Southeast Missouri State University Director of Athletics Mark Alnutt announced Monday that Dickey Nutt has been relieved of his duties as the Redhawks head men’s basketball coach, effective immediately.

"This is a difficult decision for our university and for our program," Alnutt said. "While we appreciate the rebuilding efforts of our basketball program by Coach Nutt, we have not shown the progress to meet the expectations on where I feel we should be in year six of a program. I firmly believe that a change in leadership is merited at this point. We would like to thank Coach Nutt for his service to the Southeast community and wish him well in his future endeavors."

Nutt was the 20th head coach in the history of the program. He had a record of 80-108 and 41-59 in the Ohio Valley Conference in six seasons at Southeast.

The Redhawks finished the 2014-15 campaign at 13-17 and eighth in the OVC with a 7-9 mark. Southeast’s season ended with a 79-74 loss to Morehead State in the first round of the league’s postseason tournament.

Southeast made the OVC Tournament in five of Nutt’s six years, but never advanced past the quarterfinals. The Redhawks also had two winning seasons under Nutt, going 17-16 in 2012-13 and 18-14 in 2013-14.

Jamie Rosser was named acting head coach and will handle all competitive aspects and administrative duties of the program until a replacement is named.

Southeast will immediately begin a national search for its next head coach.