Concordia men's basketball coach out, weeks after players were hospitalized
RIVER FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- Several weeks after six Concordia University basketball players were hospitalized following a "high-intensity" workout, the head men's basketball coach is out.
In a letter to Concordia University Cougars basketball players and families, the university said, "significant new information has recently come to light," and effective Monday, head men's basketball coach Steve Kollar is no longer employed by Concordia.
The letter did not specify what the "significant new information" was, nor the nature of Kollar's separation from the university.
Assistant coach and acting head coach Rashaan Surles has taken over as head men's basketball coach.
Following an intense practice on Saturday, Dec. 31, six basketball players were hospitalized due to rhabdomyolysis – a condition brought on by muscle damage from too much exercise. Rhabdomyolysis can be life-threatening.
An internal inquiry later determined that the intensity of the practice was a consequence of some players breaking the team curfew two nights earlier. But the university said an inquiry determined it was not an act of hazing.
Following the hospitalizations, the school temporarily removed Kollar. The university noted that there had been no complaints against Kollar previously, and noted that the team and parents had continued supporting him through the controversy.
On Jan. 12, Concordia announced Kollar would be returning to campus, and at the time said he would later return to coaching.
After the school made that decision, four members of the Concordia University athletic training staff quit.
As a result of the hospitalizations, the team also had to forfeit multiple games. The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference stepped in, forbidding them from playing the rest of their conference games as a result of its recent forfeits.
