Kayla Ard, head coach of the Utah State women's basketball team, revealed that she was fired shortly before being escorted out of the school for a press conference Sunday night after the team's 85-49 loss to Boise State. Knew.
“I'm not going to rebuild. I just coached my last game at Utah State,” he said. [athletic director] diana [Sabau] And they're going in a different direction, I respect her decision and I hope they bring in a really good coach,” Ard said in response to a question about the rebuild for next season. he told reporters.
There was stunned silence in the press room before Ard concluded, “I think this is the last question.”
It's crazy! After the Utah State women's team lost tonight, coach Kayla Ard was asked how she would rebuild next season, to which she replied that she had just been fired. I've never seen anything like this.
“I guess that's your last question?”
(Video provided by The Mountain West) pic.twitter.com/j9yjcMAbjD
— BJ Rains (@BJRains) March 11, 2024
Insanity. Who would have thought it would be a good idea to fire this woman right before the press conference? I don't blame her for answering her question the way she did. What did the school expect her to say? (Related: The Madness Continues: College Basketball Team Hits Magic Buzzer Beater, Tickets to Championship Game)
That is the definition of unprofessional. After an awkward press conference, school'The sports director announced the decision. “I would like to thank Kayla and her staff for their contributions to the state of Utah,” Sabau wrote. “But it is in the best interest of the program to make the changes.”
That's all well and good. Ard should probably be canned. In her four seasons at the helm of the Aggies, she never achieved a win, and she left the school with a pretty poor record of 24-90. record. But still… it's totally humiliating for her to have her own firing announced to the press. Someone made a huge mistake.
