During the latter part of the college basketball season there were certain coaches who I expected to be shown the door at the end of the year by the their respective programs. Coaches came to mind such as Norm Roberts, Ernie Kent, and Todd Lickliter. Sure enough St. Johns, Oregon, and Iowa all decided to make coaching changes and those three coaches were sent their walking papers.

After Dino Gaudio’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons lost in their second round matchup to Kentucky in this year’s NCAA tournament I thought that surely had to be enough to keep Gaudio in the good graces of the Wake Forest athletic department.

Apparently though Wake Forest was not satisfied and fired Gaudio today after coaching three seasons with the school.

Gaudio went 61-31 in his three seasons at Wake and led the Demon Deacons to the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons. The decision to release Gaudio was based not on the team’s regular season accomplishments but based on a trend of late season disappointments. The Demon Deacons went 1-5 in the ACC tournament and NCAA tournament in Gaudio’s three seasons.

"The basis for the decision was our late-season and postseason performances," athletic director Ron Wellman said.

Wake Forest opened the season 16-0 in Gaudio’s second season; and was ranked number one in the country for one week. Despite that impressive start the team was bounced in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This year Wake Forest was ranked in top 25 in mid February before dropping four games in a row and finishing the season by losing to Miami [FL] in the ACC tournament and Kentucky in the NCAA tournament by a combined 51 points.

Former coach Gaudio’s assistants will now try to keep a five man recruiting class for next year that is ranked 10th best by scout.com intact.

"Our message to the recruits is, be patient," Wellman said. "Don't do something at a peak emotional moment that you would regret later on. Let us hire the new coach, meet with the new coach and see where this might go."

Dino Gaudio said he was proud of the work that he and his staff had done at the school in his time as head coach at Wake Forest.

"I want to thank Wake Forest for the opportunity it gave me and my staff three years ago," Gaudio said in a statement issued Wednesday night by the school. "I'm proud of what we accomplished on the court, in the classroom and in the community. We worked hard, did the very best we could and I wish the basketball program the very best in the future."

No names have been mentioned as to who Wake Forest will hire next to lead their men’s basketball program.