Washington State has fired men's basketball coach Ernie Kent after five lackluster seasons. But not before the school reportedly agreed to pay Kent in full under the terms of his lucrative contract.

If you're counting at home, that's $1.4 million per season for the three years left on his deal. Thus, Kent walks away with a cool $4.2 million.

Here is the statement released by the school:

"Washington State University Director of Athletics Pat Chun announced Thursday that Men's Head Basketball Coach Ernie Kent will not return as head coach of the Cougars next season.

'I met with Ernie earlier today and let him know I would be making a change in the leadership of our basketball program," said Chun. 'We appreciate all that Ernie has done for Washington State but at this time we need a new direction to energize our fan base and return the program to prominence.

I am optimistic that our returning students-athletes give us an immediate opportunity to move our program in a positive trajectory.'

"In his five years guiding the Cougars, Kent compiled a 58-98 record, 22-68 in Pac-12 play. A national search for the next Cougar basketball coach will begin immediately."

Chun announced the move - which surprised few people - a day after the Cougars finished an 11-21 season with a horrific 84-51 loss to Oregon in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

Hired in March 2014 by former AD Bill Moos to replace Ken Bone, Kent was unable to turn around Washington State in his second stint as a head coach in the Pac-12. Kent and Moos had worked together at Oregon, where Kent had led the Ducks to five NCAA Tournament appearances and three Pac-10 regular season or conference tournament titles.

The hope was Kent could replicate that effort with a Washington State program that dipped after Tony Bennett left for Virginia. But the success never materialized and instead apathy took over with low attendance and little care about the success of the program.

Washington State never finished higher than a tie for eighth in Pac-12 play with Kent as coach, and each of the past two years finished the regular season in 11th place. The Cougars also saw a number of key players transfer during Kent’s tenure.

The big question for Chun will be what kind of candidate he can attract to a program that averaged 2,318 fans in 17 home games this season and hasn’t had a winning season since 2011-12, when the Cougars went 19-18 under Bone.

Kent was deemed an obvious choice because of his relationship with Moos when that move was made five years ago, but there may not be an obvious option this time around. Chun is early in his second full year in charge of Washington State’s athletics and the replacement for Kent will be his most important hire to date.

Washington State has made the NCAA Tournament five times since 1980, including back-to-back NCAA bids in 2007-08 with Bennett in charge.

(AP contributed to this report)