Reardan basketball coach resigns

REARDAN – A basketball coach for the Reardan School District will not be returning in the coming year, following an investigation that he made inappropriate race-based comments to a student.

Coach Damon Dewey was investigated by the school district after a player’s parents made a complaint about Dewey on Feb. 15. In response, athletic director Eric Nikkola conducted an investigation that found Dewey “more likely than not” violated the civil rights of a mixed-race player on the girl’s basketball team. The player’s name was not released in the investigation records.

Records show that the civil rights violations included Dewey stating that the player stole extra suckers after a practice “because she is black,” stating that he used a special “black handshake” with the player and stating the relationship with the player would now be tampered, “indicating he would treat her differently going forward (and) indicating he would retaliate because of the complaint,” records show.

Records from interviews with Dewey state he doesn’t remember making the comment about suckers, but did acknowledge having a “black” handshake with the player.

The investigation also found that Dewey “more likely than not” engaged in conversations deemed inappropriate with his team and “unrelated to his duties as a head basketball coach”, including bizarre theories about underwire bras and talcum powder causing cancer and advising the team that ‘boys only want one thing,’ when discussing a student incident that happened on the bus, records stated.

Records also described a heated verbal altercation between Dewey and the parent concerning the civil rights complaint after a basketball game at West Valley High School at the district basketball tournament.

“He did this in the presence of students, parents and spectators,” records state.

Nikkola’s investigation included multiple interviews with Dewey, the basketball player and her parents and two witnesses present during the verbal altercation at West Valley.

Former superintendent Marcus Morgan originally made the decision not to renew Dewey’s contract. Coaches’ contracts are on a year-to-year basis.

The board then took formal action to rehire Dewey at its June 25 meeting in hopes of continuing to investigation. When new superintendent Eric Sobotta took over July 1, he brought in a third party investigator and reviewed the situation himself before Dewey’s ultimate resignation. The board accepted Dewey's resignation as girl's basketball coach at the Aug. 26 school board meeting.

The school will conduct an interview process to determine its new coach when and if girl’s basketball season is approved to occur in 2021.