A decision to keep three Herrin boys off the basketball court for the remainder of the season was upheld by the Herrin School Board on Wednesday night.
Alex Brown, JoJo Hart and Deshaun Hart were suspended indefinitely following an incident in late December.
In a meeting that took under two hours and consisted of a closed executive session, Crystal Lukens, wife of Herrin boys basketball coach Irv Lukens, was the only member to vote no to upholding the season-ending suspensions for all three boys. Shawn Whitecotton voted no with regard to one of the student-athletes. Kevan Plumlee was absent from the special meeting.
According to Dondra Porter, mother of JoJo and Deshaun Hart, the boys were wrongly accused of theft. Porter stated that on the evening of Dec. 30, after a basketball game, the boys were at her house playing video games until very late at night. The young men then walked to a gas station to pick up snacks and beverages. At the gas station, according to Porter, a 35-year-old woman approached the boys.
Porter said that the woman took the boys home with her where she then offered them food, alcohol and sex.
Although the boys did not drink the alcohol, eat the food or respond to her sexual advances, they did accept gifts offered according to Porter. Those gifts included an iPod, a television and a camera.
Porter alleges that after the woman fell asleep, the boys left with the gifts. Upon waking and finding her things gone, the woman then went to the police station.
According to the Hart brothers, through the use of a social networking website, the woman was able to identify JoJo Hart, Deshaun Hart and Alex Brown as the boys who had been in her home.
On Jan. 4, 2010, the police came to Herrin High School to question the boys. After a discussion, the items were returned. Charges were never filed against the Harts or Brown.
Brown, a senior standing at 6-foot-9 who has signed a commitment to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville for basketball, will not finish his senior year on the court with the Tigers.
Following the decision to uphold the suspension, Brown's guardian, Darlene Bell, said: "It's wrong."
"It's cruel and it has cruel intentions," Porter added.
Prior to the board entering into executive session, where Brown's guardians and the Harts' mother were allowed to speak, Herrin resident Tom Adams addressed the board.
After explaining that he has no connection to the boys and has no intentions of running for office, he suggested that the board give a six-game suspension.
"Who is it best for that they don't ever come back?" asked Adams. "It's best for the administration. You don't have to fool with them any more if you put them out. If they need help, get help. We can't just slam the door on them."
