Earlier tonight Marquette announced that it had fired assistant coach Scott Monarch and suspended head coach Buzz Williams for the Big East opener as a result of an investigation into claims that a recruit had been given apparel and provided transportation. An outside investigation found that Monarch had lied (or at least been forthcoming with the appropriate information) when he had been questioned about the incident on several occasions. When Monarch finally admitted his deceit in the middle of June he has been on suspension. Following the investigation Monarch was offered a choice to resign or be fired and he apparently chose the latter.
From the information that the school has released it appears that Williams’ involvement was limited to being the head coach and one of Monarch’s closest friends, a relationship that likely allowed Monarch to be in the position that he was in at the time although Monarch does have a decent amount of junior college coaching experience. In addition to suspending Williams for the Big East opener for failing to monitor the compliance of his staff the school will also reduce the number of official visits allowed for recruits in the upcoming year.