San Angelo, TX--Immediately following the ASU Men's Basketball teams win
over Incarnate Word Saturday night, Athletic Director Sean Johnson
informed Fred Rike that he would no longer be the Head Coach of the
basketball program. In a press conference Sunday afternoon, Johnson
discussed the change.
"We have very high expectations here at Angelo State and unfortunately despite their best efforts we weren't able to reach those expectations over the last few years," Sean Johnson said.
Johnson also informed Assistant Coach Kenneth Mangrum that he also would not be returning.
"I've known Kenneth since he was a freshman, I've known Fred for many many years we met when we worked together at the University of North Texas," Johnson explains. "At the end of the day we owe a lot to the faculty, staff and students here at ASU, certainly our alums, our letter winners and people that support basketball."
Rike had to rebuild the program when he first took over and developed it into a consistently competitive program in the beginning, the peak of the program in his tenure was in 2009 when they won 20 games and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament, since then the program has fallen on tough times and in the last 3 years, the Rams have failed to make the conference tournament, with this season resulting in a last-place finish, all the reasons why Sean Johnson felt the need to make the change.
"We need to be competing for a lone star conference championship every year, that doesn't mean we need to win it every year but we certainly need to be in the hunt, that goes for all of our sports and all of our coaches, and they know that," Johnson said.
Johnson made a point to discuss how appreciative he was for Rike and Mangrum's effort throughout the years.
"They've done a lot of great things here at ASU, so we don't want to diminish those things and we wish nothing but the best for them and their families and I definitely think they'll be successful," Johnson said.
Rike finishes with an overall record of 92-105 at Angelo State.
"We have very high expectations here at Angelo State and unfortunately despite their best efforts we weren't able to reach those expectations over the last few years," Sean Johnson said.
Johnson also informed Assistant Coach Kenneth Mangrum that he also would not be returning.
"I've known Kenneth since he was a freshman, I've known Fred for many many years we met when we worked together at the University of North Texas," Johnson explains. "At the end of the day we owe a lot to the faculty, staff and students here at ASU, certainly our alums, our letter winners and people that support basketball."
Rike had to rebuild the program when he first took over and developed it into a consistently competitive program in the beginning, the peak of the program in his tenure was in 2009 when they won 20 games and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament, since then the program has fallen on tough times and in the last 3 years, the Rams have failed to make the conference tournament, with this season resulting in a last-place finish, all the reasons why Sean Johnson felt the need to make the change.
"We need to be competing for a lone star conference championship every year, that doesn't mean we need to win it every year but we certainly need to be in the hunt, that goes for all of our sports and all of our coaches, and they know that," Johnson said.
Johnson made a point to discuss how appreciative he was for Rike and Mangrum's effort throughout the years.
"They've done a lot of great things here at ASU, so we don't want to diminish those things and we wish nothing but the best for them and their families and I definitely think they'll be successful," Johnson said.
Rike finishes with an overall record of 92-105 at Angelo State.
