Oregon State University Athletic Director Bob De Carolis announced Monday that men’s basketball Coach Craig Robinson was fired last night and that the university has started its search for his replacement. The university will hold a press conference today at 1:30.

“This was a difficult decision, but after further evaluation, I believe it is in the best interests of our student-athletes, our basketball program and our University,” De Carolis said in a press release.

The Beavers’ season ended six weeks ago with a 16-16 season. Robinson, who is First Lady Michelle Obama’s brother, was hired in 2008 after spending time as head coach at Brown University and an assistant coach at Northwestern. Robinson had a 93-104 record and no NCAA tournament appearances while at OSU.

As I reported earlier, Sports Illustrated broke the story, noting the odd timing for the announcement as the season had already been over for six weeks and Robinson had received administrative support despite his losing season. The Daily Barometer, the student newspaper at Oregon State, points out that three key players left the OSU roster since the season’s end.

Now, the university will have to scramble to find a replacement with what’s left of uncommitted coaches or coaches who are willing to leave their current posts. And whoever is hired will only have a small window to recruit players.

As SI reported, the university will have to buy Robinson out of the three remaining years on his contract, about $4 million.

This story originally appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting.