GHSA bans Milton basketball from postseason
By Todd Holcomb and David Purdum
For the AJC
The Georgia High School Association on Tuesday banned reigning boys basketball state champion Milton from region and state playoffs for the 2012-13 season because of illegally influencing student-athletes to transfer to the north Fulton County school.
Milton’s former coach, David Boyd, resigned Sept. 10 after Milton and Fulton County Schools reported to the GHSA allegations of undue influence.
Under Boyd, Milton won state titles in 2010 and 2012 with several major college recruits, most of whom transferred from other schools. It follows a trend that many find disturbing: No boys basketball team has won Georgia’s highest classification in more than a decade without participating with a high-profile transfer.
The Fulton County investigation that led to Boyd’s resignation — obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution under Georgia’s open records act – revealed that:
- Boyd recommended rental properties to parents and students who were interested in transferring into the district. Several Milton players have lived in the same apartment complex within the school district.
- Boyd invited multiple basketball players, not enrolled at Milton, to open practices in the offseason and evaluated them as potential transfers.
- None of Milton’s former players were part of the investigation or implicated in illegal recruiting.
The report also stated that Roswell basketball coach Ty Phillips filed the initial complaints about Boyd in August. One of Phillips’ former players sought to transfer to Milton.
GHSA Bylaw 1.70 states that it is illegal to influence or induce a student to transfer from one school to another for competitive purposes.
In addition to the postseason ban, the GHSA placed Milton on Severe Warning Status for the 2013-14 and fined the school an undisclosed amount, no greater than $2,500. The GHSA can discipline member schools, but not coaches.
Boyd came to Milton in 2007, when the school had made the state playoffs only three times since 1960. In Boyd’s five seasons, Milton advanced to the state finals four consecutive times and traveled nationally to prestigious showcase tournaments with the state’s top prospects, including Julian Royal (now at Georgia Tech), Evan Nolte (Virginia), Charles Mann (Georgia), Shaquille Johnson (Auburn), Shannon Scott (Ohio State) and Dai-Jon Parker (Vanderbilt). Except for Royal and Nolte, the most prominent players were transfers.
The investigation identified the Lexington Farm Apartments in Alpharetta as home to several Milton basketball players. The report states that “it has been alleged, and not yet confirmed or denied, that some of these students are living there alone and the addresses are only used to allow residence verification.”
Although Milton lost Mann and three other college-bound seniors to graduation, Boyd expected to have a team that could defend its title. He had emailed Milton boosters and national and local media during the summer and mentioned as many as five transfers for the 2012-13 season. Each was a college prospect.
One was former Roswell player Shawn O’Connell. According to the report, O’Connell has two younger brothers who, because of redistricting of the Milton and Roswell school zones, would be forced to attend Milton.
Another was Johnnie Vassar from Indiana. According to the investigation, Vassar has withdrawn from the Fulton County School System and is enrolling at a school in California.
Boyd indicated to Vassar’s mother when summer practices began and the days of the week they were held, according to the investigation. Boyd confirmed that Vassar visited the school and worked out four or five additional times. Boyd stated to investigators that he did evaluate Vassar during the practices, according to the report.
The third player was Zach Hodskins from Tennessee. On June 9, Boyd emailed Tennessee AAU coach Markus Gibbs, inquiring about the skill set of Hodskins, the investigation said.
Boyd said that Hodskins’ father wanted to make sure his son could play with Milton before moving the student into the district. Hodskins practiced two or three times with Milton before enrolling, according to the report.
While these are three primary instances, the report indicated that several other students were invited by Boyd to practice with Milton during this past summer. The investigation contains at least a dozen emails between Boyd and parents and coaches. Boyd assessed the players who were not enrolled at Milton in several emails.
Fulton County athletics director Steven Craft said the investigation found examples of undue influence on multiple occasions.
Supplying real estate information to possible transfers is considered undue influence, Craft said. Boyd admitted in a Sept. 6 interview that he offers recommendations and locations for rental properties to students transferring into the Milton district.
Craft said that was undue influence. “You tell people you have a great community and great programs and that they have a chance to be a part of a great situation, and leave at that,’’ Craft said.
Craft considered these practices to be tryouts to see how players would fit into Boyd’s program. Regarding invitations to players to attend practices or games: “He used those sessions to assess players and comment about their abilities.”
Craft wanted to be clear that the investigation did not find evidence of what Craft called recruiting, which suggests a teacher or coach reached out to a player first.
The GHSA’s Swearngin acknowledged that this was a key distinction.
“Sometimes they go hand-in-hand, and sometimes they don’t,’’ Swearngin said. “Undue influence is what you do to induce or facilitate a transfer even if you didn’t make the initial contact.’’
Boyd saw no wrongdoing with any of it. “I had at least 20 sets of parents contact me with interest in coming to Milton,” he said Tuesday. “They didn’t all come to Milton, but they went somewhere. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do. … I’m disappointed that the players who came on their own to participate aren’t going to be allowed to play in the postseason. I’m very sorry about that. But as far as doing something illegal or unethical, all I’m trying to help kids.”
Social media was mentioned extensively in the investigation, including multiple negative posts by Boyd, when referring to Phillips.
“Make sure to know that Ty Phillips at Roswell started this by crying to his AD that one of his players who lives in our district [and had a choice] came to Milton,” a Sept. 11 post read. “That was a family decision. One thing about it; his record against us is 0-11. Good luck down the road Ty. I am thankful for people like you; you make me realize how much we have done that is good.”
The post has since been deleted.
Phillips declined to elaborate on anything involving the investigation into Boyd.
“My focus is on our team and what’s relevant to our program,’’ Phillips said. “All that other stuff that involves other people is not what we’re focusing on.”
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165 comments Add your comment
Oh'man
October 9th, 2012
5:58 pm
Can someone enlighten me PLEASE! Why would students want to transfer to other high schools for competitive reasons? Is it money, free housing, what is it? I understand why there is college transfers but why is there so many high school transfers?
Naismith
October 9th, 2012
6:05 pm
Ishts and Giggles
I hope you were kidding but if not, U are the problem. Your kind is the problem. This is hs sports, not meant for being a scholarship factory. Whenever GHSA has the b…. to get that idea across, maybe just maybe we can get back to hs sports as they should be…..90-20 scores in basketball is not what it should be about. If every school played with it’s own kids, we could have bb they way it should be in hs.
The real culprit for hs bb= AAU and AAU coaches. Admit it, clean it up, and make the sport good again.
Disgusted with Lassiter's Programs
October 9th, 2012
6:06 pm
GHSA – This has been going on since I was in high school. I wanted to play for the best coach and I ended up going to private school to do so, not paying tuition (they called it financial aid), just because I could play. Is that wrong? Teachers in Cobb are allowed to send their kids to any school in Cobb if they can provide transportation. If a teacher has a superstar athlete, should they be allowed to go to a super athletic school? Too many worms in this can. This is only one situation and I agree that it’s unfortunate that Coach Boyd is being used as a scapegoat. What a screwed up rule i.e. unless GHSA plans to apply this to rule to all schools. If so… Lassiter football should be stripped of any titles they may receive this year. The only difference in Lassiter and Milton is that Lassiter doesn’t have apartments in their district…more money, less scrutiny, and easier to hide the wrong doings. Is this the way we want to bring up our kids? Concentrate on what is important please…Add drug testing to participate in a GHSA sanctioned program and disqualify the students who use, follow Woodward’s lead, that seems much more important!
oldeagle
October 9th, 2012
6:25 pm
All these self righteous Roswell people on here crack me up, they know that their football program was doing the same thing for years and their administration did nothing. It seems like it’s only illegal if someone else is doing it, right!
Bibimc
October 9th, 2012
6:26 pm
Any team that has ever played Milton knew that they were cheats!
In The Know
October 9th, 2012
6:32 pm
Check out Eagles Landing Christian Academy’s football team. Tell me how a single A school can have so many D-1 prospects!
James
October 9th, 2012
6:36 pm
That school has been cheating for years and it is hurting the children. It could be time for their Athletic Department to receive the “death penalty.” That school should get back to focusing on educating children – not teaching them to cheat and rewarding the cheating.
baako
October 9th, 2012
6:42 pm
While I understand that cheating can’t be allowed, I think to punish the KIDS for something the ADULTS did is just as unfair as the act that caused the ruling… forfeit their wins, take away the titles “earned” from cheating, but don’t take away the kids ability to achieve. That’s just my opinion
Old School Smyrna
October 9th, 2012
7:26 pm
Coach Boyd had a few tranfers (Warner and Sherell) on his 1982 Campbell High School State Championship team, Back then we just thought he was one helleva salesman. In 1983 and 84 he made it back to the state finals with 100% home grown talent (all local boys), which included his younger brother who play at Wake Forest, Coach Boyd was and is a great coach and teacher. He always wanted what was best for the kids AND he was a winner…PERIOD! Kids wanted to come play for him because he was a winner..You might as well shut down all the HS sports in GA if you are going to stop coaches from selling their schools and helping kids reach thier goals.
hit a single
October 9th, 2012
7:39 pm
Milton is just the tip of the iceberg!
Big Bull
October 9th, 2012
7:41 pm
The kids should be punished to let them know that this not right. Eventhough they are kids, they knew what they were doing, lets be real. Lets teach them know, right from wrong….
go after more
October 9th, 2012
7:57 pm
Wow! I can’t believe Swearngin did anything.
Spurrier Is Superior
October 9th, 2012
8:06 pm
Wouldn’t it be best to change the rule so that a kid’s family can allow their child to attend any school
who’s district allowed them to transfer anyway?
just thinking out loud
October 9th, 2012
9:20 pm
my guess is that if the GHSA “banned” Milton from the lucrative, glamorous, money making, drive to macon for “post season play” (it aint the chik-fil-a bowl), BUT Boyd was still the coach, the kid/parents would still go their to play, and win and go on to a better future. Fact is Boyd resigned. He is why the kids/parents went there and is why they now are changing their mind. Sounds like some are now another state’s problem. Good job GHSA you are now almost relevant after the fact with the “ban” and $2,500 fine (who pays that by the way ???). those of you who are feeling satisfied by this will continue to be disappointed once your anti-(school name here) buzz wears off. they will not prevent your next disappointment. I don’t know the man, I don’t know any of the kids, and I don’t know any of the parents. just thinking out loud.
It aint just basketball
October 9th, 2012
9:20 pm
The GHSA should immediately begin drug testing ALL high school athletes for HGH as well as narcotics. If found in violation, the athlete should be banned from all high school sports for their entire high school career. So many kids don’t get an opportunity to be on these teams because their class mates cheat and it is not right. These are not 8 year olds; they know full well they are cheating the system.
Greg
October 9th, 2012
9:25 pm
Here we go again double talking – transferring is done all the time for academic reasons – what’s the difference if it’s done for athletics – and it’s not isolated to just basketball or football (it’s been done in soccer, softball, baseball, track, now swimming and lacrosse, and more)….so why the focus on just basketball and football? And again I ask, what’s wrong with it? Sports is a career choice – EVERY sport – it’s not just the NBA, NFL or MLB – there is soccer, boxing, golf, tennis, lacrosse, and many more professional leagues – it’s a job/career – again I ask what’s the difference between transferring for athletics verses academics – btw, if your school fails AYP you can transfer but if your team has not won a game or had a winning season in 3, 5 or even 10 years you can not?
GFY
October 9th, 2012
9:28 pm
Jeeter the Cheater in Wilkinson County is sweating right about now….tell me how in the world would anyone even find Wilkinson County much less transfer in to play basketball from another district. The whole county only has ~10,000 people in it.
Really
October 9th, 2012
9:31 pm
Have some real dumb arses on here complaining about private schools recruiting……cry all you want but it is ok for the private schools to recruit so STFU.
Stu Hasty
October 9th, 2012
9:53 pm
He probably learned to cheat from his High School coach, and thought he too would get away with it…. This has been going on forever, and will continue until the players and their families learn the hard way….
Steve Daniels
October 9th, 2012
9:53 pm
Since Ty Phillips(Current Roswell BB Coach) taddle taled on Boyd, I will be interested if others will do the same now. If they did, the GHSA would have their hands full. But the GHSA doesn’t want that because then it will look like they are not in control of things…….I have yet to see them address this problem. They sit back and wait for people to tell on each other, instead of being proactive.
Milton Student
October 9th, 2012
9:56 pm
I’m a senior at Milton and even the students knew what was going on, it became a joke every time a tall black kid came to school that he was the “new recruit”. The only positive side to this is that Boyd at least made sure the kids had good grades. Milton is one of the most competitive schools in Georgia and Boyd had some of the most strict grade policies of any team I know. Luckily we’ve still got several non recruits that are currently freshman, look out for Chirs Lewis in a few years, the kid got two D-1 offers as an 8th grader!
ok
October 9th, 2012
9:59 pm
I live at Lexington Farm Apartments, which is mentioned in the article. It’s full of very TALL high school kids, and this summer more and more have been trickling in, much to my amazement… NOW I KNOW WHY! The increase in high school kids had been a real pain for our community. They are up all night on weekends making noise and destroying property. The playground, thought for young kids, has turned into a dump, profane writing on the structure and trash and chewing gum everywhere. Thanks Milton High, way to go! This community will go down in no time! Most people I know who have been here for years are on the verge of departing. Me too.
crackbaby
October 9th, 2012
10:29 pm
Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered. Milton coach was a hog.
Recruiting happens. Enforcement should be more even. Remember when RB Caleb King played his senior year at Greater Atlanta Christian? Just one of THOUSANDS of examples.
What if people in the community do the recruiting? Can GHSA enforce the same rules? Not likely.
livininatl
October 9th, 2012
10:31 pm
The joke is that you folks would not trust the gov to select your car for you yet you are just fine with trusting your children to them. You should be able to choose a school based on what works for your child…vocation..sports..academics,etc..not because u fall within their map and they said so!! Competition breeds excellence…and not just in sports.
Question
October 9th, 2012
10:33 pm
Where is Boyd working now? Is he still married?
marktwain
October 9th, 2012
11:10 pm
SHOCKED the GHSA actually did something for once. SHOCKED an AD actually backed his coach and turned it in for investigation.
Its sad that the GHSA has to wait for a coach to request it get off its butt to investigate something that is obvious to anyone with half a brain. It should never have come to that. ALL this reclassification, private/public single A nonsense, private schools recruit complaining stems from their lack of action. Georgia is currently AAAAAA. I’m not that old and I remember AAA. When will this stop? I suspect Buford is doing things the right way. They win and kids want to go there so they move into the district. Why not? The school is beautiful and their facilities are outstanding. But that doesn’t mean the GHSA should not check on them every once in a while instead of waiting for formal complaints that don’t come unless it is absolutely out of control because a coach and an AD do not want their names or school dragged through the mud. The GHSA takes up HUGE sums of money from high schools and this is the only thing people really care about.
times of changed and not for the best
October 9th, 2012
11:41 pm
It is a shame that we have turned our High School Sports into small College sports. Adults have done that and look at what we got. Kids growing up in there hometown can’t enjoy sports because adults have allowed ego to enter in our Kids life. What a shame all these kids we are moving around may make a big school to play sports for 3 years and some move onto pro ball make millions and be broke after several years. What have we taught our kids.
mos
October 9th, 2012
11:47 pm
How bought if you tranfer you must sit out a season
you dont say
October 10th, 2012
12:11 am
Was Boyd banging other teachers on campus at Milton like he did at Berkmar ?
jess
October 10th, 2012
1:00 am
Coach Boyd was winning state championships 30 years ago. He is an outstanding coach, teacher and friend to all who know him. I changed districts so my kids could be in a school that had an outstanding theatre group. I hope we’re not band from doing plays. That would be horrible.
ben johnson
October 10th, 2012
4:04 am
And investigate Lovett girls basketball. That coach is the biggest recruiter i’ve ever seen. How do you think they won state last year.
BubbaDaBaller
October 10th, 2012
7:24 am
“If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t tryin” appears to have found Dr Naismith’s game…But, it’s only Basketball…this isn’t Indiana…What’s next penalizing schools that have refugees from the sub Sahara region for having good Cross Country teams because they have affordable housing in their area?
Dawgma
October 10th, 2012
7:29 am
About time GHSA enforced a rule. It still took a Roswell parent to do the GHSA’s job. Milton was recruiting for 5 yrs, winning championships for the first time since the 60’s. And did GHSA even look into this amazing improvement – heck no.
Same junk is done all day long in football.
jess
October 10th, 2012
7:32 am
Isn’t one of the first rules of moving is to make sure you’re in a good school district? Wouldn’t a good school be defined differently for everyone?
Concerned
October 10th, 2012
7:53 am
Every single basketball coach in the metro area knew this was going on. Shame on the AD at Roswell for not protecting his BB Coach (Ty Phillips) and making sure his name didn’t get drug in to this mess. All coach Boyd was teaching those kids is how to cheat… those kids will be next in line to work as a cheating teacher in Atlanta Public schools, a cheating/lying cop, a cheating/lying politician and it will continue as the vicious cycle of life. These coaches wouldn’t spend their time recruiting if they had any ounce of faith that they were good at just plain old coaching.
steve
October 10th, 2012
7:58 am
Tift Co. did the same thing this summer by letting TJ Cromer from Westover play with them in summer camps!!!! Where is the investigation into Eric Holland and Tift Co.? Ask the Turner and Wilcox counties coaches about Mr. Holland!!!!
Wrong
October 10th, 2012
7:59 am
@crackbaby
Caleb King transfering to a private school is not the same thing.
billyboy
October 10th, 2012
8:04 am
Looks like everyone wants their fair share! There may be some things done wrong here and at many other schools, I don’t know. However, there are a lot of good things done for some kids. I want to say thanks to Mr. Boyd for what he did for us kids at Milton. It was great that he believed in us kids and gave us a chance to better ourselves. In today’s world, if you judge people like many of you have judged Mr. Boyd, then, you probably should march yourself down to the county jail. I just have one perspective, but, it is one of thanks for the good things done.
JRUNNERB
October 10th, 2012
8:29 am
Some parents are blessed with gifted children (musical, artistic, intelligent). Those parents work 4 or 5 jobs between them to make sure their kids can get to the schools that will best serve their talents; and better guarantee the kids futures. So, what is the difference of parents doing all they can to serve the ATHLETIC talents of their kids? Give me a break GHSA. Let’s be clear. Georgia is a football state, at levels. They look past the corruption that goes on in high school football; but clamp down on all the other sports. It has always been that way. Clean up your house first – GHSA!
Ben Dover
October 10th, 2012
8:38 am
Let’s all first agree, every school has done it. Period. Not just in Basketball but in all the sports, it’s just that it is more noticeable in Basketball because you only need a few players to take an average team and make them a winner. That being said. How much money is involved? I know Boyd, was not just getting his teacher’s pay and calling it a career. Also, South Georgia has been recuiting as long as I can remember. Valdosta, Camden County, have doing it for football, it’s just not an apartment complex but, farm houses. In 1970, our high school in Dekalb Conty owned a home(next to my house, same subdivision) in the district, where our star quarterback lived with his family, until he graduated. The next year, a new black running back’s family moved in. Best of all the car dealership, gave his father a job…Remember this was in 1970, all white Dekalb County High School, with few blacks in the area.
john jones
October 10th, 2012
8:38 am
IF GHSA DID THIS TO MILTON HOW DID THEY LET WHEELER GET AWAY ALL THOSE YEARS THEY DID WHAT WAS CLAIM COACH BOYD DID—–GHSA IS NOT FAIR
Ben Dover
October 10th, 2012
8:40 am
A correction to my post above, The Touchdown Club(Booster) owned the home not the school.
Football Love Jones
October 10th, 2012
8:46 am
@ Eagle Dad
What world are you living in..that much D-1 talent didnt just grow up in Powder Springs.. what the hell are you smoking..
former coach
October 10th, 2012
8:48 am
milton must be a private school. we have been told that only private schools recruit but we all knew milton and some other public schools have been doing this for years and ghsa has ignored it because of the racial component to this issue. it is easy for the union based public schools to blame everything on private schools to keep the heat off themselves. go look at any county system where one program takes off and becomes the dominant school and you will find recruiting going on. about time ghsa do the right thing and go after all schools rather public or private that is recruiting regardless of race or social economical.
Voyceofreason
October 10th, 2012
9:20 am
Let me get this straight: A coach finishes as state runner-up in 1981, wins a state title in 1982, finishes 1983 ranked 3rd – all before “recruiting” was an issue, and in the present day is constantly contacted by parents wanting their kids to play for him – at which point he suggests places they could live if they DID move to his district – then gets these kids into school, monitors their grades closely, gets them scholarships … and this is somehow a BAD thing? Good grief … we need MORE people doing this, not less!
3pointer
October 10th, 2012
10:19 am
1. Why don’t these coaches stick to legally overloading the AAU teams instead of school teams? The true test of a non-professional coach is to win with the local talent.
2. That being said it’s not only the coaches that are “recruiting”, you have parents that live in these same questioned school districts that “assist” in moving, recruiting, tutoring etc these transfers. They want to see their local school win whether their kids is on the team or not. I’ve turned down more under the table offers from parents than coaches for my son. NO THANKS, We’ll stay in our district and win or lose based on local talent.
3. Yes the lore of a better education and recognition might sound over-whelming tempting. But our children’s education and opportunities should not be defined by ONLY what happens in the schools!
CCJBC Coach
October 10th, 2012
10:24 am
@ Football Love Jones
You obviously don’t know Powder Springs. The Hillgrove girls team that McEachern beat in the championship game, home grown talent with great coaching. The Hillgrove boys football team that beat Camden County, home grown talent great coaching. I watched that group of girls from McEachern dominate in Middle School ball. Just keep watching we have more coming.
jb
October 10th, 2012
1:14 pm
The culture is such that parents place tremendous pressure on schools to have programs that allow their student-athlete to obtain athletic scholarsips. Somewhere in this issue everyone needs to realize the reason the individual is in school is to obtain an education that allows them to be a successful, productive citizen. I agree with the individual who said the GHSA has not taken care of the private school issue.
Just Sports
October 10th, 2012
2:42 pm
I will reply to Good Googly…obviously your clueless!! To answer your “Transferred” comment, the Gale’s family moved to the district after Cameron’s mother passed away. Yes, they do rent, as does several family’s on every team. Also, Cameron had never played football before last year, what foresight the coaches must have had to recruit a kid that lived 45 minutes away and had never played the sport, but they went out and offered them all kinds of freebies to come play. Also, we have several families that are scholorshipped that play in the program, why aren’t you calling them out?? Oh, they must not be star players so they don’t count. Lastly if a parent is wanting to put their son in a position of moving him just for sports, do you really think it is going to be Cherokee County??? When is the last time they have ever had a state recognized championship program….NEVER. So if they are letting him get recruited, I would pick a place that has a much richer tradition than Cherokee County football, that no one else in the state even recognizes. Surely Cameron moved to Sequoyah for the great tradition of MS and HS football…the comparison to Milton and other schools with traditon of athletes moving in is uncanny.
That Guy
October 10th, 2012
3:10 pm
For all you people saying Milton’s sports are full of cheats….how about you come visit the school and see how hard the athletes work. And for all those Roswell people complaining, look how many transfers for sports Roswell has compared to Milton. You’ll see Milton has a lot less.