Thomas Edison High School’s varsity boys basketball coach has been suspended after the principal said athletes who were not enrolled at the school competed in a Virginia High School League-sanctioned summer tournament.
Principal Mandy Burke did not name the coach in her message to the school community. Tre’ Ford is listed as the coach on Edison’s website.
According to Burke, the decision to suspend the coach was made after an investigation into last summer’s tournament, during which, she said, Edison used players not enrolled at the school. However, there are additional allegations regarding player residency and recruiting that Fairfax County Public Schools is still looking into.
The coach’s suspension comes just months after another athletic scandal in the school system.
In November, just before the football playoffs, the Virginia High School League banned Hayfield Secondary School from the postseason over similar accusations about player residency and recruiting.
The saga wore on as the ban was appealed and overturned in court. Hayfield ultimately decided to withdraw from postseason play after opposing coaches threatened to forfeit from the playoffs if Hayfield was allowed to compete.
The accusations against Hayfield followed the hiring of former Freedom-Woodbridge football coach Darryl Overton earlier in 2024. Fairfax County Public Schools investigated whether students from Freedom had followed Overton to Hayfield and were not living in Hayfield’s school district.
Aside from the summer tournament, it’s unclear what exact violations Edison allegedly committed.
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