Jared Phay @Coachjphay,  the associate head coach for the Idaho State University men's basketball team, is on administrative leave and will not rejoin the team, ISU Athletic Director Pauline Thiros said.

Phay and ISU mutually agreed that he will not return to ISU's coaching staff next season because of coaching differences between him and Head Coach Ryan Looney @coachlooneyisu

Phay was involved in a disagreement with another assistant coach on ISU's bench during the first half of Thursday's game at Montana State University in Bozeman. The disagreement stemmed from a heated exchange Phay observed between the assistant coach and an ISU player. After the team went to the locker room at halftime, Phay and the player did not return to ISU's bench for the second half of the game.

Phay was then ordered to return to Pocatello on Friday while the team remained in Montana preparing for Saturday's game against the University of Montana in Missoula.

Phay was hired as ISU's associate head coach last year after being the head men's basketball coach at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls for the past five seasons. Phay achieved a 136-33 record at CSI, including a second-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament in 2018.

Six of the players currently on ISU's roster were coached by Phay at CSI and transferred to ISU after Phay was hired by Looney.

The team is currently 6-18 overall and 3-12 in Big Sky Conference play and mired in a 10-game losing streak that's the program's longest since the 1982-83 season.

Phay will be paid while he is on administrative leave. His one-year contract worth $80,579 expires in May.