IHSAA Statement on Lighthouse CPA Boys Basketball Coaches

IHSAA Statement on Lighthouse CPA Boys Basketball Coaches

Credit Source: IHSAA

Following a series of unsportsmanlike incidents by an administrator and coaches of the Lighthouse College Prep
Academy (CPA) boys basketball team, IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig has issued penalties and placed the boys
basketball program on probation for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
During last Friday’s game (Jan. 29) played at Bowman Academy in Gary, Lighthouse CPA athletic director Lawrence
Sandlin was ejected from the contest near the end of the third quarter for arguing with contest officials. After a traveling
violation was called with 6:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, head coach Nick Moore threw a chair onto the floor,
attempted to throw a second chair a few seconds later, and then tossed another basketball onto the playing court.
Assistant coach KeVan Ford later heaved a chair across the court shortly after the final buzzer had sounded.
“There is simply no place in education-based athletics for this type of poor behavior. This adult behavior will not be
tolerated. I commend the Lighthouse CPA administration on their swift action in dealing with the situation and expect a
positive change in the expectations and standards moving forward,” said Commissioner Neidig.
Per IHSAA By-Laws, the athletic director is suspended for the team’s next varsity contest and all other interschool
contests at any level in the interim. Prior to the penalties being issued regarding the coaches, the Lighthouse CPA
administration indicated to the commissioner that both coaches were disciplined according to school policy and
procedure.
Probation – which will not affect the remainder of the school’s regular season or its participation in the state tournament
because of these incidents – is official notice serious violations have occurred, are a matter of record and future, similar
incidents will not be tolerated. The IHSAA also applauds the student athletes involved in the game for not adversely
reacting to the egregious display of poor sportsmanship and behavior by adults. Their response to this unacceptable
adult behavior falls in line with our expectations of student athletes.
The IHSAA emphatically promotes respect for the rules, sportsmanlike conduct, and fair play among its 410 member
schools and their student-athletes. Good sportsmanship is one of the primary tenets of education-based athletics and
has come into even greater focus in recent years with the creation of the IHSAA Sportsmanship Program, the
Sportsmanship Task Force, and multiple media campaigns.
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About the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA)
The IHSAA is a voluntary, not-for-profit organization that is self-supporting without the use of tax monies. Since its founding in
1903, the Association’s mission has been to provide wholesome, educational athletics for the secondary schools of Indiana. Its
410 member high schools – public, institutional, parochial and private – pay no annual membership fee or incur entry fees to play
in the Association’s tournaments. A state tournament series is conducted annually in 22 sports, 10 for girls, 10 for boys and two
co-ed (unified flag football and track and field). A 19-person board of directors, elected by member school principals, governs the
organization