Men’s basketball
Loyola’s Moser recalls being let go by Zenger, glad to be where he’s at
If and when Porter Moser runs into Sheahon Zenger at the Final Four in San Antonio, the Loyola coach might not know how to react.
Zenger is the athletic director at Kansas. He’s also the guy who fired Moser at Illinois State when he was in the same position there.
Moser said Monday that he has not seen or spoken with Zenger since the firing, which he called “miserable and life-changing. But I wouldn’t be here without it because it led me to Rick Majerus (at Saint Louis), which led me here.”
Illinois State hired Zenger in 2005, in the midst of Moser’s four-year tenure. After going 17-13 in 2004-05, Moser’s teams finished 9-19 and 15-16.
Zenger fired him with three years remaining on his contract, saying at the time: “This isn’t about wins and losses from a particular season. This is about a program, and the management of that program.”
The decision gutted Moser and marked the only time he has been fired.
Zenger declined the Tribune’s request for an interview, with a Kansas spokesman saying he is on the road with donors and focusing solely on the Jayhawks, who toppled Duke to reach the Final Four.
Zenger did offer a statement, though: “No one is more excited about Porter than I am; right now what that team has done is the best story in college basketball. You hope that when you go through something like that with someone, this is how it ends up — success at the highest level for both teams.”
Zenger, whose background is in football, could be on the hot seat in Lawrence because his three football hires (Charlie Weis, interim Clint Bowen and David Beaty) are a combined 10-62, including Beaty’s 0-11 against FBS teams last season.
Moser said he has no hard feelings for Zenger.
“I’m so over it,” he said. “We had two of our kids in Bloomington and made lifelong friends. No one treats me better than ISU fans (at games). I’m better for having gone through this. And what has been so nice is all the outreach from coaches who have told me: I’ve been fired and, like you, I can reinvent myself.”
Next up
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
