Loyola Maryland coach Tavaras Hardy is stepping down after six seasons, the school announced Friday.
The Greyhounds' season ended Tuesday with a loss to Navy in the Patriot League tournament, wrapping up a 7-25 (5-13 in the league) campaign.
"Tavaras has been passionate about the well-being and success of not just our men's basketball student-athletes, but the entire Loyola community since he came to our university," athletic director Donna Woodruff said. "We are grateful to him for his dedication to our men's basketball program and everyone connected to it for the last six years. We wish Tavaras and his family all the best moving forward."
Loyola failed to finish .500 overall or in conference play in any of Hardy's six seasons at the helm, although it made a run to the Patriot League championship game in 2021 before falling to Colgate. That team featured Santi Aldama, who was picked in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft, and Cam Spencer, now a starter for UConn.
Hardy, who finishes his Loyola career with a 66-110 record, was a highly regarded assistant at Georgia Tech, Georgetown and Northwestern prior to taking over the Greyhounds.
His resignation comes on the same day Loyola said it had removed a person from its basketball program after it became aware of a gambling violation. Hardy is not the person who was removed from the program, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details are not being released.
Loyola said in a statement to the AP that it had taken swift action when its basketball program was compromised.
"Loyola was made aware of an individual's gambling violation that was promptly reported to the NCAA," the school said without identifying the person or specifying when the move occurred. "The individual was immediately removed from the program, and the NCAA accepted the self-report and took no further action."