COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Quin Snyder will return next season as
Missouri basketball coach, despite a string of recent losses and
NCAA-imposed probation, school officials said Friday.
Athletic Director Mike Alden met privately with top university
officials, including the governing Board of Curators, and
unanimously agreed Friday that Snyder would return next season.
Snyder, hired in April 1999 to succeed Norm Stewart, has a
contract through 2008 that pays him more than $1 million a year.
Missouri athletic department spokesman Chad Moller confirmed
that Snyder would return.
"Everyone is in support of Coach Snyder and there are no
changes to be made," Moller said Friday evening.
Snyder wasn't immediately available for comment. His team plays
Saturday night at Texas A&M.
Heading into the game, Missouri (10-11, 2-6 Big 12) has lost six
of its last seven games. Snyder's overall record at Missouri was
110-74.
The NCAA placed Missouri on three years' probation in November
because of an array of recruiting violations, including some by
Snyder. The punishment included a freeze in Snyder's pay and a
one-year ban for Snyder and his assistants on off-campus
recruiting.
Alden confirmed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Columbia
Daily Tribune and The Kansas City Star that he wanted to spread
word that Snyder would return because of speculation that a
coaching change was coming.
"Quin Snyder will definitely be our coach next season," Alden
told the Post-Dispatch in a story posted on its Web site. "You can
take that to the bank. It's 100 percent. So let's clear that up,
right now."
If Snyder is fired, his contract says the university must pay
him his base salary of $195,000 for each year left on his deal.
Snyder adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to his income from
endorsements, basketball camps and radio and television packages.
The university system's spokesman had no immediate comment. But
Brady Deaton, the Columbia campus chancellor, said he attended
Friday's meeting, along with the Board of Curators and the
university president, Elson Floyd.
"I have discussed this situation thoroughly with Athletic
Director Mike Alden and Coach Quin Snyder personally and am
supportive of their vision and plans for our basketball program as
we proceed into the future," Deaton told the Tribune.
In an interview with The Star on Wednesday, Snyder defended his
efforts as coach.
"We're playing four freshmen and nine guys," Snyder told The
Star. "There are a lot of things coming at us that we've got to
figure out a way to overcome."