Xavier and men’s basketball coach Travis Steele have agreed to mutually part ways after four seasons, according to Rick Broering of 247Sports. CBS Sports’s Jon Rothstein is also reporting the news.
The timing of the move is curious. On Tuesday, the Musketeers—a No. 2 seed in the NIT—beat Cleveland State 72–68. They advanced to face the winner of Wednesday’s Florida vs. Iona game in Gainesville.
Steele was promoted to head coach in 2018 after working as an assistant under coaches Sean Miller and Chris Mack. He began his tenure with the program as director of basketball operations in 2008 before being promoted to assistant coach in ’09. Steele was named associated head coach in 2015.
As leader of the Musketeers, Steele was 70–50 with a 31–37 Big East record. This year’s NIT bid was the second during his time leading the program. He never led the team to the NCAA tournament.
Interestingly, his predecessor Mack is available after being fired by Louisville in January. He is the school’s career leader in wins with 215, capped by the 2017–18 season in which the team won the Big East regular season crown at 15–3 in conference play.
The Xavier program is a proud one, with 28 NCAA tournament appearances and three trips to the Elite Eight since 2004. Its coaching vacancy should attract plenty of attention.
