistant at Boston College since 1977.
Mackey last week had signed a new two-year contract.
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