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The season opens in nine days which makes it the perfect time to have your athletic director and one of your assistant men's basketball coaches resign.
That is the situation at Detroit where athletic director Keri Gaither and assistant coach Derek Thomas both resigned Wednesday. The resignations occurred within two hours of each other according to the Detroit News, but there is no indication right now that the two departures are linked.
Given the timing though, it is hard not to jump to the conclusion that there was a common reason for both leaving the school. Gaither had worked in the department for 25 years and had been the athletic director since 2007. Thomas joined the program in 2008, and was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator under head coach Ray McCallum.
The only statement from the school praised Gaither for all she had done for the program in her time at Detroit.
The departure of Thomas does leave a pretty big hole in the coaching staff as he not only headed up the recruiting but was a big factor in the guard play for the Titans. The true measure of his loss will be in the development of the backcourt for the Titans over the course on the season, including that of Horizon player of the year candidate Ray McCallum Jr.