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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
SMU has fired coach Rob Lanier after just two seasons, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The Mustangs’ season ended Wednesday with a 101-92 loss to Indiana State in the NIT, wrapping up a season that featured a 10-win improvement from his first season in charge.
SMU went 20-13 this season, finishing fifth in the AAC at 11-7 in league play. After beating Memphis by 27 points on Feb. 18 to improve to 19-7 overall and 10-3 in AAC, the Mustangs lost six of their final games to end the season.
In Lanier’s first season at the helm, SMU went 10-22 overall and finished next-to-last in the AAC.
Prior to taking over for Tim Jankovich in 2022, Lanier was the head coach at Georgia State for three seasons, leading the Panthers to the NCAA tournament in his final season. He was a longtime assistant coach at the high-major level, spending time at Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Virginia and Rutgers. The New York native was also the head coach of Siena from 2001 to ’05, going to the 2002 NCAA tournament.
SMU is one of three schools joining the ACC in the summer, alongside Stanford and Cal.