Josh Moore is a monster center, but Ellerbe hasn't helped him to learn not to commit stupid fouls. Not only was Ellerbe a poor game coach, he sucked at developing players. Fran Frischilla got the axe at St. John's because he couldn't take a stacked team anywhere. Texas Tech just fired James Dickey. It was clear that Bobby Cremmins time had passed him by, and Georgia Tech bought out his contract.
College basketball is extremely competitive.
Coaches get fired for a lot less than what Ellerbe did. UCLA fans publicly criticized John Wooden when he failed to win an eight straight championship. Eddie Fogler had a winning record at South Carolina and still got canned. If you're not prepared to handle this kind of pressure, you don't belong in the coaching business. The only guy who would have supported him is Michigan St.'s Tom Izzo and that's because Izzo knew Michigan would never pose much of a threat with Ellerbe at the helm.