Duncanville ISD announced Tuesday that it is investigating recent allegations that former girls basketball coach LaJeanna Howard potentially violated her one-year UIL suspension and written directives from the district.
While that investigation is pending, Howard and the varsity girls basketball coaching staff will be on paid administrative leave. That includes Jason Rogers, who was serving as the interim head coach, Duncanville ISD said.
The school district canceled Tuesday’s game against Skyline, and Skyline was awarded a forfeit win. With Duncanville ineligible for the playoffs this season, that was scheduled to be the team’s final game.
Duncanville (26-5, 13-1), ranked No. 11 in the nation by MaxPreps, had already clinched the District 11-6A title. It had won 19 games in a row before the forfeit.
“I recently became aware of allegations regarding the Duncanville High School girls basketball coaches,” Duncanville ISD Superintendent Marc Smith said in a statement. “I and the district’s administration take these allegations seriously. When we learned about the allegations, the district immediately began an investigation. That investigation is currently ongoing. The district is taking swift and decisive steps to address the allegations. If the result of the investigation reveals any wrongdoing by the girls basketball coaches, Duncanville ISD will immediately self-report those issues to the UIL and institute strong corrective action.”
After the news came out Tuesday, parents met at the Duncanville ISD athletic department office but were given no information about the reason for the investigation.
“We really don’t know what’s going on. We don’t understand,” Herman Morris said. “The parents are up in arms about it. We’re not happy.
“Now we’re talking about these childrens’ mental health. It’s because of the decisions that are being made. That tells me they don’t really care about the kids’ welfare. And I’m not OK with that. I’m not OK when it becomes an issue that we can’t stand up for ourselves.”
Morris’ daughter, Imani, has signed with Memphis and is rated the ninth-best recruit in the Dallas area.
This is the latest in a series of off-the-court issues for Duncanville.
The University Interscholastic League ruled Oct. 31 that 11-time state champion Duncanville will not be allowed to compete in the playoffs this season, and that Howard was suspended for the rest of this school year because of a rules violation.
At the time, Howard had already been suspended for two months and had been reassigned to an elementary school position by Smith. But the UIL thought that a more severe punishment was needed.
The UIL also stripped the Duncanville boys basketball team of last season’s Class 6A state title for use of an ineligible player. Coach David Peavy was given a one-year suspension, and the program was issued a three-year probation period and a public reprimand.
The Duncanville girls were also given a three-year probation, and the girls basketball assistant coaches and then-Duncanville ISD athletic director Dwight Weaver were given public reprimands. Less than two weeks later, Weaver was reassigned to serve as a campus administrator.
In 2019, former Duncanville girls basketball coach Cathy Self-Morgan was issued a three-year suspension from coaching and a public reprimand after the UIL ruled that she was guilty of recruiting violations. A three-year suspension is the maximum length that the UIL state executive committee can issue. Self-Morgan denied committing any violations that season or throughout her 42-year career.
Howard replaced Self-Morgan as coach and won a state title in 2020 in her first season as Duncanville’s coach, then made back-to-back regional final appearances the last two years.
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