Prospective assistant coach's lawsuit against Minnesota dismissed

3/21/2008 5:00 PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -A lawsuit brought by basketball coach Jimmy Williams against the University of Minnesota has been dismissed.

Williams claimed he was promised a job as an assistant on coach Tubby Smith's staff last April and bought a home in the Twin Cities area before athletic director Joel Maturi reneged on the commitment. Maturi and the school pointed to Williams' prior record of NCAA rules violations - while previously a Gophers assistant - as the reason he couldn't be hired.

Williams and his attorney, Dick Hunegs, filed the lawsuit last fall. Williams had one year left on his contract as an assistant with Oklahoma State. He was an assistant at Minnesota in the 1970s and 1980s under coaches Bill Musselman and Jim Dutcher and also worked as a Timberwolves assistant under coach Flip Saunders in 2000-02.

University general counsel Mark Rotenberg, in a statement released Friday by the school, called the Hennepin County court's dismissal of the claim ``a complete victory for Tubby, Joel and the university.''

Hunegs did not return an e-mail or phone call seeking comment.