Oklahoma HS coach in hot water over players using false addresses; What can Lawrence learn from this?

Earlier this week in Oklahoma, it was reported that the head football coach of perennial powerhouse Jenks High School had suspended himself for the remainder of the season for using at least one player who was ruled to be ineligible because of residency issues.

Residency issues? As in, lived in one district and used a false address to attend school in another.

Before I go any further with this topic, let me say this: I know this kind of thing happens in Lawrence, I know it has helped and harmed both Free State and Lawrence High throughout the years and, to this point, it doesn’t seem like there’s enough concern from school officials to look into it very deep.

OK, back to the issue at hand.

After learning of the ruling by Oklahoma’s state high school governing board, Jenks High coach Allan Trimble — ironic name, no? — owner of multiple state football titles, did the admirable thing and punished himself. Trimble stepped down for the remainder of the season and promised to stay hands-off the rest of the way.

The thought here is that by doing so Trimble was admitting to some amount of guilt. Maybe he knew about the phony address, maybe he didn’t. But if he didn’t, why would he punish himself?

Although Tremble’s self-imposed penalty was commendable, it may have come too late. What’s worse, it may not have actually addressed the real problem at hand.

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association looked deeper into the misconduct and discovered more rules violations on the part of the Jenks coaching staff including monetary gifts to players and claims of illegal recruiting.

Because of this, and the fact that an ongoing OSSAA investigation revealed that as many as seven Trojans football players had residency violations during the past nine seasons, Trimble faced further discipline from the OSSAA.

According to KJRH in Tulsa, Trimble now has been suspended indefinitely, as has assistant coach David Alexander. Jenks Athletic Director Tony Dillingham as well as team volunteer Clyde Griffith also were punished for their roles. In addition, OSSAA forced the Jenks High football program to forfeit its victories from last season and the school has agreed to forfeit any money it might make this postseason and cancel spring practices for 2010. The OSSAA stopped short of banning the Trojans from participating in the postseason this year.

Harsh penalties? Definitely. And that’s precisely the point.

There is no place for this in high school athletics. We see it enough at the college level and we see much worse at the professional level and beyond. The blatant cheating that has been uncovered at Jenks should be a warning of sorts to high schools athletic programs everywhere, from football and basketball to cross country and lacrosse.

Part of the beauty of high school sports is that coaches are forced to play the hand they’re dealt. They aren’t allowed to bring in their own players, they aren’t allowed to replace last year’s stud quarterback with a shiny, newcomer. Yet it happens in just about every state just about every season. And it’s a shame.

To think it doesn’t is naive. To think it’s OK is to condone a blatantly criminal act. Criminal, not in the sense of handcuffs and prison cells, but in the sense of breaking the rules and doing so knowingly.

It has to stop. Let’s hope the situation at Jenks is the turning point towards a solution.