When you have a horse with a broken leg, it seems natural to put it out of its misery.

The legs of NIU’s men’s basketball program have been broken for far too long. As a head coach at NIU, Ricardo Patton has been a perennial failure, not only for the school’s win-loss record, but also for its recruiting prospects and its wallet.

Thirty-five wins. Four years.

At 9-19 this season, anything short of a national championship will give Patton his fourth-consecutive 20-loss season this year. Before Patton’s arrival in 2007, never in NIU’s history had the men’s basketball team suffered through back-to-back 20-loss seasons.

Counting former head coach Rob Judson’s final 7-23 campaign, this season will be NIU’s fifth straight. Prior to Patton’s arrival, there had been six 20-loss seasons in NIU history.

It’s time for Patton to go.

NIU is still in the midst of a season with the MAC Tournament approaching, but even a MAC Championship and NCAA Tournament berth can’t gloss over the stain of ineptitude that has marked this program during his tenure. Patton’s floundering level of success can be redeemed by nothing less than an NCAA Tournament win.

His failures haven’t come solely on the court. In an April 13, 2010 article, the Northern Star detailed the circumstances under which former NIU players Jake Anderson, Mike DiNunno and Michael Fakuade left the team after the 2009-10 season.

Anderson, a former MAC Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-MAC selection, was released from his scholarship, allowing him to play for Iowa State right away this season.

He is averaging 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds for a Big 12 team. Meanwhile, NIU has eight losses by seven points or fewer this season, something Anderson’s added production would have likely changed.

DiNunno, according to his Von Steuben High School coach Vince Carter, was told by Patton that the team was “looking to go a different direction” with the signing of freshman guard Kyree Jones.

Jones has played 71 minutes this season, and Patton harmed NIU’s reputation with the Chicago Public League in his dealings with Anderson and DiNunno, who both played in the league. With NIU’s proximity to Chicago, a national hotbed of high school talent, Anderson’s head coach at Carver High School Johnnail Evans’ proclamation to the Northern Star that, “Northern will never get a Chicago kid as long as [Patton]’s there,” is an unacceptable situation.

What’s even more concerning is that Patton is being grossly overpaid to produce a team that nobody wants to see play. In 14 home games this season, the total reported attendance was 16,859, averaging to 1,204 per game. Take away the season opener against Northwestern, which drew a reported 4,001, and the average falls to 989 per game. The empty stands tell a different story.

The Convocation Center is a 10,000-seat arena, and a student population of over 22,000 can watch the games for free, but they are unwilling to do so.

When NIU went on the road to play Toledo, the only team with fewer wins (26) than NIU during Patton’s tenure, on Feb. 26, there were a reported 4,747 fans there. The Rockets were on a 10-game losing streak at the time.

What’s worse is that NIU is paying Patton a base salary of $300,000 annually to fail to fill up the Convo. According to an April 29, 2010 Northern Star article, Patton is in the top third of MAC coaches in terms of salary, but has led one of the conference’s two worst programs while he’s been here. Judson, whom Patton replaced, was making only $166,116 in the 2007 fiscal year, and was actually able to capture a MAC West title in the 2005-06 season and compete for one in 2002-03.

How does the move to pay Patton nearly twice as much for a worse product make sense?

It doesn’t.

Patton is still under contract with NIU through 2012, and while Patton’s contract gives no dollar figure for a possible buyout, it insinuates that Patton would be paid his base salary of $300,000 plus any merit benefits he is eligible for.

NIU received $500,000 dollars from the University of Minnesota when Jerry Kill left. It would behoove Athletic Director Jeff Compher to use that money to find a new men’s head basketball coach.

Compher inherited this situation from former Athletic Director Jim Phillips, and now it’s time for him to deal with it. NIU needs a coach that can put a winning product on the court, repair its recruiting ties in Chicago and be a fiscally responsible decision for the university.

Patton is none of those things.