Stink at Indian Creek

[Muda69]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2023/09/06/ihsaa-indian-creek-sit-player-despite-restraining-order-against-coach/70750590007/\

(Note: story by Mr. Doyel  is behind a paywall)

Quote

TRAFALGAR – Kohlton Scoggan’s senior season of high school football is gone, taken from him at the urging of Indian Creek.

The IHSAA, seeing no evil and hearing no evil, issued a condescending, tone-deaf defense of Indian Creek's recommendation that Scoggan be ineligible after transferring to Greenwood. Hiding behind its 173-page rulebook, the IHSAA uncovered its eyes long enough to find the black-and-white in a story with 50 shades of gray:

A restraining order against a longtime member of the football staff, a 44-year-old Indian Creek graduate who’d been sending inappropriate phone messages to Kohlton’s 15-year-old sister. Teammates saying they were coerced by Indian Creek coach Casey Gillin into making statements he cited to justify kicking Kohlton off the team. The unsolved mystery of a smashed mailbox. Disputed text messages and a deleted social media post.

Accusations of retaliation and intimidation.

After all that, Kohlton Scoggan was kicked off the team in February. A standout linebacker for Indian Creek, he had dreams of playing small college football, perhaps at safety. He finished among state leaders in tackles as a junior. Another season like that, and who knows?

Kohlton won’t get another season, and without a football scholarship, he won't go to college. Not unless something changes, quickly, in the hearts and minds of the leaders at Indian Creek and the IHSAA, hiding behind words like “bylaws” and “guidelines” to resolve a case that transcends those words.

Is there a bylaw in the IHSAA rulebook that addresses a kid leaving a school two months after his sister obtained a restraining order against an assistant coach? Is there a guideline that says there is no gray area, no wiggle room, when that same kid, alleging intimidation by the coach, wants to play somewhere else?

This isn’t all you need to know about the way Indian Creek and the IHSAA have handled the transfer request of Kohlton Scoggan, but it’s a start.

....

In the words of Kohlton Scoggan, in his statement to the IHSAA during his appeal for eligibility at Greenwood High:

“(Coach Gillin) began being different to me (at) weightlifting class at school. He would take pictures of me in between sets to try and say I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing. Before this incident I was getting 100% on my participation points in (class) and after this happened it started going down and I was doing the same thing I would always do.

“He told one of my best friends at the time to be careful who he hangs out with and don’t be influenced by bad people. He would always call me or text me just to ask if I’m coming to after school weights. … Since our protective order got approved he hasn’t contacted me one time.

“It was just a few weeks after this where I got accused of destroying a mailbox.”

Right. The mailbox. The details of that story can be as long or short as you want – I’ve read everything the IHSAA has on it – but here’s my understanding: Someone destroyed the mailbox of an Indian Creek family in early February. With Kohlton already at the center of so much drama, teammates teased him that he’d done it. Eventually Kohlton went along with the joke, saying sure, he’d done that.

“He was kidding,” his father says.

Writes Kohlton in his IHSAA paperwork:

“The day I got accused of this (Coach Gillin) followed me around the entire time and listened to every conversation I had. This made me very uncomfortable and even my friends noticed it and were saying stuff to me.”

The family met with Skobel, who said he couldn’t determine who destroyed the mailbox.

“I did notify (Kohlton’s mother) that I was not holding Kohlton responsible for the incident,” Skobel wrote in his IHSAA statement, “as I was still unclear if he was the vandal or not.”

That didn’t stop Skobel’s football coach, Gillin, from citing the mailbox incident – during a meeting with Kohlton’s family in February – as one of his reasons for removing Kohlton from the team. Nor did it stop Indian Creek from repeatedly citing the mailbox incident in its statements to the IHSAA, arguing against his eligibility at Greenwood. Gillin obtained statements from a handful of players, saying Kohlton had told them he’d destroyed the mailbox. The IHSAA put those statements into the official record.

Kohlton received text messages from four of those players, all saying the same thing: Gillin “made” them do it.

......

Why does it matter so much to Indian Creek whether Kohlton Scoggan plays his senior season at Greenwood? Neither the principal, AD nor coach would speak with me, other than the email from Skobel, which prevented me from asking about the connection the former coach – the subject of the restraining order – has to Derek Perry, the AD. They attended school together in the 1990s, and almost 30 years later Perry has utilized his classmate in a number of roles, not just football assistant.

Perhaps that 25-year friendship explains why, as Kohlton Scoggan wrote in his statement to the IHSAA, “(Coach Gillin) began being different to me (after) our protective order got approved.”

Whatever the case, Indian Creek and the IHSAA decided to keep Scoggan off the field this year at Greenwood after a process that doesn’t smack of fair play: Indian Creek cherry-picking from the available facts to support its recommendation against eligibility and the IHSAA going along with it, even blocking exculpatory testimony – the text messages from teammates saying “they made me” accuse Scoggan – regarding the mailbox incident.

Meanwhile, the potential impact of an Indian Creek assistant coach sending inappropriate messages to Kohlton’s sister one month before his decision to transfer has been glossed over. In the IHSAA’s own words – in its bylaws, naturally – the IHSAA noted in its rejection of Kohlton’s appeal that a student-athlete must show a unique, compelling reason beyond athletics for the transfer.

“Here,” the IHSAA decided, “there was no unique, compelling or bad conditions at Indian Creek which drove Kohlton to leave Indian Creek.”

What exactly is the IHSAA saying here?

Is an assistant coach sending inappropriate messages to a 15-year-old girl not bad?

Is the family of the girl, whose brother plays football, getting a restraining order against that coach not unique?

Is the head coach, after having that coach removed from his staff, soon kicking the girl’s brother off the team not compelling?

IHSAA commissioner Paul Neidig, declining to go deeply into the specifics of this case for privacy reasons, said the IHSAA does its best with “really, really tough cases.”

“There is room within the bylaws under rule 17-8.1 for a waiver (on behalf of) the student-athlete,” he says. “It has to be something egregious that is completely without the control of the student-athlete, and I understand there could be some debate there on this one. But we have granted waivers if they meet the standard, and we’ve even changed a school’s position. Those cases, you or nobody else ever sees.”

Fair point.

'To me it looked like a set-up'

For years the IHSAA transfer process has been described by state officials as "unprofessional,” “insulting,” “condescending” and “bullying,” and that’s not by parents or kids or even the local newspaper. That’s by members of the IHSAA’s own Case Review Panel, a nine-person mixture of parents, administrators and state Department of Education officials.

A Marion County Superior Court judge has accused IHSAA staff members of “bad faith and bullying" during the transfer process. Several judges have overturned egregious eligibility rulings against the student, many of them after an athlete’s family has hired an attorney to be in the IHSAA conference room to witness the hearings.

The IHSAA addressed that last year … by removing lawyers from the IHSAA conference room for hearings. They can sit outside the closed door, but cannot see or hear what is going on inside.

Seriously.

That’s a large-angle view of what can feel like a kangaroo court. Take a smaller look, from the perspective of Kohlton’s father, Joshua, a retired construction worker who showed up at the IHSAA offices on North Meridian Street on May 2 for Kohlton’s initial appeal.

“I’d never been to the IHSAA – this was my first experience,” Joshua Scoggan says. “They let me in there, and (AD) Derek Perry, (principal) Luke Skobel and (coach) Casey Gillin are already sitting in this guy’s office, talking like old friends. I’m like, ‘What the (heck)? I flipped out. That dude was (IHSAA assistant commissioner) Brian Lewis.”

In the hearing, Joshua Scoggan says, “Brian Lewis was asking questions, and he wasn’t even finished before (Indian Creek officials) were already answering. ... They said (Kohlton’s transfer) was denied, and said it was for athletic reasons. Not that it was based on my son got retaliated upon, targeted, bullied because I exposed one of their coaches (for acting inappropriately) and you guys didn’t like it so you kicked my son off the team.”

The perspective of Kohlton’s mother, Brittany Fisher:

“We all walked in,” she says, “and I was like, ‘What the hell? I thought the IHSAA was supposed to be on the kid’s side. Why is he talking to the school that doesn’t want Kohlton to play?' To me it looked like it was a set-up.”

At the hearing, conducted around a large conference table, Lewis and Neidig of the IHSAA sat next to the Indian Creek coach, opposite Kohlton and his family. Greenwood officials were in a corner. The view is intimidating.

"It's like we're on trial," Brittany Fisher says.

Neidig’s response:

“I understand the parents had a concern with Mr. Lewis meeting with Indian Creek,” he says. “We’ve worked really hard to change the process and make it less intimidating. When parents come in, I meet with them and go over the entire process and what they can expect for the day, and assistant commissioners meet with the sending school and receiving school to go over the process.

“I understand what (Kohlton’s) mom perceived that to be, but I can assure you we were not trying to set a ‘gotcha’ for parents.”

Meanwhile, Kohlton Scoggan is attending Greenwood, unable to play or even practice. The IHSAA granted him partial eligibility, which means he can play on the junior varsity, but he’s a senior. Greenwood’s coaches have told Kohlton they can’t give those developmental snaps to a senior, and you understand that. Greenwood is not the problem here.

The 2023 high school season rolls along. Greenwood has played three of its nine regular-season games, including a 42-28 victory against Indian Creek on Aug. 25, but the regular season ends Oct. 13 – two weeks before Kohlton becomes eligible.

“Kohlton expressed to the IHSAA he just wanted to play in college,” says Brittany, a USPS rural carrier and single mother of six. “That’s all he wanted in all of this. He said if he doesn’t play football he’s not going to college. We can’t afford it.”

Without intervention from a judge or the state Department of Education, Kohlton Scoggan’s life trajectory has been altered by events out of his control – compelling, bad and unique events triggered by an assistant coach sending inappropriate Snapchat messages to his 15-year-old sister.

Are we OK with this, Indiana?

I'm not.  This small school/town political bullshit, plain and simple.  And it has hurt a young man.

 

[HHPatriots]

14 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2023/09/06/ihsaa-indian-creek-sit-player-despite-restraining-order-against-coach/70750590007/\

(Note: story by Mr. Doyel  is behind a paywall)

I'm not.  This small school/town political bullshit, plain and simple.  And it has hurt a young man.

 

This is what lawyers are for, and while he is at it, the kid should probably go ahead and sue for defamation of character.  

[Bobref]

Does he not still have an appeal to a Case Review Panel?

[Muda69]

6 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Does he not still have an appeal to a Case Review Panel?

From the article:

 

Quote

Second, these words from the Case Review Panel, a panel established by the IHSAA to be the second and final appeal of the transfer process, justifying holding Kohlton Scoggan to the same standard as any kid seeking a transfer for athletic reasons. As if the arguments on his behalf, most supported by a paper trail – namely the restraining order against the 2022 Indian Creek coach, but there’s more – are irrelevant.

“While a student could claim that not playing varsity may result in harm or burden to the student,” the panel wrote in its condescending final rejection, “Kohlton has provided no evidence that his inability to participate at the varsity level will cause him to suffer unduly or be a true burden to him. (He) will be able to participate in athletics at Greenwood for his senior year, as the eligibility limitation is only until October 28, 2023.”

Readers, don't let the IHSAA do that.

 

[Bobref]

This is the guy they want. He has beaten up the IHSAA more times than anyone. https://www.theaustgenlaw.com/attorneys/michael-j-jasaitis/

• 

• MICHAEL J. JASAITISPartner

  Email Michael J. Jasaitis ›

  219-662-3519 PHONE

  219-662-3521 FAX

[Muda69]

Just now, Bobref said:

This is the guy they want. He has beaten up the IHSAA more times than anyone. https://www.theaustgenlaw.com/attorneys/michael-j-jasaitis/

• 

• MICHAEL J. JASAITISPartner

  Email Michael J. Jasaitis ›

  219-662-3519 PHONE

  219-662-3521 FAX

Is this recent CRP procedure change by the IHSAA a detriment to Mr. Jasaitis?:

FTA:

Quote

For years the IHSAA transfer process has been described by state officials as "unprofessional,” “insulting,” “condescending” and “bullying,” and that’s not by parents or kids or even the local newspaper. That’s by members of the IHSAA’s own Case Review Panel, a nine-person mixture of parents, administrators and state Department of Education officials.

A Marion County Superior Court judge has accused IHSAA staff members of “bad faith and bullying" during the transfer process. Several judges have overturned egregious eligibility rulings against the student, many of them after an athlete’s family has hired an attorney to be in the IHSAA conference room to witness the hearings.

The IHSAA addressed that last year … by removing lawyers from the IHSAA conference room for hearings. They can sit outside the closed door, but cannot see or hear what is going on inside.

Seriously.

 

[tango]

7 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Does he not still have an appeal to a Case Review Panel?

Having been involved in a successful appeal from a negative Case Review Panel decision for a student in Evansville, all I can say is this process is heavily tilted toward affirming whatever the IHSAA decides, and a family that cannot retain a lawyer to file in Court has almost zero chance of success. Like him or not, Gregg Doyle is making heroic effort to eviscerate the dark underbelly of the IHSAA when it comes to seemingly idiotic decisions denying eligibility. 

1 minute ago, Bobref said:

This is the guy they want. He has beaten up the IHSAA more times than anyone. https://www.theaustgenlaw.com/attorneys/michael-j-jasaitis/

• 

• MICHAEL J. JASAITISPartner

  Email Michael J. Jasaitis ›

  219-662-3519 PHONE

  219-662-3521 FAX

BINGO. He was lead counsel in the case I was involved in. He runs circles around the IHSAA's attorney. 

[tango]

1 minute ago, Muda69 said:

Is this recent CRP procedure change by the IHSAA a detriment to Mr. Jasaitis?:

No, the CRP was put in place during the Daniels administration to attempt to take the final decisions out of the IHSAA's exclusive hands. The IHSAA now precludes a student from having an attorney present during their internal appeal, but an attorney can advocate at the CRP level. If the CRP upholds the IHSAA decision, the next step is filing a lawsuit. Michael has kicked the IHSAA's @$$ more often than not. Extremely good lawyer and man. 

[Grover]

Can he work fast enough for it to matter in this case?

[AG]

Was the Indian Creek assistant a teacher? If so, why wasn't he fired?

[bucksfan]

Is anyone really surprised the IHSAA screwed another student-athlete.   They do it all the time, it just doesn't get pub.   

[Bobref]

56 minutes ago, Grover said:

Can he work fast enough for it to matter in this case?

You can get a temporary restraining order, followed by a preliminary injunction, pretty quickly, if you’ve got the law and the evidence.

[bucksfan]

I thought the article said the coach

22 minutes ago, AG said:

Was the Indian Creek assistant a teacher? If so, why wasn't he fired?

I thought the article said the coach was fired, but the brother of the girl involved was being denied a transfer, by both IC and the IHSAA because he was being harrassed.

[MDAlum82]

Unfortunately, the IHSAA seems ok to slow-play this until the issue it moot.  I feel bad for the kid but I am not at all surprised by the IHSAA.  They have been on the side opposite of students for decades.  They know they cannot win a fair fight more times than not.  Hence the reasoning for removing attorney's for student from the hearing. 

Just now, MDAlum82 said:

Unfortunately, the IHSAA seems ok to slow-play this until the issue it moot.  I feel bad for the kid but I am not at all surprised by the IHSAA.  They have been on the side opposite of students for decades.  They know they cannot win a fair fight more times than not.  Hence the reasoning for removing attorney's for student from the hearing. 

Neidig has been little but a "Yes Man" in his time at the IHSAA which why many/most feel he rose to his current position in the first place.

 

[jets]

Woah....

[temptation]

31 minutes ago, bucksfan said:

Is anyone really surprised the IHSAA screwed another student-athlete.   They do it all the time, it just doesn't get pub.   

Tell us more.  If they “do it all the time” surely you have dozens of examples…

[tango]

5 minutes ago, temptation said:

Tell us more.  If they “do it all the time” surely you have dozens of examples…

Gregg Doyle has written several articles about various cases in central Indiana. Just in the last couple of years we've had a 4+ cases down here in SW Indiana that went through various stages of the IHSAA / CRP/ court process. You have to realize that few parents want to go public about these cases. By the time they get to the CRP or court system, they have already been through the IHSAA ringer. In the end, I'm sure anyone can speak to the actual number of cases because the IHSAA does not disclose such information. At their regular meetings the IHSAA minutes simply reflect that their attorney updates on pending cases. The DOE CRP website showing "current cases" is here: https://www.in.gov/doe/legal/case-review-panel/ , but I can tell you the case I was involved in where the CRP decision was overturned by the Vanderburgh Circuit Court on 09/01/2022 does not show up, so the website appears to be a year+ behind.

[scarab527]

27 minutes ago, temptation said:

Tell us more.  If they “do it all the time” surely you have dozens of examples…

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2014/08/08/indianas-controversial-high-school-transfer-rules-draw-scrutiny-in-wake-of-eron-gordon-case/13773041/
 

Here’s a link to a story from back in 2014 written by Neddenriep where multiple players are mentioned and the way in which the IHSAA handles transfers is questioned. The IndyStar has written about this quite a bit, especially Doyle in the past few years, and those articles have been discussed on this forum before. A quick google search of “ihsaa transfer indystar” will get you everything.

But anyway, this is probably the most disgusting story we’re heard yet in terms of IHSAA transfer horror stories. Many of the “adults” in this story should be downright ashamed of themselves. 

[temptation]

1 minute ago, tango said:

Gregg Doyle has written several articles about various cases in central Indiana. Just in the last couple of years we've had a 4+ cases down here in SW Indiana that went through various stages of the IHSAA / CRP/ court process. You have to realize that few parents want to go public about these cases. By the time they get to the CRP or court system, they have already been through the IHSAA ringer. In the end, I'm sure anyone can speak to the actual number of cases because the IHSAA does not disclose such information. At their regular meetings the IHSAA minutes simply reflect that their attorney updates on pending cases. The DOE CRP website showing "current cases" is here: https://www.in.gov/doe/legal/case-review-panel/ , but I can tell you the case I was involved in where the CRP decision was overturned by the Vanderburgh Circuit Court on 09/01/2022 does not show up, so the website appears to be a year+ behind.

Doyel is a hack and always capitalizes on the low hanging fruit.  His hit pieces know no end and transfer approvals don't get clicks so they also don't go public as often as they happen.

I just don't think the IHSAA "screwing kids over" is as common as folks think.  Its easy to pile on a few high profile cases and attempt to paint their outcome as the norm.

Back on topic, the specific incident discussed in this thread seems awful and embarassing.

[bucksfan]

41 minutes ago, temptation said:

Tell us more.  If they “do it all the time” surely you have dozens of examples…

Why in the world would you defend the IHSAA, when clearly they are wrong in the handling of this situation? Afraid Robert might not let you work in the playoffs, only guessing you are an official by your picture.  If you are not, then see the first question.

I have worked in and for several schools and have many contacts around the state, and I know many incidents where hardships against the student occurred and help from the IHSSA was requested and denied, especially if they are a small, urban, or private school.   They claim they are for students' best interest and yet those actual examples are hard to find.  Feel free to show us one that is not from Carmel or Center Grove.   

 

 

[tango]

26 minutes ago, temptation said:

Doyel is a hack and always capitalizes on the low hanging fruit.  His hit pieces know no end and transfer approvals don't get clicks so they also don't go public as often as they happen.

I just don't think the IHSAA "screwing kids over" is as common as folks think.  Its easy to pile on a few high profile cases and attempt to paint their outcome as the norm.

Back on topic, the specific incident discussed in this thread seems awful and embarassing.

I think that's maybe the point. There shouldn't be "low hanging fruit" like this (and the other instances) when we're dealing with teenage kids. The IHSAA isn't protecting the integrity of HS sports in these kinds of situations. The IHSAA screwing over 1 kid is 1 kids too many. Hack or not, Doyle shouldn't have to write these stories. But he writes them to point out the hypocrisy of the IHSAA.

 

Guess where the IHSAA June Executive Committee meeting was? North Meridian Street? No, West Baden Springs. Who generated the money to pay for a meeting in such a lovely (and pricy) locale? That's right - the student athletes.  

Edited September 6, 2023 by tango

[temptation]

13 minutes ago, bucksfan said:

Why in the world would you defend the IHSAA, when clearly they are wrong in the handling of this situation? Afraid Robert might not let you work in the playoffs, only guessing you are an official by your picture.  If you are not, then see the first question.

I have worked in and for several schools and have many contacts around the state, and I know many incidents where hardships against the student occurred and help from the IHSSA was requested and denied, especially if they are a small, urban, or private school.   They claim they are for students' best interest and yet those actual examples are hard to find.  Feel free to show us one that is not from Carmel or Center Grove.   

 

 

Who is defending the IHSAA?  Read next time.  I condemned this specific situation in my post as it is a terrible look.

However, it’s easy to pile on an organization in these times without knowing all of the facts.

I see stories of police brutality and condemn them…but do not believe they are a reflection of ALL police officers.

I condemn stories of abusive parents, teachers and coaches….but do not believe they are a reflection of all adults.

Lets not paint with a broad brush here.  These people are not out “screwing kids” as the norm.

And your last sentence destroys your credibility, lol.

Edited September 6, 2023 by temptation

[Bash Riprock]

33 minutes ago, bucksfan said:

I have worked in and for several schools and have many contacts around the state, and I know many incidents where hardships against the student occurred and help from the IHSSA was requested and denied, especially if they are a small, urban, or private school.   They claim they are for students' best interest and yet those actual examples are hard to find.  Feel free to show us one that is not from Carmel or Center Grove.   

 

 

Just curious...do you have any specific examples for Carmel and CG?

[Bobref]

50 minutes ago, bucksfan said:

Afraid Robert might not let you work in the playoffs, only guessing you are an official by your picture.

@temptation an official?
 

😂🤣😆

[temptation]

19 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

Just curious...do you have any specific examples for Carmel and CG?

Hell no he doesn’t.  Just another narrative.

Edited September 6, 2023 by temptation