OKVarsity.com - Jimmerson suspended

October 27, 2009

Justin Mitchell
OKVarsity.com Publisher

Tulsa (Ok.) Booker T. Washington head coach and athletic director Antwain Jimmerson has been suspended for the rest of the school year after an investigation into the school's athletic department revealed that 6 athletes were ineligible, superintendent Keith Ballard announced in a press conference Tuesday.

Jimmerson will forfeit his coaching stipend as well as his earnings as athletic director and will serve as a physical education teacher at the school.

Two varsity football games will be forfeited from the 2009 season due to the participation of ineligible athletes. 13 varsity softball games will also be forfeited from this year.

Four other members of the athletic department have been reprimanded by the school along with Jimmerson.

The violations, which according to Ballard, were self reported to the OSSAA and were handled well by Tulsa Public Schools, who wanted to get an understanding of what exactly happened at Booker T. Washington.

"This last weekend, I told the media that we would be thorough with this and I feel we have been," Ballard said.

The superintendent said he believes a lack of understanding of the state's residency requirements was the cause of the violations.

"In my opinion, it was a lack of oversight. I would categorize it as a slip-up but they're still violations and are still taken seriously."

"There was some confusion because we are a magnet school," Bullard said. "There is no feeder system for us, kids apply to go to school here and are accepted. But ignorance is not an excuse."

Washington is not the only Tulsa school to make headlines with an eligibility scandal this year.

On September 2nd, Jenks head football coach Allan Trimble was suspended from his duties for the rest of the semester after an independent investigation revealed several violations in the school's athletic department, the most notable being the ineligibility of Oklahoma commit Jarrett Lake who was found to be living in the district illegally.

Trimble's suspension was later extended to the rest of the school year by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association, the governing body of Oklahoma high school athletics.

Booker T. Washington is the defending state champions in Class 5A and came into the week ranked number five in the state. Due to the forfeits, the Hornets are now in danger of missing the playoffs.

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