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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte 49ers fired men's basketball coach Mark Price on Thursday.
The school announced that Price was released from his contract effective immediately. Assistant coach Houston Fancher, who has 12 years of head coaching experience, will serve as the 49ers interim head coach.
The 53-year-old Price, who was a four-time NBA All-Star guard, was in his third season with the 49ers and had a 30-42 record overall. He was 16-20 in Conference USA play.
Charlotte is 3-6 this season.
"We appreciate all that coach Price has done for our program," said Charlotte athletic director Judy Rose in a release. "His background and knowledge were assets to our young players and we appreciate him sharing his talents with our team. This was a difficult decision, especially as we make plans to open conference play, but we do feel it is in the best interest of our basketball program."
The 49ers have lost four straight games, including an 80-57 defeat to Wake Forest last week and a 64-50 decision to Chattanooga on Sunday.
Price told the Charlotte Observer on Thursday that he was "stunned" by the move.
"I was called in this morning and was told they were going to make a change," Price told the newspaper. "They said they didn't like the direction of the program was taking and that I might have lost some of my players, which I don't agree with. But we didn't get quite as many wins as people wanted. That's the reality of the business."
Price was a two-time All-American and four-time All ACC basketball player at Georgia Tech, where he ended his career as the school's all-time leader in 3-point field goal percentage, steals and consecutive games started.
He went on to play 13 seasons in the NBA, including nine with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was selected as an All-Star in 1989 and 1992-94.
Price became an assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 1999 and later worked with a number of NBA teams including Denver, Atlanta, Golden State, Orlando and Charlotte.
He took over as 49ers coach in 2015 after the school parted ways with Alan Major.
"Mark and (his wife) Laura have dedicated time and energy to strengthen our men's basketball program," Charlotte Chancellor Dr. Philip Dubois said in a release. "It's always difficult to part ways with such very fine people."
The 51-year-old Fancher spent nine seasons (2000-09) as the head coach at Appalachian State and was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2007. He also coached at North Greenville.
Charlotte travels to East Carolina on Monday.
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