Harris Employs a Full-Court Press : Ocean View Coach Seeks Ruling to Overturn CIF’s Ban

Jim Harris, Ocean View High School basketball coach, will finally have his day in court Monday when Orange County Superior Court Judge Harmon Scoville presides over a hearing to determine whether the Seahawks will compete in this year’s California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section 5-A playoffs.

Harris filed a suit in an effort to overturn the CIF sanctions prohibiting the school from competing in the playoffs, which begin Feb. 21, because of Harris’ alleged recruiting violations in retaining two star basketball players from Lynwood in August, 1984.

In documents filed in court, Harris contends that:

He never violated a CIF rule with regard to the two players--Desi Hazely and Ricky Butler. The rule in question--Rule 510--is vaguely worded and ambiguous. He did not violate the intent of the rule, and the Southern Section sanctions--eliminating Ocean View from the playoffs--are excessive.

A written admission of guilt regarding violations of CIF rules was made only in an effort to get his coaching position back, and that the admission was based on erroneous information he had received from the CIF itself.

The CIF, in subsequent court documents, supports its case by charging that:

Harris intentionally falsified the address of Hazely and Butler in his effort to register them at Ocean View.

Harris was never given incorrect or misleading information, as he claims, regarding the rules, and that Harris’ written admission that he violated rules speaks for itself.

John Myers, Ocean View principal, forfeited the Seahawks’ 24 victories and Sunset League championship and relieved Harris of his coaching duties in March, 1985, after an investigation by the Huntington Beach Union High School District revealed that Harris had used “undue influence” in retaining Butler and Hazely, a violation of CIF Rule 510.

Harris was reinstated in May after signing a statement admitting he violated CIF rules.

In August, the CIF Southern Section Executive Committee, not satisfied with the high school’s sanctions, imposed further penalties on the Ocean View basketball program, the most severe of which rendered the Seahawks ineligible for the 1985-86 playoffs.

Ocean View’s subsequent appeals at the Southern Section and State CIF levels last fall failed to get the sanctions overturned.

So, the Seahawks have reached the zero hour. Pairings for the playoffs will be announced on Feb. 16, but if Ocean View, which currently leads the Sunset League, fails to get a favorable ruling Monday, the Seahawks will be out of the tournament.

The false address charge stems from a series of events involving Harris’ decision to become the guardian of Butler

and Hazely in August, 1984. The two players, transfers from Lynwood who are now junior starting forwards for the Seahawks, had lived with guardian Laurant Brown and his son, Derek, during their freshman year at Ocean View (1983-84).

Brown, however, withdrew his son from Ocean View that summer when he said he became unhappy with Derek’s lack of playing time, but Ricky and Desi and their parents expressed a desire to remain at Ocean View. The parents, after their request for an inter-district transfer from Lynwood was denied, asked Harris to become the boys’ guardian, according to court documents filed by Harris.

Harris said in a signed declaration filed with the court that he called the Saddleback Valley Unified District in early August to request an inter-district transfer (Harris lives in El Toro) so the students could remain at Ocean View. Harris added that the person in charge at the district office was on vacation until Aug. 20.

Meanwhile, Harris said, he needed to simplify the scheduling of classes for both students because if not done until late August, many of the classes would be filled.

He requested of LaGayle Black, associate principal at Ocean View, that the students be put in a “dummy” schedule in order to hold those classes that the students would register in officially as soon as Saddleback Valley granted the inter-district transfer. Harris said Black gave him permission to do that.

At that point, Harris said he could have enrolled the boys under the Laurant Brown address because Brown still was living in the Ocean View attendance area and was still on record as their guardian.

But Harris declared that Brown was no longer performing the role of guardian and that he had enrolled his son, Derek, and Hazely earlier at Westminster High School under a false address.

According to Harris, the guidance technicians at Ocean View said they needed an address that would not “kick out” of the computer, in order to put the “dummy” schedule into the system.

Harris said that Lee Jackson, who coached Ocean View players on traveling teams, volunteered his address (in the Ocean View attendance area) with the intention of becoming the guardian of Hazely and Butler in the event that the Saddleback transfer was not granted.

On Aug. 8, the guidance tech dropped Hazely from Westminster and enrolled him at Ocean View, thus changing the “dummy” schedule to a computer schedule, under Jackson’s address. On Aug. 24, the Saddleback Valley transfer was approved and the students were officially registered under Harris’ El Toro address.

Harris claims that every action taken in the registration of the students was above board and in good faith, as not to violate any rules or procedures.

But CIF officials believe he clearly was in violation of Rule 510.

Ray Plutko, CIF Southern Section commissioner, would not comment on the case because it is in litigation, but, according to a declaration filed by the CIF with the court, Plutko said Harris “commenced upon a course of conduct whereby he not only communicated with the boys and their parents regarding remaining at Ocean View but took it upon himself to fill out and complete papers relative to an inter-district transfer.”

Plutko said in his declaration that such actions on behalf of the coaches of basketball players are totally inappropriate and that parents are just as capable as coaches of filling the papers out for an inter-district transfer.

“Here, Coach Harris, a faculty member, took it upon himself to ‘beat the system’ by using a false address,” Plutko’s declaration continued. “At this point, Coach Harris was not just a ‘coach’ to these boys. He had taken over the roles of parent, guardian, registrar, counselor and, by doing it all himself, he, in effect, sheltered the students and parents from those that might give them contrary advice.”

Based on this, Plutko and the Southern Section Executive Committee concluded that a sufficient factual basis did exist for the admission of a violation of Rule 510 by Ocean View High School and Jim Harris.

Harris maintains that it wasn’t a false address, but one that was approved and required to put in a dummy schedule.

“You can’t have a false address in the summer,” Harris said in an interview. “There are no CIF rules in the summer. Everything was OKd by the assistant principal, but it has been used (by the CIF) to make it seem like I did it to be underhanded. It was simply done to get them in classes.”

Asked if the school also was at fault, Harris replied, “Black was visited by the superintendent afterward and I think it was explained that when (a schedule) goes into the computer, it is considered a registration. No one at our school knew that.”

The executive committee also punished the school for allowing Harris to register the students under a false address. Additional sanctions included the censuring of both Harris and the school administration on its procedures for review and application of CIF rules.

Also damaging to Harris’ case has been his signing of the admission statement, which read: “After discussions with various CIF officials, it has become apparent to me that I was involved in a violation of CIF rules which would justify the forfeiture of the Ocean View High School boys’ basketball games for the 1984-85 season.”

Harris came to this realization after a May, 1985, meeting with Plutko in which Harris said he discussed the steps used in moving Butler and Hazely into his home.

According to Harris’ declaration, the youths’ parents approached Harris about becoming the boys’ guardian and Harris said that he would have to check with the Ocean View administration before he could consent. It is in his reply that, according to Harris, a technical violation of Rule 510 occurred.

Harris said in the suit that in his meeting with Plutko, Harris explained the sequence of events that led to Butler and Hazely moving into his home. According to Harris, Plutko said that he had done everything correctly except when the parents asked him to become their sons’ guardian.

Harris’ actual reply to the parents was: “Yes, but I will have to check with the administration.” According to the suit, Plutko stated that Harris should have sent the parents to the administration and then said, “yes,” allowing the administration to advise him of the exact procedures on how it must be done so that no violations of CIF rules occurred.

“His interpretation was that there was a violation,” Harris said in an interview. “In my mind, he’s the last word. I came back and told (Ocean View Principal) Myers that, according to Ray’s interpretation, there was a violation.”

Once Harris acknowledged that there was a rule violation, Myers worked out an agreement with the coach for his rehiring. Part of the agreement was that he sign a letter admitting guilt.

That helped Harris get his job back, but, as the coach said: “Signing that admission has been a hurdle in all the subsequent appeals.”

It is a hurdle he is yet to overcome.

The Southern Section and the CIF State Hearing Panel used the admission as a major part of their decision in upholding the sanctions against Ocean View.

According to the CIF’s brief filed in case, both Myers and Harris admitted at the outset of their appeal to the executive committee that Rule 510 had been violated.

The CIF State Hearing Panel, comprised of Wil Concklin, principal at Mt. Pleasant High in San Jose; Rene Townsend, assistant superintendent of the Vista Unified School District in San Diego and Vincentine Contrero, assistant principal at Wilson High in San Francisco, found no evidence that the actions of the Southern Section were unlawful.

A letter from State CIF Commissioner Tom Byrnes to Myers said the panel examined the issue and found that evidence indicated that both Myers and Harris had admitted in letters to Plutko that they were in violation of CIF rules.

“Since those two statements, corroborated by other evidence, showed that the Ocean View High School authorities investigated, found themselves to be in violation of Rule 510, and imposed penalties and sanctions upon themselves, the panel saw no merit in the charge that due process was not extended by the section in this matter,” the letter said.

John Saginaw and Ray Alvarado, Harris’ attorneys, argue in the lawsuit that Harris based his admission of the rule violation on Plutko’s rule interpretation, which they say was incorrect.

Saginaw and Alvarado also claim that Harris was under duress when he signed the admission. According to the suit, Harris was coerced by Myers into admitting to the technical violation in order to get his coaching job back.

“It was very obvious that if I didn’t sign that I had accepted a violation, there was no way I would be able to coach,” Harris said.

Myers wouldn’t say if he issued an ultimatum to Harris, but he did admit that it was “very important” that if he was going to have a working rapport with Harris, that the coach couldn’t go on saying there was no violation when the principal already had forfeited 24 games and admitted there was.

Members of the Southern Section Executive Committee also relied on Harris’ admission to determine how to penalize the Ocean View program.

“When we moved from conjecture to admission, we didn’t have to go through the process of proving (the allegations) were true,” said Robert Paisola, principal at Lompoc High School and a member of the executive committee. “There was a statement that verified the allegations, so that precluded a CIF investigation.”

From that point, the committee had to determine whether the district sanctions were strong enough. It received some input from the Sunset League on that matter.

In a letter dated June 11, 1985, the other five Sunset League basketball coaches--Huntington Beach’s Roy Miller, Edison’s Jon Borchert, Westminster’s Dick Katz, Marina’s Steve Popovich and Fountain Valley’s Dave Brown--recommended to the executive committee that sanctions be imposed upon the Ocean View program for the 1985-86 school year.

Plutko said he also received letters that week from David Hagen, then the Fountain Valley principal, and Ann Chlebicki, then the Huntington Beach principal, urging him to impose sanctions for the 1985-86 season.

The coaches reasoned that the forfeiture of Ocean View’s 1984-85 season wasn’t a real penalty because the two ineligible players (Butler and Hazely) played in all 28 games and that the team received a great deal of publicity, notoriety, awards, achievements and income using ineligible players.

“We feel strongly that the Ocean View basketball program should be declared ineligible and restricted from participating in the postseason playoffs for the 1985-86 season,” the letter stated. It was signed by all five coaches.

“Wrist-slapping doesn’t do a thing,” Miller added. “If you really want to make it stick, you have to hit them hard.”

On June 28, the Southern Section had an administrative review to examine the actions and sanctions taken by Ocean View High. The result of that review was a letter from Plutko to Myers, asking him to reconsider his decision to reinstate Harris.

Myers stood by his decision to keep Harris as coach, but the executive committee on Aug. 24 decided to impose additional sanctions.

“The school’s sanctions seemed to deal with the past and we didn’t believe that was sufficient,” Paisola said. “The period of time the players were declared ineligible (throughout the 1984-84 season), they played. How can you count that as ineligible time?”

The committee decided to prohibit the Seahawks from the playoffs this year, but it declared Butler and Hazely, who are currently living with Lee Jackson, their guardian, eligible. Jackson became their guardian last October.

“We had a long discussion about that, and when we got down to it, we had to look at the kids,” Paisola said. “How big a price must these students pay? They had to receive guidance someplace, but the adults giving counsel are not always held into account. We had to be careful in tempering the acts of justice.”

It was a difficult decision for the executive committee to make.

And one Harris hasn’t been able to accept.

RULE 510 (UNDUE INFLUENCE)

The use of undue influence by any person or persons to secure or retain a student or to secure or retain one or both parents or guardians of a student as residents may cause the student to be ineligible for high school athletics for a period of one year and shall jeopardize the standing of the high school in the California Interscholastic Federation.

510.1 This rule applies equally to any actions by any person or persons to enroll a student who is graduate of the eighth or ninth grade of a junior high school in any member high school other than the public high school in the attendance area in which the student’s parents or legal guardians reside.

510.2 The object of the recruiting rule is to assure that the student athlete is making a free and unpressured choice of his or her high school. It would therefore even preclude any effort on the part of a friend or representative of the public high school in the attendance area in which the student’s parents reside, from attempting to secure the student’s enrollment at that school. The rule does not prohibit a student’s voluntary participation in a summer sports activity. THE OCEAN VIEW FILE

January 1985: Ocean View Principal John Myers confronts basketball Coach Jim Harris and assistant Jeff Harshaw with allegations that they tried to recruit John Apostle in 1983.

February 1985: Myers informs Harris that an investigation into the Ocean View basketball program is being conducted by the Huntington Beach Union High School District.

March 19, 1985: Myers hands Harris an investigative packet of recruiting allegations dating eight years, and Harris is given three days to formally answer the charges.

March 22, 1985: Harris presents Myers with a written statement denying all allegations.

March 27, 1985: Myers announces that Ocean View has forfeited 24 games and the Sunset League title and that Harris will not be rehired for the 1985-86 season.

May 14, 1985: Harris signs a statement saying he unknowingly violated CIF rules and is rehired by Myers.

June 11, 1985: The five rival basketball coaches in the Sunset League send a letter to the Southern Section Executive Committee urging that further sanctions be levied against Ocean View.

June 28, 1985: Executive Committee reviews the school’s actions and sanctions and asks Myers to reconsider his decision to rehire Harris.

Aug. 24, 1985: Additional sanctions are imposed by the Executive Committee, including the exclusion of Ocean View from the 1985-86 playoffs.

Oct. 2, 1985: Ocean View appeals to the CIF Southern Section to have sanctions lifted, and is denied.

Nov. 6, 1985: Ocean View appeals to a State CIF appeal panel.

Nov. 21, 1985: The state CIF panel denies Ocean View’s appeal, and affirms all sanctions.

Jan. 23, 1986: Harris files suit in Orange County Superior Court to get the sanctions lifted, and Commissioner Jane D. Myers sets a hearing for Feb. 10.

Feb. 10, 1986: Ocean View case to be heard at Orange County Superior Court by Judge Harmon Scoville.