Former Saint John's head coach Mike Anderson to file lawsuit against school amid Rick Pitino rumors

Saint John’s may be on the hunt for Rick Pitino, but the man the Iona Gaels leader would replace, Mike Anderson, isn’t going away without a fight.

The Red Storm fired Anderson after being eliminated from the Big East Tournament earlier this month. At the time, Saint John’s stated they fired Anderson for-cause, and many have connected Pitino to the gig over recent weeks. However, Anderson believes he was let-go unjustly, and will file an arbitration lawsuit against the school.

“Former St. John’s coach Mike Anderson said he will file an arbitration lawsuit against the school after he was terminated ‘for cause.’ Per his contract, Anderson would have been owed $11 million if he had not been fired for cause, and he believes he has been wrongfully terminated,” wrote Myron Medcalf of ESPN. “According to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel, the school has been in ‘serious’ talks with Iona head coach Rick Pitino to replace Anderson.”

Moreover, ESPN obtained a copy of the termination letter that Saint John’s sent Anderson, contacting allegations in which the former Red Storm leader denies.

“According to the termination letter obtained by ESPN, Anderson was fired for ‘failure to create and support an environment that strongly encourages student-athletes who are in the men’s basketball program to meet all university academic requirements,’ ‘failure to perform your duties and responsibilities in a manner that reflected positively on St. John’s University … in actions [that] brought serious discredit’ to the school and ‘failure to appropriately supervise and communicate with your assistant coaches,'” wrote Medcalf.

Over his four seasons at Saint John’s, Anderson amassed a 68-56 overall record, and 30-46 record in the Big East. The Red Storm did not reach the NCAA tournament during his time with the program.

“I vehemently disagree with the university’s decision to terminate my contract for cause,” Anderson told ESPN. “The for cause accusation is wholly without merit and I will be aggressively defending my contractual rights through an arbitration process.”

As you can see, Saint John’s may have some things to sort out regarding Mike Anderson as they also try to hire Rick Pitino to be their next coach. Time will tell how it’s sorted out, but Anderson is fighting for what he believes is right.