Kansas City, Mo. ? University of Missouri President Dr. Elson Floyd ordered an independent investigation into the resignation of men’s basketball coach Quin Snyder on Monday.

Conducting the probe will be Jean Paul Bradshaw, the former U.S. Attorney for the western district of Missouri, and Dalton Wright, publisher of the Lebanon (Mo.) Daily Record.

In a letter to the two, Floyd requested that they determine what was conveyed to Snyder and by whom before the embattled coach resigned Feb. 10. He also made clear they were authorized to take their investigation in any direction they felt appropriate.

Snyder announced he was resigning Feb. 10, one day after saying he would stick it out for the rest of the season. He had two years remaining on his contract. Four days later, he agreed to a buyout of more than $500,000.

But the school has been embroiled in turmoil since, especially after it was reported that athletic director Mike Alden sent assistant Gary Link to tell Snyder he either could resign or be fired at the end of the season – something Alden at first flatly denied.

Alden – in a prerecorded interview for his radio show – appeared Monday to back away from his earlier statement by admitting that he had sent Link to see if Snyder might want to “step away” from the job.