West Point Academy, which to sports fans is known simply as "Army" has severed ties with head men's basketball coach Jim Crews, a report it the Times Herald-Record (Middletown, N.Y.) cited.

To say that it is extremely rare for a coach to be fired only weeks before the season starts is an understatement. Crew, who owned a less then stellar 59-140 (0.296) mark at Army, had all four of his top scorers returning from last season. Coaches around the Patriot league agreed that Army finally had its first realistic shot at winning the league in decades.

Word is that Gene Marshall, Army's deputy athletic director, will serve as the interim coach. Marshall coached at Ramapo College (NJ), and was the interim head coach for Army's women's program in 2005 when they were between coaches.

As for a permanent replacement, it might be the perfect opportunity for a little-known coach by the name of Bob Knight to make a comeback at his first Division I coaching gig...