Tuesday, October 17, 2023

McDowell Out at Farmington.

Written Tuesday October 17th at 1:50 PM

Updated Wednesday October 18th at 12:00 AM

The Falcons will have a new coaching staff this winter. Farmington Coach Derrick McDowell was not listed according to the MHSAA website.

There was an article on WJBK Fox Two that confirmed that their were overnight study parties that were hosted by a Farmington Boys Basketball Coach in which sexual assault allegations came to light.

The case is under investigation and was turned over to the Wayne County prosecutors office since the incident happened in Detroit.

According to WJBK Fox Two and WDIV Local Four in Detroit, it said that the Farmington School District learned that three other coaches were aware of the interactions between the Junior Varsity coach and the student athletes but did not report them. They including McDowell were terminated according to the article.

Farmington Public Schools sent out a statement regarding the situation. "Upon receiving notice of the allegation, the third party coach was immediately terminated and issued a no trespass notice banning him from all Farmington Public Schools facilities and events. The case has been turned over to law enforcement while our administrative team is conducting an internal investigation" the statement read.

Farmington Public Schools sent out another statement regarding the investigation. "During our administrative team's internal investigation, we learned that three of the other coaches in our program (varsity and freshmen) had some knowledge in these interactions between the Junior Varsity coach and student athletes and chose not to report them. As a result they have been terminated as well. To be clear the other coaches are NOT accused of improper conduct with players, rather they did not meet the required threshold as mandatory reporters to ensure the safety and well being of student athletes. School based, social emotional support is being offered to all students and families affected by this incident" the statement read.

McDowell went 8-35 in his two years with the Falcons. Farmington went 6-16 last season and 2-19 the prior season.

The Falcons had started to turn the corner heading into the season. They have Greg Grays, Quintez Saltler, Darrell Cochrane, and Anthony Bailey coming back. Farmington will be in the White with Seaholm, Troy, Troy Athens, Harper Woods, Southfield Arts and Tech, Lake Orion, and Bloomfield Hills. They have a really tough district with North Farmington, Livonia Stevenson, Southfield Arts and Tech, Livonia Franklin, and Redford Thurston at Livonia Stevenson in March.

It will be very interesting to see what Farmington does with their coaching search especially with the season not that far off.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story. 

 

MHSAA page confirming McDowell not on the page.

https://www.mhsaa.com/schools/farmington/boys/varsity/basketball

WJBK Fox Two Story.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/farmington-high-school-assistant-coaches-knew-about-sexual-study-parties-three-terminated

WDIV Story.

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/10/17/multiple-farmington-high-school-coaches-fired-amid-sexual-assault-investigation/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wdiv4

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