LaVar Ball announced earlier this week that he is pulling his son LaMelo out of high school so he can be home schooled, and issues the elder Ball had with LaMelo’s coach could have played a role in the decision.
Wayne Joseph, the superintendent of the Chino Valley Unified School District, said this week that LaVar asked Chino Hills coach Dennis Latimore to put four players on the varsity basketball team earlier this year, and Latimore did not fulfill the request. Ball also appealed to school principal Isabel Brenes.
“He suggested he put four or five kids on varsity,” Joseph told Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times. “I said, ‘Listen, this is the coach’s decision.’ Mr. Ball is not the coach.”
Joseph added that he respects Ball’s decision to home school and train his son for a future in basketball.
“Now Mr. Ball has decided to take his kid out of Chino Hills,” Joseph said. “We respect his decision. He and his wife have done a magnificent job with their kids.”
Latimore is the third basketball coach at Chino Hills in three years, and there were rumblings that LaVar Ball helped push the previous one out the door. LaVar’s decision to pull LaMelo out of high school is not that surprising when you consider that he has threatened to have LaMelo skip college ball entirely and go play internationally. LaMelo is also the first high schooler to ever have his own signature shoe deal.
