Judge sides with Andover school district in suit over basketball tryouts | The Wichita Eagle

EL DORADO — A judge today dismissed a lawsuit seeking new tryouts for the Andover High School boys basketball team.

The lawsuit was brought against the Andover school district by a student's guardians who contended that the tryouts were tainted because the head basketball coach sought loans from players' parents. The guardians' nephew was cut from the team after tryouts in mid-November. The coach, Jason Stucky, resigned about a week after the tryouts.

Butler County District Judge Mike Ward said in court today that he used a balancing test in reaching his decision. Holding new tryouts would cause more harm than good, Ward said.

In a written order, Ward said that he "must conclude that the governmental interest involved here in moving forward with the boys season outweighs the rights of the individual player. If this Court were to order the school district to start the Andover High boy's basketball season over again, it would cause more disruption to the community interest than it would serve to the individual interest" of the student involved in the lawsuit.

"Giving (the student) his 'fair tryout' would be unfair to those boys currently on the team whose season would suddenly be put on hold and whose place on the team would again be called into question," Ward wrote.

"And if this court were to order second tryouts, by what standard would we judge that the second tryouts were fair? ... About all you could say about a second tryout in this case is that Coach Stucky would not be involved. ... But it is likely that the assistant coaches involved in tryout one would also be involved in tryout two."

After the ruling, Andover school district superintendent Mark Evans said, "The judge agreed with us that the tryouts were fair."

But Corlin Pratt, lawyer for the student's guardians, Paul and Melinda Peffly, later disagreed with Evans about the tryouts. The judge "never ruled that they were fair," Pratt said.

Pratt said that his clients don't yet know whether they will appeal.

Paul Peffly said it was a "sad day for students in the state of Kansas." He said students don't have any recourse for improper decisions by coaches.

Evans, the superintendent, said he interviewed the two other coaches involved in the tryout decisions and determined that the tryouts were not biased.

New tryouts would have resulted in the same decision and would have disrupted the team, Evans said.

Evans said he also has empathy for students who fail to make a team, saying it can be difficult for them.

The Pefflys have alleged in legal documents that Stucky sought or got loans from about six sets of parents of players. The couple claimed that Stucky retaliated against their nephew because they pushed him to repay a $3,500 loan. It was paid back on Sept. 24.

They said that by October, they had learned that Stucky had sought money from other parents and that they reported it to school officials.

They had argued that Stucky had a conflict of interest because of money he solicited and that the situation created a "pay for play" atmosphere. They had asked the court to order new tryouts or allow students cut from the team the chance to play.

The Pefflys said their nephew, now a junior, had played in organized basketball for years and had played junior varsity or varsity basketball for Andover High in past years.

Stucky has said that the decisions to cut players "were made solely upon skill and effort."