Cy Alexander is fired as TSU basketball coach

Dismissal comes after 67-106 record

Tennessee State fired men's basketball Coach Cy Alexander yesterday after more than five seasons, during which the Tigers program went 67-106. "I'm very close to Coach Alexander," TSU Athletics Director Teresa Phillips said. "I hired him six years ago. He and I both had big visions for the program. … We've had success off the court. Our young men are graduating. … (But) somewhere in here we have to have the on-the-court success and that just has not happened."

Alexander will be replaced on an interim basis by assistant Mark Pittman, who will be on the sideline for today's 7:30 p.m. home game against UT Martin. A message left for the outgoing coach at his home was not returned Friday. Alexander, a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., took the job on April 1, 2003, after 16 seasons at South Carolina State. He led the Bulldogs to five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances.

He went to the Orangeburg, S.C., campus in 1987 after working 11 years as an assistant coach at Howard. In his first year at South Carolina State, Alexander took over a team that had seen nine straight losing seasons and turned them into a winner with a 16-13 mark. The following year, the Bulldogs went a school-record 25-8, won the MEAC title and played in their first-ever NCAA Tournament game.

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