Wake Forest fires Gaudio

WINSTON-SALEM — Ron Wellman didn't flinch when he explained his surprising decision to fire Wake Forest basketball coach Dino Gaudio on Wednesday.

Citing a pattern of poor late-season finishes and a 1-5 record in the postseason, the Demon Deacons' athletic director said the personable Gaudio, who won two-thirds of his games in three seasons, didn't win enough when it counted it most.

Wellman, wearing a grey suit, gold tie and a serious look, rattled off Gaudio's record in the months of February and March, the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament for the gathered media.

"I wanted a decision to be based upon fact," Wellman said. "This was not a decision based upon a one-year performance. We can put up with a disappointment but there was a pattern here that needed to be addressed."

Gaudio went 61-31 in three seasons but just 1-5 in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Gaudio, 53, had four years remaining on his contract and will be given a buyout, Wellman said without citing the details of the deal.

The timing of the decision, almost three weeks after the season ended and six months after Gaudio received a contract extension, left the Wake players, and recruits, in shock.

"My jaw is still on the ground," senior guard L.D. Williams said. "I didn't see this coming."

Enloe senior Melvin Tabb, one of five recruits committed to Wake in what's considered a top 10 recruiting class, said the decision caught him by surprise.

"No one really knew what was going on to be honest with you," said Tabb, one of four Wake recruits ranked in the top 100 by Scout.com. "Coach Gaudio was a very cool guy. It's kind of sad to see him go, especially like this."

With the loss of three senior starters and sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu from a team that went 20-11, the Deacons were in for a rebuilding year in 2010-11. They'll have to do so with a new coach after a third slow finish, after a fast start, in as many years under Gaudio.

This season, Wake started 8-3 in the ACC but lost four of the final five regular-season games and then lost in the first round of the ACC tournament to Miami.

Gaudio, who went 27-21 in the ACC, did lead the Deacs to a first-round win over Texas in the NCAA tournament but lost to Kentucky by 30 points in the second round.

Senior forward David Weaver said the players felt responsible for Gaudio's exit.

"You can't just lose and blame the coach," Weaver said. "It's the job of the guys on the floor to execute."

In 2008-09, the Deacs reached No. 1 in the country in late January but the season ended with double-digit, upset losses in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Cleveland State, a No. 13 seed, beat a Wake team with two first-round NBA picks 84-69 in 2009 NCAA tournament.

"We want a team that continues to improve," Wellman said. "We want a team that is peaking at the right time of the year. In college basketball, that's in late February, March and the NCAA tournament."

Wellman cited Gaudio's 16-17 record in the months of February and March, including a 4-7 mark in March, as the reason for his ouster despite exemplary work after a difficult transition in Aug. 2007.

Gaudio, an assistant at Wake for seven years, became the head coach after Skip Prosser's death from a heart attack. Gaudio's promotion kept together what was considered one of the top recruiting classes in the country, with Aminu as the centerpiece, and offered the program a measure of stability.

Wellman praised Gaudio again on Wednesday for his leadership in a tumultuous time.

"It was as difficult a situation as there was in college basketball," Wellman said. "No one could have done a better job."

Gaudio's first team, while still mourning from the loss of Prosser and coming off a losing season, went 17-13 but faded by the season's end.

After beating then-No.2 Duke to get to 6-5 in the ACC, the 2006-07 team lost four of their final five ACC games and then lost to Florida State in the first round of the ACC tournament to miss out on both the NCAA tournament and NIT.

Gaudio, who was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, defended his teams propensity for poor finishes as recently as March 1. He pointed to Wake's 6-1 record at the end of the '08-'09 regular season. When he was told that team would be remembered for the 0-2 postseason and not the regular season, Gaudio bristled.

"Yeah, the regular season means a lot to us," Gaudio said on the weekly ACC coaches' conference call on March 1. "And like I said we finished last year winning six of our last seven games."

Based on Wednesday's decision, Wellman and Gaudio were not on the same page when it came to the importance of the regular season.

Wellman said he has already begun the search for a new coach but he did not have a timetable for the decision.