The Wyoming County Board of Education voted 4-0 to terminate the contract of Westside boys basketball Thomas Evans following a recommendation by superintendent John Henry at a meeting in Pineville Friday afternoon. Evans confirmed the news to Lootpress via text Friday evening.
The recommendation came after allegations of multiple rule violations by Evans.
The first was that Evans discouraged his team from attending the state cheerleading competition on Saturday Dec. 14 in Charleston, the same day the Renegades were slated to play Chapmanville later in the evening. Players alleged Evans threatened to bench them if they attended. Evans retorted he discouraged it and asked the players to discuss with him if they were going but did not threaten them with playing time.
According to testimony given at the meeting Friday, Westside principal Katie Endicott was informed of the situation and discussed it with Evans at which point he noted he did not threaten players with playing time.
At the game against Chapmanville, Evans was assessed two technical fouls thus suspended for the following two games. The following Monday on Dec. 16, Evans made the comment, “You can kiss my white ass” towards his players in practice.
In statements made to administration, several players alleged Evans pointed at them when making the comments and that they were tied to his preference for his players to not attend the cheerleading competition getting back to Endicott. In his testimony given Friday, Evans said the comment was made in jest after the players lobbied to run one drill and he disagreed, wanting them to run another. He said it stemmed from them joking with him earlier in the day about the pale color of his legs in shorts. He was later put on paid administrative leave.
During his leave Evans was not supposed to be on school property or have contact with the team but had to drop off keys for equipment for interim head coach Nick Cook. When he stopped by to drop them off, Cook asked him to speak with the team, a violation of his leave.
Evans was in his third season at the helm for the Renegades who came into the year ranked in the top 10 of the Class AA coaches poll.
Evans, is the second Wyoming County varsity head coach to be terminated this season after Wyoming East head Derek Brooks saw his eight-year stint come to a close in December.
