Updated: March 15, 2019 at 12:09 p.m.

Maurice Joseph has been fired from his post as head coach of men’s basketball after three seasons, according to an athletic department release Friday.

Joseph, who led men’s basketball since he was named head coach in March 2017, had a five-year deal with the program.

“This decision was necessary because we are not reaching our full potential on the court,” athletic director Tanya Vogel said in the release. “Our university leadership and I have high expectations for what this program can achieve in the near future.”

Men’s basketball tallied a 9-24 record on the season, going 4-14 in conference play. The team’s season came to a close Thursday in a second-round loss to George Mason in the Atlantic 10 Championship. The Colonials’ nine wins on the season tie the lowest win total for the program since the 2007-08 season.

Joseph no longer appears on the team’s 2019-20 online roster, and assistant coach Hajj Turner, assistant coach Chris Holm and assistant coach Greg Paulus are also no longer listed on the team’s roster.

An athletic department spokesman confirmed that the three assistant coaches will not return for the 2019-20 season, but he declined to answer additional questions.

“We will move forward with a national search for our new head coach who will help us get back to competing for Atlantic 10 Championships and being in the conversation for NCAA bids on a regular basis,” Vogel said in the release.

Tanya Vogel, through an athletic department spokesman, declined to sit down for an interview with The Hatchet about the program.

Joseph was tabbed as interim head coach of the program in 2016 after former head coach Mike Lonergan was fired from the post earlier that year amid allegations that he verbally and emotionally abused players.

In three years at the helm, Joseph led the Colonials to a 44–57 record overall.