CLEVELAND, Ohio — Scott Garrett should have done this not long after he was hired as Cleveland State’s athletic director in April.

This being the firing of men’s basketball coach Dennis Felton.

Cleveland State had a 22-44 record in two years under Felton, including an 11-25 record in the Horizon League.

No one from CSU wants to talk about the basketball situation until a new coach is hired.

But this is what I’ve learned after checking with some people who have at least some idea of what is happening at the downtown Cleveland campus.

About a month ago, promising freshman Rashad Williams (10.8 scorer, .408 3-point shooter) decided to transfer rather than return to CSU for his sophomore season.

He is headed to Oakland, the suburban Detroit school and Horizon League rival to CSU. That’s a real insult. It’s not as if he’s headed to a major program.

Next out the door was Tyree Appleby, the Vikings only big-time player. The 6-foot-1 sophomore transferred to Florida. He averaged 17 points and 5.6 assists this season, including 37 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a December win against Bowling Green.

No surprise Appleby left. Many players who thrive at the mid-major level are prime candidates to transfer to schools such as Florida.

Then there was a stampede to transfer.

I’ve been told CSU has only six players on the roster at the moment. At least eight have entered the transfer portal.

Not all of them will leave, but it was clear something was bothering them about Felton and the coaching staff.

Here’s a list of other CSU players (besides Appleby and Williams) whose names I found on the website “verbal commits” as interested in transferring: Stefan Kenic, Rasheem Dunn, Deante Johnson, Seth Miliner and Jaalam Hill.

There could be others leaving.

We live in the age of college basketball where about 40 percent of Division I players transfer at least once.

You can scroll through the transfer portal on “verbal commits” and go numb staring at all the names.

But Garrett was rightly alarmed by so many players wanting to leave.

TROUBLE SIGNS

I’ve been told the basketball team did not have a strong spring quarter academically. Some of the recruits committed to CSU are very iffy in terms of having the academics to actually make it on to the court.

But another source told me the academics was not the major problem. The source said a number of players objected to the off-season conditioning programs.

I don’t know what is the truth.

Every school has some of these issues. Had Felton stayed, it’s also possible he could have calmed the stormy waters.

I’m told Garrett’s first thoughts were to give Felton more time.

But meetings with the departing players along with the lack of success on the court made Garrett re-consider Felton.

Also, the incoming recruiting class didn’t seem very promising.

Most new athletic directors prefer to hire their own coaches, especially when they inherit a program in the same situation as CSU basketball.

So, it’s no surprise he fired Felton. He and the entire staff were let go on July 12.

Garrett’s statement attached to the press release announcing Felton’s dismissal is interesting:

“We take our mission to provide CSU student-athletes with a transformational experience very seriously. Our coaches operate with the expectation that they should build a culture supportive of our student-athletes in the classroom, accountable for their conduct as representatives of the University, and for their performance on the court. We will seek a new leader for our program who can deliver on this commitment.”

An issue is Felton having three years worth about $1 million base salary left on his contract. Will CSU have to pay that, or will it work out a settlement with the departing coach?

WHY DENNIS FELTON?

Felton was a strange hire by CSU.

He had previously been the head coach at Western Kentucky and Georgia. He spent some time as a scout with the San Antonio Spurs. His last job was as an assistant at Tulsa before he was hired by CSU.

Word is Felton was a “search firm hire,” because CSU had a firm helping in the process. Felton had no connections to the Midwest, much less Cleveland.

At time of the Felton’s hiring, I wrote about the lack of Midwestern roots.

He was 54 when hired by CSU. He had a solid resume, but this is a brutally hard job. I talked to him a few times and he couldn’t understand the lack of public interest in CSU.

In his two seasons, the Vikings’ average attendance was 1,302.

CSU has not averaged more than 2,000 per game since 2014 (2,236). You have to go back to 2012 (3,260) when they last averaged at least 3,000.

Between the lack of public support and being in the middle of a pro town, this is one of the most difficult jobs in Division I basketball.

THE RIGHT COACH

Gary Waters coached CSU from 2006-17, and they were very strong academically.

In his 11 years, every senior who played for him graduated.

From 2012-16, CSU was honored by the NCAA for having an “academic performance rate” that was in the top 10 percent of all Division I schools.

Waters did a fabulous job until his final two seasons, when he seemed to grow weary from all the players transferring. He retired at the age of 65 following the 2016-17 season.

He took CSU to the 2009 NCAA tournament. He had three trips to the NIT tournament and five seasons of at least 20 victories. He battled Horizon powerhouses Butler and Valparaiso for most of his Horizon League tenure.

I bring up Waters not to say he should have stayed. His final two records were 9-23 and 9-22.

But here was a guy who revived a comatose program. He graduated his players. He had a .530 career winning percentage at CSU. He was a man of strong faith, a man who taught a class in “life skills” for his players. He was a coach and role model.

For most of his tenure, CSU was a contender in the Horizon League.

The Vikings need someone like him right now.

THE SEARCH

I’m hearing very little in terms of names.

While Garrett has a search firm, I’m told he is using it mostly for background checks.

This hire will be his hire.

Garrett spent the previous nine years in the Kansas State athletic department. Before that, he worked at Wichita State (2008-10) and Illinois-Chicago (2003-08).

Former CSU assistant Jermaine Henderson now works under head coach Bruce Weber at Kansas State. He also was an assistant for 15 years at Miami (Ohio). No clue if he’s a candidate, but he does have a connection to Garrett.

The mostly likely head coaching candidate on the Kansas State staff is Chris Lowery. He is Weber’s top assistant. He also was a former Southern Illinois head coach who had a 145-116 record from 2004-12. Not sure if he’d even be interested in CSU, given all the problems.

I’ve heard former Kent State assistant Eric Haut mentioned for the CSU job. He recently left Kent for Northern Kentucky as an assistant. Not sure if he’s a serious candidate. The same with former CSU assistant Jermaine Kimbrough, now an assistant at Loyola of Chicago.

I’ve long believed St. Edward coach Eric Flannery would be a success in college. I do know CSU is looking at him, but Garrett probably would not commit to a high school coach in his first big move at CSU.

The pressure is on Garrett to deliver on what is the first major coaching hire of his career.

Right now, CSU is one of the few Division I basketball programs looking for a coach. And the new coach walks into even a more demanding situation than faced by Felton.