Virginia Tech officials announced the firing of men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg Monday afternoon at a press conference in Blacksburg.
"We have terminated Seth Greenberg's contract," Virginia Tech Athletic director Jim Weaver said.
Weaver, who conducted the press conference with Virginia Tech associate athletic director and basketball administrator Tom Gabbard, said that Greenberg had been informed of the decision earlier Monday afternoon. "I think it was safe to say that he was shocked."
Weaver said that he and Gabbard had decided last week not to "enhance" Greenberg's contract, which ran through 2016. Weaver also said that he was concerned at the recent departures by three of Greenberg's assistant coaches from the Virginia Tech staff.
"I did not like the way things unfolded with coaches leaving an ACC program," Weaver said. "To have as many leave as we had sat the wrong way with me."
Earlier this month, Greenberg's top assistant, James Johnson, accepted a position on the staff at Clemson. Johnson was the sixth assistant coach to depart Greenberg's staff in the head coach's four-year tenure. Assistant Rob Ehsan and director of basketball operations Jeff Wulbrun had previously departed for UAB.
"I want to change the leadership such that the person at the top of that program as the same kind of family environment that the other part of his department has," Weaver said. "It became clear to me that we didn't have that in the men's basketball program.
"[Virginia Tech football coach] Frank Beamer has tremendous continuity. Continuity goes a long way toward establishing success. That's what I'd like to see in our entire department."
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