Brad Soderberg’s untimely firing has raised eyebrows and piqued the curiosity of a campus left in confusion after a Monday morning announcement detailing his dismissal. Questions rose immediately regarding the timing of the decision and who actually pulled the trigger on Soderberg this late in the game.

For such a questionable and peculiar decision, Saint Louis University refused to answer any questions and, instead issued a statement declaring that Soderberg had been notified of his release.

In this statement, the University said: “An extensive review of the state of the men’s basketball program has been ongoing since the end of the 2006-2007 season. This review has included a detailed analysis of the just-concluded season, the team’s failure to make a post-season tournament in recent years and the future of the men’s basketball program as the team prepares to move into a new on-campus arena for the 2008-2009 season. It was determined that a coaching change is necessary if the University is to achieve its goal of consistently having one of the nation’s top basketball programs.”

So, why now? Why fire Soderberg after he just signed two recruits (Anthony Mitchell and Marcus Relphorde) for next season? Why not give Soderberg the chance to recruit with the new arena? So many questions, yet no answers.

Let’s go ahead and analyze the University’s statement. Did you need an extensive review to tell you that this year was a letdown for the over-hyped Billikens? Yes, their 20-win season didn’t qualify them for a post-season appearance. Did it take the decision makers that long to render a verdict? It simply doesn’t add up.

Soderberg put this team in a position to win. He put together one of the nation’s toughest non-conference schedules. After looking dominant early in the season, the Bills dropped to the middle of the pack in the Atlantic 10, ultimately ruining a potential post-season berth.

The bottom line is that Soderberg cared about his players. He coached with passion and, no matter how much his team was up or down, he kept coaching until the final buzzer sounded. A man with such tremendous values deserves better than what he received on Monday morning. Shoving a high-class individual like Soderberg out the back door reflects poorly on the athletic department, as well as the school itself.

Let’s return to the University’s statement. So, you think that firing Soderberg now will aid in the process of preparing to enter into the new on-campus arena? Well, the pool of qualified coaches has already dried up. Even semi-credible college basketball programs like Michigan acted immediately in locating and signing a top-flight coach, like John Beilein.

So, I ask this of the decision makers: Do you have any plan for what you are trying to accomplish? Usually, when you release a coach this late in the game, you follow that up with an impressive and immediate hire in order to keep your fan base believing in the program. Instead of an immediate hire, however, we have nothing but haziness and unanswered questions, things that are all too common on our Midtown campus.

Rumors around campus claim a consulting firm has been hired to help in the search for a new coach. From this, we can determine that the University has no definitive plans of action. If the choice to remove Soderberg was planned, the University would already be ahead of the game in locating possible replacements. From the looks of it, however, this was a snap decision independent of the athletic department, that has left the basketball program in shambles.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch listed several possible candidates for the position. Among them were Barry Hinson (Missouri State), Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt) and Scott Sutton (Oral Roberts). However, why would any one of these coaches even think twice about coming to SLU after seeing how the Soderberg firing was handled?

Five years ago, any of the three would have jumped at the opportunity, but presently, almost every job in college basketball is better than the one with an office in West Pine Gym. The SLU job used to be a stepping-stone to bigger and better things, but now, that same stone is not even on the path.

So, what is the plan now? How are we going to have “one of college basketball’s top programs”? When they finally do hire a coach, it will be too late to recruit for the upcoming season. That coach will also be weeks behind in recruiting the first freshmen class to play in the new arena. When it comes time for the new arena to open, Tommie Liddell will have wisely taken his game to the next level, and, whatever was left for the new coach to recruit will be taking the floor for the Billikens. These possibilities point to a possible implosion in the new arena’s first season.

But I thought this decision was going to aid in making the team’s first season in the new arena a success? In essence, through the dismissal of Soderberg, the University has cut off its own legs.

The athletic department has lost any credibility it ever had with potential recruits. What does the handling of a move like this say to the parents of a top-flight recruit? Among other things, it says that the athletic department isn’t really in charge. The image of both the University and the athletic department has been tarnished because of this situation.

So, really, there is no good coming out of the decision to dismiss Soderberg now.

But, we must return to the present. Why, after supporting Soderberg throughout the ups and downs of the season, did athletic director Cheryl Levick finally decide to pull the trigger? Levick is too smart of an athletic director to make a decision as poor as this one.

She has pushed all the right buttons during her time at SLU. She has made the programs better and hired respectable coaches. This would seem like a conspiracy theory at any other school, but here at SLU, its an unfortunate reality. In the end, I doubt that Levick had any say in Soderberg’s firing.

So, who would want to coach at a school where everything is a secret? Where actions don’t have to be justified? Where decision makers can avoid being held accountable for their actions by issuing a press release and fleeing to their office? What ever happened to the Jesuit values that this University allegedly strives to embody? Oh, that’s right, those went out the back door with Soderberg.

If you are a member of the Board of Trustees, doesn’t something like this spark some level of concern? Perhaps its time to take some action. Keep in mind that what happens at this University reflects upon you as well.

If you object to the way this has been handled, maybe it’s time to take a stance. You are in a position to do great things. Please represent the University well.

The firing of Brad Soderberg raised serious questions about the credibility not only of the athletic department, but also of the administration. Whoever made the decision has put the basketball program on dangerous ground. It remains unclear who this decision maker was, but-with the school still needing roughly $7.5 million for the new arena-should we receive a generous donation from a satisfied booster in the coming weeks, I think we will know who ultimately pulled the trigger on Soderberg.