A high school basketball player, upset that he was benched and facing suspension, allegedly pummeled his coach during a postgame parking lot beatdown, officials said Tuesday.
The 17-year-old player and his 22-year-old brother were both booked on suspicion of assaulting of a public servant before each posted a $20,000 bond and being released on Wednesday, the Montgomery County Jail said. NBC News does not usually name minors charged with a crime.
“I would have never thought in a million years this would happen to me with this his particular kid,” Willis coach Jeremy Clark told NBC News on Tuesday.
Hours before the alleged Dec. 5 assault, about 50 miles north of Houston, the player had been taken out of Willis’ game at Conroe High School for arguing with an opponent and referees, according to his coach.
Clark, 37, said he wanted the 17-year-old to cool off, but the player angrily told an assistant coach and his teammates not to speak to him, leading to the benching.
Immediately after the road game, won by Willis, the suspect’s mother and brother angrily confronted the coach with a barrage of expletives.
“If I didn’t keep my cool, something could have happened at the opposing team’s school,” the third-year head coach said.
The team returned to its campus and got dressed in their locker room before Clark was confronted by the player and his brother in the parking lot, authorities said.
When the player was told he’d be suspended, that’s when he and his brothers started punching, according to the coach.
“As they approached the victim, they began a verbal confrontation, which led to (the player) punching the victim in the face,” according to a sheriff’s statement. “At that same time, (the player’s brother) also began assaulting the coach.”
The alleged assault stunned Clark, who said he had a good relationship with the player.
“I’ve had this kid over to my house, I’ve mentored this kid, I’ve reached out to love this kid,” Clark said. “And just because I took a…
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