Basketball Coach Resigns After Allegedly Putting Boy In Chokehold
AURORA, Ill. (CBS) -- An East Aurora High School basketball coach is out of a job after what a school spokesman describes as an out-of-control incident.
As WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports, the sophomore basketball team from East Aurora High School had just gotten back to the locker room after losing to Bartlett High School on Feb. 4, when an assistant coach says he walked in.
In a written statement he submitted to district athletic officials on Feb. 6, assistant coach A.J. Harris said he found fellow coach Archie Hubbard with a 16-year-old boy on the team in a chokehold.
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"I saw coach Archie Hubbard with (student) in a full nelson headlock choking him to where (student) could not breathe," Harris said in the report.
"(Other players) were screaming and yelling to let the kid go. Kids were crying," Harris said. "He's a loose cannon."
Harris said he told Hubbard to let the boy go, and Hubbard did a few seconds later. Harris says he then drove the boy home and told the boy's parents what had happened.
Harris' 10-year-old son was in the locker room at the time of the incident, along with other sophomore basketball players. Harris' son said the 16-year-old was told by Hubbard he was kicked off the team, and afterward, an argument ensued.
"It was scary," the 10-year-old said.
East Aurora spokesman Clayton Muhammad said an investigation was handled by the School District and the school's police resource officer. During the investigation, Hubbard submitted a resignation letter, Muhammad said.
"He is no longer coaching at East Aurora High School," Muhammad said.
Hubbard is not a teacher in the district.
Muhammad said Monday the teenager is still on the basketball team.
Hubbard said Monday night that he would not comment on his status as a coach. "I have nothing to say," Hubbard said.
Harris said Hubbard became mad after the students were talking on the bus.
"If we lose, we have a rule — no talking on the ride home," Harris said.
Harris said the 16-year-old boy was shaken by the incident.
"He's not right," Harris said.
Muhammad said basketball coaches visited the boys' family after the locker room incident to apologize for a scenario that "escalated out of control."
Muhammad said charges have not been filed against the coach.
Harris also posted his account of the incident on his sports blog. He said he's worried that he'll be fired as a coach for speaking up and regretted not calling police to the scene.
"I don't care (if I'm fired). I want parents to know you've got to watch these coaches. They aren't always doing what's in the best interest of your child," Harris said.
The Aurora Beacon-News contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
