Stoneridge Prep parts ways with basketball coach, athletic director

Simi Valley Stoneridge Prep, a favorite destination for college basketball recruiters, has fired its coach and athletic director, leaving questions about whether its roster full of foreign and out-of-state players will stick around.

Joe Hillock, UCLA’s director of basketball operations for three years, took over as Stoneridge Prep’s coach on Sept. 1. In a brief telephone interview Wednesday, he said he had been terminated but declined further comment on the advice of his attorney.

Also fired was Athletic Director Angela Hagen, who also was hired earlier this year.

In a statement, the school said, “It recently came to the attention of Stoneridge Prep’s management that certain representations made by Hillock prior to being appointed head coach were not true when made. As a result of that discovery, Stoneridge Prep is no longer affiliated with Hillock.�

The decision to let Hagen go, the school statement said, “was based on NCAA rules prohibiting such associations between Stoneridge Prep and its students and professional sports agents such as Hagen.�

Hagen could not be reached for comment.

Former NBA player Olden Polynice has taken over running the basketball program on an interim basis, a school spokesman said.

The change in program leadership comes as the NCAA is investigating allegations that former Stoneridge Prep basketball star Enes Kanter and his family received more than $100,000 in salary and expenses from a club team he played for in Turkey. Kanter, a 6-foot-11 center, is enrolled at Kentucky.

Stoneridge Prep used to be a member of the California Interscholastic Federation, then became an independent prep school several years ago after repeated problems with rule violations. The school, which has an enrollment of fewer than 50 students, has sent players to USC, Pepperdine, Minnesota and elsewhere while becoming known for attracting foreign students interested in earning a college basketball scholarship. The basketball program caters to players who have exhausted their high school eligibility and need an extra year of preparation for college. Former USC player Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls played two years at Stoneridge Prep.

The school’s roster has included players from Senegal, Serbia, Mali, France, Tunisia and other countries. Stoneridge Prep mentions on its website that it has an NCAA-approved fifth-year student-athlete program.

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