Mantas Rubštavičius withdraws lawsuit, Auburn basketball fires GM Brian Kloman
By Mark Kern
Published:
Mantas Rubstavicius has decided to withdraw his lawsuit for college eligibility and will return to Europe to pursue further opportunities after it was reported that Rubstavicius attended university overseas before starting his professional career, which further complicated his fight for U.S. eligibility.
Additionally, the Auburn basketball program fired GM Brian Kloman because of his knowledge of Rubstavicius’ college coursework in Lithuania.
According to reports, Kloman was the primary recruiter of Rubstavicius, and didn’t communicate with the rest of the Auburn staff that the prospect had been enrolled in university courses in Europe. Kloman was hired by Auburn for the general manager position on March 26 of this year,
Rubstavicius filed his lawsuit against the NCAA two weeks ago, and was seeking a temporary restraining order after he was denied eligibility.He was the final player that Auburn had brought in the off-season, as he committed to the Tigers in May.
For the Tigers, to lose your general manager the week before the start of the season is not ideal, but coach Steven Pearl and the Tigers will look to get off to a good start on Nov. 4 when they host Southeastern Louisiana.
