Division III William Paterson Forfeits Game to Protest Coach's Firing

The William Paterson University basketball team forfeited a game against Ramapo College on Tuesday in protest of the firing of coach Jose Rebimbas.

The players, who do not play under scholarship at the Division III school, placed their warm-up shirts in a pile and walked off the court shortly before tipoff, per ESPN.com. Because they did not have enough players to field a team, William Paterson was forced to forfeit.

"Students have a right to express their opinion. Our men’s basketball team chose to do so by forfeiting the game against Ramapo College," William Paterson spokeswoman Heather Brocious said in a statement, per Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press. "We are proud of our long tradition of athletic success at William Paterson University. We don’t discuss matters regarding employees."

Rebimbas was suddenly fired over the weekend over what he says was a "misunderstanding" about an undisclosed rental fee.

"It is with great sadness and extreme frustration that after today I will not be coaching the basketball team at William Paterson University," Rebimbas wrote in a Facebook post (h/t ESPN.com). "WP has been my home and family for more than 20 years and yet the University has taken action to remove me from the service I love. People I have trusted and served with have defied logic and are pursing my termination because of a misunderstanding over a facility rental fee for a camp that I run."

Rebimbas, who was 384-168 and made nine NCAA tournaments at the school, said he will fight the termination. He says the university acted "unfairly" and "illegally" in removing him from the post.

While it's unclear whether he'll return to the William Paterson bench, one thing should be apparent to university officials: The players stand united with their ousted coach.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.