In the modern era of college sports, more schools are hiring general managers, particularly in football and basketball, to help build their rosters amid the millions of dollars involved in recruiting and player compensation. While the position can be valuable in navigating the changing landscape of college athletics, Auburn’s latest situation shows how quickly things can go wrong.
On Monday, Justin Hokanson of AuburnSports reported that Auburn head coach Steven Pearl had fired Brian Kloman, the program’s basketball general manager and a former Louisville assistant coach.
The decision reportedly came after the university learned that Kloman had not disclosed academic information involving international guard Mantas Rubstavicius, who had been attempting to establish his eligibility to play college basketball.
According to the report, attorneys recently discovered that Rubstavicius had taken college-level classes in Lithuania before beginning his professional basketball career. That information became public last week, raising questions about his eligibility and Auburn’s ongoing legal effort to get him cleared to play.
The issue, however, was that Kloman reportedly knew about Rubstavicius’ academic history but did not inform the university. After Auburn learned of the situation, the Tigers decided to part ways with Kloman and withdraw the lawsuit seeking eligibility for Rubstavicius.
With his eligibility situation unresolved, Rubstavicius has decided to pursue an opportunity to continue his career in Europe rather than prolong the legal process.
For Auburn, the situation represents an unfortunate end to its attempt to add Rubstavicius to the roster, while Kloman’s departure creates another change behind the scenes for the Tigers’ basketball program.
Kloman previously worked alongside Pat Kelsey at Louisville after Kelsey took over the program. He helped Kelsey build the Cardinals’ roster and had been part of Kelsey’s staff throughout their 11-year coaching relationship before leaving for Auburn during the offseason.
As for Pearl, this is the latest chapter of what’s been a disastrous tenure for him thus far after his father, Bruce Pearl, abruptly retired before the start of the 2025-26 season so his son could have taken over. It’s a move you have to wonder if Bruce would have pulled at Kentucky if the Wildcats had hired him in 2024 instead of Mark Pope.
Pope has certainly had his struggles, but Steven has just been a disaster of epic proportions.