Bossi's Best: Fired Final Four coaches

By letting Thad Matta go earlier this week, Ohio State did something that doesn’t happen all that often. They moved on from a coach who had led their program to a Final Four appearance -- two of them (2007 and 2012) in the case of Matta.

This actually marked the second time during the Rivals.com era (2002 and beyond) that the Buckeyes had fired a coach who had previously made a Final Four. In 2004, they fired Jim O’Brien, who had reached the 1999 Final Four, over cheating allegations.

Ohio State became the second program this offseason to let a coach go who had led them to a Final Four. Georgetown parted ways with John Thompson III earlier in the spring.

It’s too early to know what will happen with Ohio State and Georgetown, but the other six programs that fired Final Four coaches in the Rivals.com era have found it difficult to replicate the feats of their fired coach. Here's a look at each of those situations.

High point: After one season as interim coach following the firing of Bob Knight, Davis was named head coach in 2001 and promptly led Indiana to the national championship game in his first season as full-time head coach. The Hoosiers tied for first in the Big Ten that season and lost to Maryland in the national title game.

Why he was let go: After making the Final Four in 2002, the wheels seemed to fall off for Davis at Indiana. The Hoosiers made the NCAA Tournament in 2003, but they missed out on the field in 2004 and 2005. Amidst speculation about his job status, Davis actually announced during the 2005-06 season that it would be his last in Bloomington.

What’s happened since: After hiring Archie Miller this spring, the Hoosiers are on their third -- fourth if you count Dan Dakich’s stint as interim head coach in 2008 -- head coach since Davis left in 2006. His replacement, Kelvin Sampson, landed the Hoosiers on probation. Tom Crean did lead the Hoosiers to the Sweet 16 three times (2012, 2013 and 2016), but that’s as far as they’ve gotten while only playing in six of 11 NCAA Tournaments since Davis left.

High point: Under the direction of Barnes -- who just finished his second year at Tennessee -- Texas made its first Final Four since 1947 in 2003. It also tied for the Big 12 Championship and made Elite Eight runs in 2006 and 2008. Under Barnes, T.J. Ford (2003) and Kevin Durant (2007) were named National Player of the year.

Why he was let go: Even though Barnes led the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament in 16 of the 17 seasons he was in Austin and won three Big 12 titles, it was never enough. His recruiting started to slip some in his last few years, but there was no scandal or single moment to point to his demise. Texas just felt it was time to move on after only finishing among the top four in the Big 12 just twice in Barnes' last seven years.

What’s happened since: Texas hired Shaka Smart -- who led VCU to a Final Four in 2011 -- but the Longhorns failed to make the Tournament last season and have gone 31-35 during Smart's first two years. However, a top-five recruiting class headlined by 2017’s No. 2 player Mohamed Bamba is set to hit campus, and 2017-18 figures to be a big bounce back year for Texas a program that is stocked with young talent.

High point: Hewitt was the ACC Coach of the Year in 2001, and in 2004 Hewitt led Georgia Tech all the way to the national championship game, where they lost to UConn.

Why he was let go: Following the title game appearance, Hewitt and Tech missed four of the next seven tournaments and only finished higher than sixth in the ACC one time.

What’s happened since: Hewitt is now out of coaching after a four-year stint at George Mason. Meanwhile, Tech has completed seven straight seasons without making an NCAA Tournament. Brian Gregory was ousted after only managing to make one NIT in five years. Preparing for his second season, Josh Pastner looks like he may have things headed in the right direction after leading Tech to a runner up finish in the 2017 NIT.

High point: Weber took over in the 2003-04 season after Bill Self left for Kansas. He won Big Ten championships in his first two years, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2004 and losing to North Carolina in the 2005 national championship game.

Why he was let go: Following the 2005 run, the Illini missed three of the next seven NCAA Tournaments and finished at .500 or below in Big Ten play three times. Recruiting dipped and Illinois decided it was time for a change after the 2011-12 season even though he had posted the second highest winning percentage of any coach in Illinois history.

What’s happened since: Weber was hired by Kansas State, where he shared a Big 12 title in 2013 and has made the NCAA Tournament in three of six years. Weber’s replacement, John Groce, only made one NCAA trip (2013) and only finished at .500 in Big Ten play in 2015. Brad Underwood replaced Groce this spring.

High point: In his ninth season at LSU, Brady took the Tigers to the 2006 Final Four after making the NCAA Tournament in just four of the previous eight years.

Why he was let go: The collapse of LSU basketball after the 2006 Final Four was swift. Brady was fired during the 2008 season after going just 6-17 in SEC play post Final Four.

What’s happened since: In his first year as Brady’s replacement, Trent Johnson led LSU to an SEC title in 2009 and made the NCAA Tournament. It would be his only NCAA appearance before getting fired in 2012. His replacement, Johnny Jones, didn’t fare any better, only making the NCAA field in 2015 and managing to miss out on a tourney berth in 2016 despite the services of No. 1 draft pick Ben Simmons. Though he’s yet to coach a game, new coach Will Wade has at least won one big-time recruiting battle, landing top-40 2017 prospect Tremont Waters.

High point: From 2006-2008, Howland led UCLA to three Final Fours, three Pac-10 championships and a pair of Pac-10 Tournament titles.

Why he was let go: Despite producing several pros like Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Shabazz Muhammad and Jrue Holiday, to name a few, Howland suffered from some bad publicity in regards to relationships with his players. More importantly, his relationships with Southern California travel team programs deteriorated -- he only landed three four-star prospects from SoCal in his last four classes -- and Howland was let go after the 2013 season despite winning the Pac-12 title and making the NCAA Tournament.

What’s happened since: After a few years out of coaching, Howland landed at Mississippi State, where he has recruited well but finished 11th and 12th in the SEC while seeing many players transfer. Howland’s UCLA replacement, Steve Alford, has led the Bruins to the Sweet 16 in three of four seasons. Alford has also repaired many SoCal recruiting relationships, landing six five-star and five four-star prospects from the region since taking the job in 2013.