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Jim Boylen no longer has the keys to the Utah men's basketball program.

Boylen, who said following Thursday's loss to San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference tournament that he was going to drive the program until the keys were taken away from him, was removed by Utah athletic director Chris Hill on Saturday.

Boylen was fired following his fourth year with the program, in which the Utes went 13-18 and lost eight of their last 11 games. Boylen went 69-60 overall and 32-32 in the MWC.

His firing came just two years after he led the Utes to a 24-10 season in which they earned a share of the regular-season MWC title and won the conference tournament title.

However, the Utes have fallen far short of that success during the past two years. Utah went 14-17 in 2009-10 and endured a tumultuous offseason in which five players transferred from the program, including captain Jace Tavita, who left in December.

This season, the Utes went 0-4 at a December tournament in Hawaii, a slide that became part of a seven-game losing streak, and endured an additional five-game losing streak.

"We're in a competitive world, and wins and losses do matter," Hill said.

But it was more than that. Attendance at the Huntsman Center has plummeted the past two years. Utah averaged just over 8,000 per game this past season — about half-capacity — but no-shows reduced the actual turnstile counts significantly.

Boylen was given a five-year extension worth $850,000 annually following the 2008-09 season in which he was pursued by several other schools, including Arizona.

After losing to the Aztecs on Thursday, Boylen seemed confident he would remain as coach. He was informed by Hill on Saturday that wasn't the plan.

"I wish I had had one more year with these guys," Boylen said. "We have a good nucleus and I honestly believe we would have been picked high in the MWC where we are at now if we were in the conference next year."

Hill said the university will pay Boylen a buyout of $2 million over three years,

Hill said he made the decision to relieve Boylen of his duties based on Utah's basketball history and the school's future in the Pac-12.

"It was the time to make a change and move in another direction," Hill said.

While he doesn't have any set expectations of where the Utes will fit into the Pac-12, Hill noted that Utah is "right there," with UCLA and Arizona in participating in the NCAA Tournament.

"Utah is a more attractive job now with the move to the Pac-12," Hill said. "We need to get Utah basketball back to where it needs to be. We have a good tradition of basketball history."

The Utes have reached the NCAA Tournament 27 times, ranking 15th all-time, but haven't won a game in the tournament since beating Oklahoma in the second round in 2005 before losing to Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

In its 101 years of basketball, Utah has had just 21 losing seasons, but four of those have come in the last six seasons. Boylen believed he could return the Utes to the level of their past success, but said it would take seven years to do so.

"It takes time to understand recruiting in this part of the world, and you have players going on missions, which is all part of this," he said. "It takes seven years to get into that cycle."

Boylen informed the players of Hill's decision during a meeting Saturday morning. Utah center David Foster said the news wasn't a surprise, but still hurt.

"It's like losing a father figure," he said. "He has always been there for us. Today stinks. There is a lot of emotions."

Hill said a national search for Boylen's replacement will begin immediately. He has no time frame for a hiring.

"We want to make sure we do a full search and we don't want to move so fast that we miss someone," he said.

Hill said Boylen's buyout will come out of a "contingency fund" that has grown from unexpected income such as TCU's BCS bowl appearance and not out of school or donor funds.

"It's a significant amount, but it won't hurt our other programs or our move going forward into the Pac-12," Hill said.

The buyout changes if Boylen is hired elsewhere. According to the contract, Boylen must use "good-faith efforts" in mitigating the university's obligations to pay damages by making reasonable and diligent efforts to obtain employment."

If he is hired, Utah's obligations will cease or be limited to the difference between his compensation and the compensation at his new employment. Boylen said he will take some time to decide what is in store for him in the future.

"It'll be a family decision with my wife, and we have kids in school," he said. "It's all about opportunities and interests and weighing options."

Boylen was hired in March 2007 to replace Ray Giacoletti, who replaced Rick Majerus after Majerus left midway through the 2003-04 season for health reasons.

Giacoletti went 54-40 before he was fired.

Utah was the first head coaching job for Boylen, who previously was an assistant at Michigan State for two years. He also spent 13 years as an NBA assistant, including 11 years with the Houston Rockets. —

Utah's recent basketball coaches

Seasons Record

Rick Majerus 1989-04 323-95

Joe Cravens (interim) 1989-90 12-12

Dick Hunsaker (interim) 2000-01 18-12

Kerry Rupp (interim) 2004 9-4

Ray Giacoletti 2004-07 54-40

Jim Boylen 2007-2011 69-60 —

A decade of Utah men's basketball

Season Overall Conf

2001-02 21-9 10-4

2002-03 25-8 11-3

2003-04 24-9 9-5

2004-05 29-6 13-1

2005-06 14-15 6-10

2006-07 11-19 6-10

2007-08 18-15 7-9

2008-09 24-10 12-4

2009-10 14-17 7-9

2010-11 13-18 6-10