Blacksburg, VA (Sports Network) - Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg has been fired.

Athletic director Jim Weaver made the announcement in a press conference Monday afternoon, declaring that the program "needed to go in another direction," and had therefore terminated Greenberg's contract.

The Washington Post reported that the school would pay Greenberg $1.2 million to buy out the remainder of that contract.

Weaver indicated that the departure of three key basketball staff members -- director of basketball operations Jeff Wulbrun and assistant coaches Rob Ehsan and James Johnson all left earlier this month -- heavily factored into the decision.

"Because we have three vacancies now on the staff, it made all the sense in the world for us to move on," Weaver said.

The Hokies had some success under Greenberg. They compiled a 170-123 record under his tenure, and posted three wins over teams ranked No. 1 in the country, including one during the 2011 campaign.

But the 56-year-old's teams in Blacksburg also frequently missed the mark, albeit barely. They made just one NCAA Tournament appearance -- in 2007, ending with a second-round exit -- despite reaching the postseason in six of Greenberg's nine years at the helm.

The other five postseason appearance were in the National Invitation Tournament; those teams failed to advance past the quarterfinals.

None of his squads won an ACC regular season or conference title, and two of them finished under .500 -- including this past season, when they went 16-17 and failed to qualify for postseason play.

Prior to his stint in Blacksburg, Greenberg was bench boss at South Florida for seven seasons and at Long Beach State for six. He has complied a 383-293 career record in 22 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

04/23 16:37:48 ET