Bob McKenney, who coached Jamesville-DeWitt’s boys basketball team to five state Class A championships and sent a steady stream of top players to Syracuse University and other destinations, will not return to the Red Rams for the 2015-16 season.
An official announcement came Monday evening in a statement from J-D school superintendent Dr. Alice Kendrick and followed two weeks of headlines and controversy surrounding McKenney’s job status.
“The Jamesville-DeWitt School District has received much feedback about Bob McKenney’s contributions over the years as varsity boys basketball coach and is appreciative that many have had a positive experience,” Kendrick said in the statement. “At this time the District believes it is appropriate to move in a different direction.”
What exactly led to McKenney’s departure was not disclosed, but the public controversy about his status began shortly after J-D lost to Christian Brothers Academy March 8 in the Section III Class A final at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.
Dom DeRegis, a senior starter on the team, was suspended for that game, reportedly due to a practice altercation reported to the district. Perhaps to protest the ruling, several of DeRegis’s teammates wore his number 5 on T-shirts and socks on the court for the sectional final, which J-D lost to CBA.
Two days later, reports surfaced that McKenney was given an ultimatum to resign or be fired. When that news went public, opposition to that move quickly surfaced, especially in public comments of support from former J-D players that included Dajuan Coleman and Tyler Cavanaugh.
One of those former players, Brian Becker, started an online petition to demand McKenney’s reinstatement, and that petition received more than 1,700 signatures.
The actions culminated on March 16 with a massive turnout at the J-D School Board’s regularly scheduled meeting at the high school auditorium. Though no action was taken, a stream of supporters, from former players to parents and community members, spoke in McKenney’s support for 90 minutes.
Though offering no immediate comment on the matter, McKenney planned to hold a press conference on Thursday, which might have addressed the issues that brought an end to his long and historic tenure at J-D.
Late on Wednesday night, though, McKenney canceled that press conference, saying in a text sent out to various media outlets that he did not want to “be subject to questions that involve my players and/or their families”.
