David Heeb states his case

After three weeks of silence, Scott County Central High School officials -- including athletic director and boys basketball coach David Heeb -- are responding to sanctions handed out earlier this month by the Missouri State High Schools Activities Association's Board of Directors.

Heeb and other school officials are upset with how MSHSAA handled the investigation. They contend the MSHSAA based its findings without proving accusations that came from Heeb's previous employer, Bell City High School, and they are considering legal action to block the punishment.

The state's governing body of high school sports took action at its April 8 board meeting against Scott County Central and the coach for actions by Heeb that violated By-law 216 pertaining to persuasion and undue influence.

Scott County Central superintendent Dr. Joby Holland, incoming principal Lennies McFerren Sr. and Heeb each said the MSHSAA's ruling is too harsh and that it punishes the school for violations it never committed.

Holland also said he and other staff members support Heeb. He said that the coach did not commit the violations alleged during his first year at Scott County Central.

Holland said it will be up to the school board whether legal action will be filed, but he added that Heeb is free to pursue whatever legal action he feels is necessary to clear his name.

"I can't afford to go to court against the likes of MSHSAA," Heeb said, "but I can't afford not to, either. I'm backed into a corner here. I would never do anything that would put the school in a bad light. This is going to hang over my head for the rest of my career, so I have to do something about it."

Heeb had coached boys basketball at Bell City for five years, leading the Cubs to four district titles, three final four berths and the program's first two state championships (2002 and 2004).

Following the 2004-05 school year, Heeb left Bell City for the same positions at Scott County Central, his alma mater.

In October 2005, MSHSAA received a complaint from Bell City coach Brian Brandtner alleging "blatant violations." A letter to MSHSAA from Bell City principal Matt Asher detailed Heeb's attempts to coerce a player to transfer to Scott County Central.

A report filed by MSHSAA's Southeast Investigative Committee in November included similar allegations from four other students and the parent of another student based on correspondence. The parent alleged in a letter that following the 2005 state tournament, in which Bell City finished fourth, Heeb tried to convince the parent of two children not yet in high school to move to the Scott County Central school district.

The MSHSAA board took its action earlier this month after determining evidence existed that Heeb contacted students and parents of students at Bell City in an attempt to influence those students to transfer for the purpose of playing sports.

Of the four students who wrote letters to MSHSAA, none attempted to enroll at Scott County Central, according to district officials. Three of those students reside in the Scott County Central school district and were in contact with Heeb during the summer of 2005 at open gyms, per association rules that the gym must be open to all those within the district.

One student mentioned in an administrator's allegations obtained enrollment information from Holland in the summer of 2005 but ended up leaving Bell City and attending another school.

And Heeb said he did have a conversation with a parent where he expressed some interest in taking another job following a disappointing state finish, but he said he had not been contacted about the Scott County Central job at that point.

Former Bell City all-state basketball player Dominitrix Johnson, former Bell City principal Mike Scott and others with ties to Bell City wrote letters to the state association supporting Heeb.

(Scott said Friday that his letter to MSHSAA recounted the two years he and Heeb worked together at Bell City and that they worked within MSHSAA guidelines, consulting with the association when necessary regarding player eligibility issues. "We had a good relationship," Scott said.)

McFerren, who will be Heeb's principal this school year, said, "I just feel it's outrageous to take the word of people they don't even know and not dealing with the facts.

"If David Heeb is guilty, then he's guilty, but don't take the word of someone who might have an ax to grind or someone who is upset because he left their school. Deal with the facts," added McFerren, a retired Missouri Hall of Fame coach who coached Charleston and New Madrid County Central to a combined nine boys basketball state championships. "I've been in this business 31 years and I've never heard of anything such as this. I know some schools in Kansas City and St. Louis do some illegal recruiting up there, but to come down here and just take the word of people they don't even know and not look at the evidence."

Neither Bell City superintendent Rhonda Niemczyk nor principal Matt Asher, who was an assistant coach for Heeb, would comment for this story.

Niemczyk did say that the matter was in the MSHSAA's hands and that they would let them deal with the case.

(Brandtner, contacted by the Southeast Missourian Saturday after returning from serving as a chaperone on the school's senior trip, said, "MSHSAA made their decision based on the evidence that was given to them.")

"This punishment," Heeb said, "is the equivalent of someone getting the death penalty for a speeding ticket, if you will, and we weren't even speeding.

"We feel, and I feel, like the truth isn't being told, and that the sanctions are based on lies. We feel like MSHSAA was less than honest with us, too. I didn't do what I'm being accused of, and we feel like MSHSAA wouldn't even listen to our side. It was like we were declared guilty before the investigation even began."

(Heeb told the Southeast Missourian this week the final appeal before MSHSAA on April 8 included teleconference testimony from a witness who was mentioned only in passing in the report. "We never got to say 'This is not in the report' or 'This is not true,'" he said. "We're trying to appeal these allegations, and they're throwing in new charges. They didn't interview the people I was accused of recruiting.")

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According to the MSHSAA's news release, Heeb was suspended from coaching and attending games for the second semester of the 2006-07 basketball season, including the district and state series.

Heeb also has been suspended from attending or coaching junior high games during the 2006-07 season, and will be unable to organize, conduct, supervise or attend open school gyms, shoot-arounds, impromptu scrimmages or other open recreational activities for three seasons, starting with the 2006-07 season.

"If you look at this punishment, I'm the biggest cheater in the history of our state association," said Heeb, who also will have to attend the MSHSAA Sportsmanship Summit in August. "Look at what I'm being accused of -- recruiting four kids who didn't come to Scott County Central, two of those kids I had kicked off of the team [at Bell City]. Then, when you look at the evidence that was backing up those charges, it was insufficient. To me, that is a stiff penalty for those charges."

MSHSAA also placed the Scott County Central high school boys basketball program on probation for a period of three years beginning with the 2006-07 season, and it will be required to comply with all the MSHSAA bylaws.

Holland said that his school should never have been punished and was surprised how the MSHSAA handled the investigation.

"The main thing is that the process that we went through, being a member of the state association and not feeling like we were heard or listened to," Holland said. "Having been in education for 17 years in the public schools of Missouri, there's always a due process when you're dealing with the students or anyone involved with the school. Even though we went through the motions from MSHSAA's standpoint, I really didn't feel like we were heard, and I think it was a done deal before it even started."

(Holland told the Southeast Missourian on Friday that he expects the prospect of a legal appeal to come up at the next board meeting. "We're behind our teachers like David, teachers that do as they are asked to do," Holland said. "We wouldn't be wasting our time over this if we felt things were done properly.")

Rick Kindhart, assistant executive director of the MSHSAA, said all sides were heard from and that everyone involved cooperated fully in the investigation. He said he was unaware of any pending legal action on this case.

Kindhart also said there was sufficient evidence that Heeb did try to persuade students at Bell City to transfer to Scott County Central.

"One of the most severe violations a coach can commit is undue influence," Kindhart said. "[MSHSAA] looked at a lot of different testimony and evidence in coach Heeb's case and the history of behavioral issues. There certainly was a variety of testimony from a variety of reliable sources they considered from both sides of the fence. But the only thing the board was considering was accusations of his behavior of his transfer from Bell City to Scott County Central. That's the time period they were looking at."

(Heeb told the Southeast Missourian the reference to "a history of behavioral issues" and wording in Brandtner's letter to MSHSAA as evidence that he was being penalized for rumors that surrounded his years at Bell City. Brandtner wrote that he received "countless calls from fellow coaches and administrators (from other schools) saying something must be done. [Heeb] is out of control and making a mockery of MSHSAA and other fellow schools and administrators who are here for the kids." Said Heeb: "I don't have anything to hide.")

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After looking over the documents that MSHSAA provided Scott County Central, Holland and Heeb both believe no legitimate evidence existed to support the claims. They believe MSHSAA has set a precedent of making decision without sufficient evidence.

"I don't see the credibility of the evidence," Holland said. "Bottom line is those four kids never came over to our school and try to enroll. With other schools, there was a smoking gun.

"There was no smoking gun saying here's what David offered -- no payments or letters whatsoever. There was no proof of anything. Four statements saying David did this or that. I don't see how you can take people's word over another person's word unless documentation proves it otherwise. I feel like the whole process was unfair to David and our students especially."

Holland added that MSHSAA violated its own bylaws by not allowing the school to punish Heeb, as has been done in "more severe cases." He added that Section 6 of the handbook says the maximum penalty for any one offense shall not exceed one year's suspension -- 365 days -- from the state association.

But Kindhart said different boards lay down different punishments.

"I think the board wanted to take a stand and make sure that thin line is more defined when it comes to transfer of students," Kindhart said. "The kids at Scott County Central are not being punished, just the coach. Their kids get to play in districts next year."

Kindhart mentioned the penalty did not rise to the level of another school that received a death penalty, in which "they did not get to play in the state playoffs for one year after their violations and were stripped of their championships won during that time."

Scott County Central was willing to discipline Heeb, Holland said, once the school learned that a penalty was coming. He had conversations with MSHSAA officials where he was told the maximum punishment would be a suspension from coaching in the district and state playoff series for a year, likely in 2006-07. Holland, who wrote to the state association in the April 8 appeal that the situation was not being handled expeditiously, proposed at one point to suspend Heeb for the rest of the 2005-06 season and playoffs.

"We were trying to go ahead and be done with it," Holland told the Southeast Missourian on Friday.

He said MSHSAA would not allow Scott County Central to take that action since it didn't want Heeb to be punished twice when MSHSAA decided on its own punishment.

Kindhart backed that statement, but Holland said the penalty in the end was much worse than the MSHSAA said it would be.

"The thing that's disheartening to me, as a member of MSHSAA, is that they didn't do what they told me they were going to do," Holland said Friday.

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Both Heeb and Holland said Bell City's complaint was a personal vendetta.

Heeb said Bell City was upset he left their school for Scott County Central, which is about 10 miles away and has a dozen boys basketball championships. He said the two schools have not gotten along for several decades and that his leaving turned up the heat.

The schools did not play this past regular season -- a game scheduled ironically for Valentine's Day, Feb. 14 -- as the intense rivalry escalated.

When the schools did meet in the Class 1 state sectional, Bell City won 82-51 on its way to a runner-up finish at the state tournament.

"If David Heeb was still at Bell City, would we be here?" McFerren asked. "If he hadn't been successful, would this be happening? If it were any school other than Scott Central with the tradition the school has had in basketball, would we be here? We all know the answers. If he had stayed at Bell City or went to any other school, this would have never came about. I don't think so. We wouldn't hear anything."

Added Holland: "David left a position at Bell City where he was highly successful, where -- had he stayed there -- he would still be successful at least two or three more years possibly going to the state tournament again, knowing he was forfeiting that to come to Scott County Central.

"He was looking out for his career, where he was from -- which is our school -- and trying to do what was right," Holland said. "It would have been nice for him to leave Bell City behind and be able to move on and do the things you need to do without stuff following you."