SoCalHoops High School News

Artesia Sanctions: Merino Gone,
Two Titles Stripped--(June 2, 2000)

The ABC Unified School District issued its report yesterday, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and based on eight serious rules violations, including undue influence and eligibility violations, the District has removed Wayne Merino as head coach, and stripped the school of two titles. 

Merino has coached at Artesia for 13 years, and brought the team to three state championships and six southern section titles.  The District's report recommended to the CIF that the school be stripped of it's 1997-98 Division I-AA and 1999-2000 Division II-A titles, a recommendation which was accepted by the Southern Section CIF office.  Those titles will now simply be recorded as "vacant."   

A more complete summary of the ABC School District's investigative report and it's conclusions was published in today's Long Beach Press-Telegram, and is available online. But here are the basic details:

Background:

The Press-Telegram on March 14 reported that two Artesia basketball players, Jack Martinez from the Dominican Republic and Jon Stefansson from Iceland, had student visas with false information on them, and that Martinez, a junior this season, was in his fifth year of high school. The students listed Mater Dei High School on their visa forms because Artesia High does not admit such foreign students. The district reported Thursday that Mater Dei officials informed investigators that two Artesia basketball players used fraudulent documents to enroll at Artesia. A subsequent series of stories in the Press-Telegram on May 2 reported allegations that Artesia's basketball coaches violated CIF rules by arranging for players to gain residency in the school's district. The series also reported that during the last five years two former school board members and a group of parents had asked the district to examine the program. The full text of those prior stories is still available online at the Press-Telegram at this link (at least for now):

The Violations

The investigators determined that eight CIF rules violations were committed by the Artesia boys basketball program in the areas of student eligibility and undue influence by coaches in recruiting players.  The P-T's account of the report doesn't specifically number each violation nor identify each of the eight separate violations, but it appears that the violations fall into three main categories:

1.  Undue Influence: There were three different instances in which an Artesia coach or someone associated with the school had improper contact with the families or caregivers of basketball players before they enrolled at the school, a violation of the CIF's undue influence rule.  While the report did not identify anyone by name, the Press-Telegram on May 2 reported on allegations that former assistant coach Tim Sweeney Jr. had contacted Tony Crane, the father of an Artesia player, in 1997 and had asked if he would be a caregiver for Malcolm Heron so that Heron, who lived outside Artesia's attendance boundary at the time, could attend the school. The newspaper also reported allegations that another former coach, Jeff Day, had asked a friend who lived in Artesia's district to house a foreign exchange student player in 1995.

2. Improper Documentation of Foreign Students and Eligibility Violations:  According to the Press-Telegram, the report concluded that the school neglected to ask Martinez, Matos, Fernandez and Stefansson for documentation that they belonged in the ninth grade when they enrolled at Artesia.Martinez and Fernandez arrived for the 1997-98 season and Matos and Stefansson came the following school year. According to CIF rules, if a foreign student who is not involved in a foreign exchange program enrolls as a 10th, 11th or 12th grader, he is not eligible to play varsity sports for one year. Martinez enrolled at Artesia as a ninth grader in 1997 after attending the ninth grade in the Dominican Republic in 1995-96. That information was reported by the Press-Telegram in March, and documentation was provided to the school district at its request. Martinez violated the CIF's transfer rule because his parents did not change their residence, Martinez did not participate in a sanctioned foreign exchange program, and he did not have his transfer eligibility approved by the CIF Southern Section prior to his athletic participation, according to the report.

3. Improper Management/Financial Controls:   While the Press-Telegram didn't cite any specific portions of the report, or say in what way the management of the tournaments or their financial controls had been improper, the paper did state that the report concluded "The school failed to manage and control all finances connected with the boys basketball tournaments sponsored by Artesia, including the prestigious Best In The West Tournament each December and a pair of summer tournaments."  According to the P-T, the investigating team found there was "a lack of management and control of CIF-sanctioned athletic events" and that Artesia High Principal Yvonne Contreras "had not exercised prudent oversight," in determining athletes' eligibility.

Wayne Merino

According to the Press-Telegram, Wayne Merino issued a statement Thursday through his attorney, condemning the report, the investigation, and the action taken by the school board and the CIF:  "This was a lynch mob from the beginning and it was only thinly disguised as a lawful board of inquiry.  I am exploring my legal remedies with my lawyers. . . . In sum, I am not surprised at the conclusions arrived at by this investigative Committee.  It is clear from their refusal to provide me notice sufficient to enable me to defend myself, by their willingness to compromise the rights of students, by their cavalier treatment of students' privacy rights and by their willingness (to) address matters well beyond their competence, that they would come to any other conclusion. . . .On one occasion when the Committee finally agreed to identify the focus of its inquiry with respect to me, I agreed to testify.  Immediately the questioning began into an area other than that specified.   At that point my lawyer advised the Committee that it was acting unlawfully and that I would not continue to testify."

According to the Press-Telegram, who relied on "sources close to the investigation,"  Merino himself answered only two questions: "What is your name and what is your job?" All other questions during the 90-minute interview were handled by Merino's attorneys.

The P-T noted that Merino continues to teach at the school, but has already cleaned out the basketball office, which had been decorated with CIF and State championship plaques and McDonald's All-American jerseys of his former players. Superintendant Barnes said, "Mr. Merino will not be returning as the basketball coach next year. Basketball coaching positions are year to year. We think it's in the best interest of the program if Mr. Merino is not the basketball coach next year."

Finally, the paper concludes that there may still be more sanctions to come against the school and the basketball program. The CIF has asked the school district to clarify why there was no recommendation that Artesia forfeit its 1998-99 Southern Section I-AA title since that team also had Matos, Steffanson, Martinez and Fernandez on the roster.

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