NOTES : Oregon Coach Monson Fired After 6-21 Season

Don Monson, Oregon’s basketball coach for nine years, was fired Tuesday after a 6-21 season, the Ducks’ worst in 21 years.

Bill Byrne, Oregon athletic director, said the university will negotiate with Monson on the final two years of his contract, which paid him $79,468 a season, not including benefits and revenue from his radio show. Byrne said Monson will be reassigned within the athletic department.

Monson, 58, came to Oregon after five seasons at Idaho, where he was 100-41. He was 116-145 at Oregon and his best season was his first, when the Ducks went 16-13. His teams participated in the National Invitation Tournament three times, but never reached the NCAA tournament.

UCLA assistant Tony Fuller, 33, is a leading candidate to become basketball coach at San Diego State, according to sources. Fuller could not be reached for comment.

San Diego State officials reportedly have decided that Jerry Tarkanian of Nevada Las Vegas is no longer a candidate.

Meanwhile, Tim Grgurich, Tarkanian’s top aide for 12 years at Nevada Las Vegas, has been named an assistant with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Richard Petruska, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound transfer from Loyola Marymount who is expected to be UCLA’s starting center next season, will undergo surgery Tuesday to have a herniated disk removed from his back, team physician Gerald Finerman said.

Finerman said that Petruska, who is ineligible to play this season, might have been injured while overextending himself in the weight room.

Petruska, who averaged 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds last season at Loyola Marymount, should be fully recovered before the start of practice Nov. 1, Finerman said.

Indiana Coach Bob Knight canceled a 41-year-old tradition when he axed a basketball awards banquet one day after the Hoosiers’ 61-59 loss to Purdue.

“I really believe the main purpose of the banquet over the years, to honor the seniors, is now being done at the senior night we have at our last home game,� Knight told the Herald-Times of Bloomington.

“I’d like to see banquets reserved for a celebration when a team really achieves something. When that happens, there’ll always be time to put one together.�