Decision to end A.I. du Pont season expected today

Red Clay Consolidated School District is reviewing a decision by the A.I. du Pont High School principal to ban the boys basketball team from participating in the upcoming DIAA Boys Basketball Tournament.

The district's decision is expected today, a Red Clay officials said.

The review was announced Thursday following a rally at the Greenville school by parents and supporters opposed to Principal Kevin Palladinetti's decision to end the team’s season. Palladinetti made the decision on Tuesday based on an incident following the Tigers’ 58-46 loss at the Delaware Military Academy on Feb. 16.

A group of about 20, which included parents of players, at least three Wilmington City Council members, New Castle County District 10 Councilman Jea Street and other supporters assembled in the parking lot outside the school at 10 a.m. Thursday. After speaking with reporters for 35 minutes, the group was invited into a classroom by Red Clay spokesperson Pati Nash.

The group demanded to speak to Palladinetti, who arrived 20 minutes later and gave his timeline of events and the reasoning behind his decision.

Several parents of A.I. du Pont players have alleged that racial slurs were spoken by DMA players, fans and students during the game. But Palladinetti said A.I. boys basketball coach Tom Tabb, Assistant Principal Damon Saunders (both of whom are black) and the other A.I. assistant coaches did not report hearing any racial slurs.

DMA Commandant Anthony Pullella was at the game and said he did not hear any racial comments. Michael Ryan, the athletic director, said DMA officials conducted their own investigation, questioning parents, players, coaches and fans. He said no evidence was uncovered about any racial comment being used.

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“There were no, absolutely zero reasons for us to discipline our kids," Ryan said, "or there was absolutely no issues brought up that our kids were in the wrong in any way."

Ryan said no official footage of the incident exists because a video camera that was recording the game turned off during the fourth quarter.

When asked whether a conversation about race should occur to ease tensions between predominantly white DMA and A.I. du Pont, which is 34 percent white, Pullella said, “We don’t think [the incident] had anything to do with race at all.”

Palladinetti said he was in his office at 6:45 p.m. Feb. 16 when a person attending the game at DMA called him. The person said, “Kevin, you’re going to need to be over here. Something is happening with your team,” Palladinetti said.

Palladinetti texted Saunders, who was at the game. Saunders called the principal at about 7:30.

“His response to me was, ‘It’s bad. It’s a bad situation right now,’” Palladinetti said. “And I said, ‘OK.’”

Palladinetti said he spoke with Tabb and Ryan that night, but no decision was made regarding the team’s season at that time.

Tabb said his team expected to defeat DMA easily. The Tigers came into the game with an 11-7 record, while DMA was 6-11.

“We were playing a team that we thought we were better than, that we knew we were better than,” Tabb said. “The kids said, 'We should be able to score 100 against them.' So we were a little cocky going into the game.”

But the Seahawks upset A.I. 58-46. Game officials called the majority of the fouls against the Tigers, as DMA shot 35 free throws and A.I. shot only 10.

“The ball didn’t bounce our way during the game,” Tabb said. “[The players] got frustrated. I could see embarrassment setting in.”

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With 40 seconds left, an A.I. player was given a technical foul. At that point, Tabb said he told the players on the bench to skip the customary postgame handshake line. Instead, the coach told the team he would shake hands with the DMA team, and the players were to remain behind him and follow him off the court as a group.

“I thought I was doing what was right, in the best interests of the kids at that moment,” Tabb said. “When the game was over, a player started to walk and then sprinted, which caused a chain reaction where the other players followed, the coaches followed, parents followed, some DMA parents followed.”

Officials from both schools said the A.I. players ran toward a stairwell leading to the second level of the gymnasium, where DMA students and fans had been watching the game.

“The entire team takes off, makes a beeline for our mezzanine,” Pullella said.

Pullella said he and two DMA parents blocked the group’s access to the mezzanine. On the stairwell landing, it was “pandemonium,” Pullella said.

Meanwhile, Pullella said another teacher directed DMA students out of the mezzanine through an emergency door. DMA athletic director Ryan took an elevator to the second floor and joined Pullella and the parents. Pullella said the confrontation ended a couple of minutes later when approximately 10 Delaware State Police and New Castle County Police officers arrived.

In a statement, state police Master Cpl. Jeffrey Hale said police responded at 6:46 p.m.

“It was learned that members of the  A.I. du Pont men’s basketball team attempted to run up toward the student body of DMA following the game,” Hale said. “They were prevented from doing so by staff members. The situation was quickly brought under control. No fights. No injuries. No charges. That is all the information I have.”

Later that night, Palladinetti said he decided to forfeit A.I.’s final regular-season game, a home game against Smyrna scheduled for Tuesday. But he held off on making a decision about the team’s state tournament participation. Palladinetti met with Tabb at the school at 7 a.m. Friday.

“When the game ended, and it’s important to know that this is the part that I care about, the entire team vacated the court,” Palladinetti said. “There is a player who many are reporting was the first to lead the charge off the court. And that happened within about three seconds of the buzzer sounding. Mr. Saunders attempted to stop one player from leaving the court. He was able to shimmy past Mr. Saunders, and then the rest of the team just followed suit and bolted into the hallway, then stairwell, to ultimately get upstairs.

“When I heard that both Coach Tabb and Mr. Saunders had a plan in place to try to quell any tensions that were brewing on the court, and for our team to vacate in that manner, without an assistant coach, without anybody walking them off, to run in the manner in which they did, it created alarm; it created panic.”

“… Their actions then sparked a significant event, in my opinion,” Palladinetti added. “I would have thought that a team in the 19th game of the season would have been a little more disciplined, would have respected the coach’s request to stay put. Had they not run off the court in the manner in which they did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.”

School was not in session on Friday or Monday. Palladinetti met with the team on Tuesday, when he said players were encouraged to complete written statements. He said only one prepared a statement.

After meeting with the team, Palladinetti decided to cancel the rest of the season. He acknowledged that statements have been received from players, fans and parents following his decision. Parents cited the A.I. du Pont code of student conduct, which they said requires administrators to hold a conference with students and their parents before taking any disciplinary action.

“To make the decision to cancel senior night and any game without an appropriate investigation … you were supposed to call a conference with the students and the parents,” said Jennifer Field, mother of A.I. player Jude Gulotti. “There were a lot of different angles that were seen. We were all over that place, and a lot of things happened that you don’t know about. I think it was inappropriate to make any decision.”

Gerald Wilmore, father of player Jason Wilmore, criticized Tabb for not talking with the team since the incident. Devon Hynson, executive director of Education Voices Inc., a student advocacy organization, said mistakes were made on all sides.

“I just think it’s completely racist,” Hynson said, addressing Tabb and Palladinetti. “Because I think it’s been made very clear that you didn’t follow the [student] code of conduct. We’re all here because we all make mistakes. What we’re saying is, [the players] made a mistake, you guys made a mistake. Reinstate the boys back on the team. At the end of the day, I think that you owe them that.”

Tommie Neubauer, executive director of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association, said a committee will meet at 9 a.m. Friday to determine the seedings and pairings for the DIAA Boys Basketball Tournament.

The tournament is scheduled to begin Wednesday with eight games, all starting at 7 p.m. Neubauer said A.I. du Pont officials need to let DIAA know whether the school will participate or not by 9 a.m. Friday.

“It’s not like we are keeping them out,” Neubauer said. “… Right now, we’re going to seed the full tournament as is. It’s an A.I. du Pont High School/Red Clay School District question right now.”

A.I. du Pont was 8-1 midway through the season, but, counting the forfeit loss to Smyrna, lost eight of its last 11 games to finish the regular season at 11-9. Still, the Tigers are expected to have earned enough points to qualify for the 24-team tournament.

Midway through the contentious, 50-minute classroom meeting with Palladinetti, New Castle County Councilman Street erupted, threatening legal action if the principal’s decision is not overturned.

“If y’all think you’re going to get away with this without a legal battle, you are sadly mistaken,” Street said. “You do what you want to do, and I’m going to tell you what I have to do. Because by any legal means necessary, and I’m asking the City Council members present right now, that we know full well that this was provoked in a racial manner. I’m asking you if this is not overturned, for the city to file an injunction in Chancery Court prohibiting the state from going forward with the tournament until such time as this is resolved in a fair and appropriate manner.”

Street then left the room to applause, as Wilmington City Council President Hanifa Shabazz and council members Va’Shun Turner and Ernest “Trippi” Congo II signaled their support for his statement.

Tabb, who said he told Palladinetti before this incident that he would be stepping down after 10 years as the Tigers’ coach, said he was disappointed that the players didn’t follow his instructions.

“I know I’m the fall guy,” Tabb said. “I get thrown under the bus for this, and I’m cool with that. I’m perfectly fine with that.”

Palladinetti said the decision “has consumed my life” since Feb. 16.

“It pains me to think that a decision I made has brought us to this arena today,” the principal said. “I’ve lost sleep over this, as I know many of you have. It’s not something that has been taken lightly, and it’s not something that has just been dismissed at any point.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com, or on Twitter @BradMyersTNJ. Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this story misspelled the name of Master Cpl. Jeffrey Hale.