Portland fires Holton after five seasons

The University of Portland fired basketball coach Michael Holton Friday after the Pilots lost 91 games over his five seasons.

Holton, who played at UCLA and had a six-year career in the NBA, compiled a 54-91 overall record as head coach at Portland. The Pilots were 20-50 in the West Coast Conference.

The Pilots went 11-18 this season, though they swept the other Oregon schools – Portland State, Oregon and Oregon State – for the first time since 1949.

Holton played for the Portland Trail Blazers for two seasons from 1986-88, and spent one year as an assistant at Oregon State before rejoining his alma mater as an assistant for five seasons.

•Seton Hall fired coach Louis Orr, a little more than a week after the Pirates lost by 20 points in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Orr was 80-69 in five seasons and had two years left on his contract.

Athletic director Joe Quinlan cited recruiting and management of the basketball program as two areas of disagreement.

•Fred Hill Jr. will become head coach at Rutgers. He will succeed Gary Waters, who resigned earlier this month with four years remaining on his contact. Hill served as Waters’ associate head coach this past season.

•Montana State athletic director Peter Fields said the field of candidates for the men’s coaching job has been narrowed to three. They will be interviewed on campus this weekend.

A search committee picked Larry Gipson, head coach at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma; former Montana State and current Montana assistant Brad Huse; and University of San Francisco assistant Bill Johnson.