Photo from SMUSaints.com

Saint Martin’s men’s basketball head coach Keith Cooper was let go today after ten seasons with the Saints. Cooper went 116-158 during his time at the helm of the men’s program. His best season came during the 2008-2009 season when the Saints went 22-8 overall and 10-6 in conference. It was the only season the Saints had a winning record in conference and one of only two seasons they finished with a winning record overall.

But Saint Martin’s is not an easy job. The school is the smallest in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference  and is one of only three private schools in the conference competing against large public colleges like Western Washington, Alaska Anchorage and Simon Fraser. Given the disadvantages the Saints face, it might be hard for any coach to have sustained success in Lacey.

Cooper was obviously popular with his players and others and reaction of his firing was resoundingly negative on Twitter..

https://twitter.com/HaleeH24/status/309119818655756288

The new coach will be just the third head coach at Saint Martin’s in 26 years. Bob Grisham coached the Saints for 16 seasons before stepping down in 2003 to become the school’s first full-time athletic director, a position he still holds today.