Douglass ousted at UC Irvine

Pat Douglass, whose 197 wins and 13 seasons at the helm are the most in the 45-year history of the program, is finished as UC Irvine men’s basketball coach.

UCI Athletic Director Mike Izzi announced Thursday that Douglass, who guided the Anteaters to their only Big West Conference regular-season titles in 2001 and 2002, will not have his contract renewed.

“I believe this decision is in the best interest of the university,” Izzi said in a statement. “It allows us to move the men’s basketball program in a new direction with the goal of annually being in the upper tier of the Big West Conference as well as competing in the NCAA Tournament.

“A nationwide search will begin immediately to hire the new head coach. We appreciate the contributions that Pat has made and wish him well in his future endeavors,” Izzi said.

Douglass, 60, finished 197-191 at UCI when the Anteaters fell to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 73-69, in the first round of the Big West Tournament on Wednesday to complete the season 14-18.

Since posting three straight 20-win seasons from 2000 to 2003, including a 25-5 record in 2000-01 that included the first of back-to-back trips to the NIT, UCI’s record in seven subsequent seasons has been 112-114.

Douglass guided the ’Eaters to the Big West Tournament title game in 2008 after a fifth-place regular-season conference finish.

The Anteaters tied for second in the Big West regular-season standings in 2005-06, when they won their first eight conference games.

Douglass was Big West Conference Coach of the Year in 2001.

With previous stops at Cal State Bakersfield, where his 10-season tenure included three NCAA Division II titles, and six seasons at Eastern Montana, Douglass is 573-310 in his 29 seasons at four-year colleges.

One publication named him Division II Coach of the Decade and he was Division II Coach of the Year in each of his championship seasons.

He is the all-time victories leader at Bakersfield (257-61 for a winning percentage of .808).

— From staff reports