SM district clears basketball coach accused of making racial comments to players

Shawnee Mission South head basketball coach Brett McFall was cleared in a district investigation earlier this year after three students accused him of making racially charged comments to basketball players, the Shawnee Mission Post reported on Wednesday.

McFall told The Post that he rejected “all allegations that have been brought against me.”

In an email to The Star, McFall reiterated that he denied the allegations and said: “I love coaching almost as much as I love teaching. I would NEVER do anything, or have done anything, to hurt the kids that I work with on a daily basis, or any kids that I have worked with over the past 13 years.”

Three members of last year’s basketball team reportedly filed written complaints with the school district in August regarding McFall’s behavior.

The students alleged that McFall had made racist comments and jokes to minority players, including referencing racial stereotypes and making a racially insensitive comment to black players eating at a restaurant during a road trip.

Citing privacy laws, the Shawnee Mission School District did not release complaints sought in a public records request. The Post reported that multiple sources familiar with the situation said that a building administrator looked into the allegations and concluded that McFall had not been discriminatory.

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 1:12 PM with the headline "SM district clears basketball coach accused of making racial comments to players."