Auburn basketball fires general manager Brian Kloman for allegedly hiding key details in eligibility snafu

Auburn hired Kloman from Louisville in March; seven months later, he is gone, shrouded in controversy Auburn basketball fired general manager Brian Kloman Monday, just nine days before the Tigers' season-opening tilt against Southeastern Louisiana and just seven months after hiring him away from Louisville. The dismissal stems from an eligibility issue surrounding Lithuanian wing Mantas Rubstavicius, who was not cleared by the NCAA and was attempting to earn a temporary restraining order to gain eligibility. Kloman served as the point-man on the Rubstavicius recruitment. Kloman hid that Rubstavicius had once been enrolled in university courses in Europe, which changed the calculus for his eligibility case, per Auburn247's Nathan King.

Rubstavicius' representation originally believed the 24-year-old had a case to play college basketball because he was within his five-year window of graduating from high school and was attempting to begin his collegiate education at Auburn. But enrolling in university courses in Europe is a major hurdle for NCAA eligibility because it starts the five-year eligibility window. Rubstavicius, apparently, was not a first-time student. That key detail was hidden by Kloman and wrecked Rubstavicius' case to play college hoops. "Rather than continue with the uncertainty associated with my ongoing lawsuit, I have decided to pursue an opportunity in Europe," Rubstavicius said in a statement. "I want to thank the Auburn administration,