Fewer than 6% are African American, according to the lawsuit. He also graduated 100% of his players, some of whom went on to play at NCAA Division I schools such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Memphis, the lawsuit says. Smith, according to the lawsuit, is the winningest coach in the program’s history, with a 228-35 record overall. In 2017-2018 they compiled a 35-1 record, in 2018-2019 they went 24-5 and in 2019-2020 they went 21-3 before the COVID-19 pandemic cut the season short. Before his arrival, the team had not had a winning season in over 15 years. Smith became head coach of the women’s basketball team, known as the Scotties, in 2011. And I don’t mean the colors on the uniform.” I think they want to change the color of our school. And I actually said, ‘I don’t think I understand what you mean.’ And he very aggressively said, ‘You know exactly what I mean.’" Smith said that shortly after Dorrel became athletic director, “he told me I had to recruit more players the culture of our community could relate to. In a phone interview with KCUR, Smith, who is white, said that what happened at HCC “is one of those things that a lot of people will initially go, ‘Well, that can’t be true in today’s world, that can’t happen.’” “The Board selected both Fox and Dorrel despite their glaring lack of qualification for their positions because they enthusiastically agreed to execute the racially discriminatory policies alleged here by aggressively retaliating against coaches, including Plaintiffs, who resisted the administration,” the lawsuit alleges. The suit says the defendants worked to transform HCC into “a racially homogenous campus with fewer African American athletes” and to “make Highland white again.” Smith, the former women’s basketball head coach Bradford Zinn, a former assistant coach and Jered Ross, also a former assistant coach - are suing HCC its president, Deborah Fox its athletic director, Bryan Dorrel and a member of its board of trustees, Russell Karn.
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