Seton Hall Fires Orr After Five Seasons

Seton Hall fired coach Louis Orr on Friday, a little more than a week after the Pirates lost by 20 points in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Orr was 80-69 in five seasons and had two years left on his contract.

Athletic Director Joe Quinlan cited recruiting and management of the basketball program as two areas of disagreement. Orr had been criticized for not having a better recruiting record in the New York-New Jersey area. Seton Hall has no recruits signed for next season.

“Recruiting is a constant process you have to be involved in,” Quinlan said. “I firmly believe it’s important to have a strong presence in the metropolitan area.”

Orr led the Pirates to the NCAA tournament twice and to the National Invitation Tournament in 2003, when he was honored as Big East coach of the year. But he came under fire after finishing 12-16 (4-12 in conference) a year ago, and his status was considered tenuous after Quinlan was hired in September.

Seton Hall finished 18-12 and was seeded 10th in the Washington Regional, losing, 86-66, to Wichita State in the first round on March 16.

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Portland fired coach Michael Holton after the Pilots lost 91 games over his five seasons.

Holton, who played at UCLA and had a six-year career in the NBA, compiled a 54-91 overall record at Portland. The Pilots were 20-50 in the West Coast Conference.

The Pilots were 11-18 this season, though they swept the other Oregon schools -- Portland State, Oregon and Oregon State -- for the first time since 1949.

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Fred Hill Jr. will become head coach at Rutgers on Monday.

The New Jersey school announced Friday that Hill would be introduced as its new coach.

He will succeed Gary Waters, who resigned this month with four years left on his contact.

Hill served as Waters’ associate head coach this season after more than 20 years as an assistant or associate coach at schools including Marquette, Seton Hall and Villanova. Rutgers finished 19-14 in 2005-06 and reached the second round of the NIT. The Scarlet Knights have not played in the NCAA tournament since 1991.