Westover’s Dallis Smith facing possible suspension

ALBANY — Westover High School boys basketball coach Dallis Smith is facing a possible suspension due to an incident that happened while the team was in Statesboro in late December participating in a tournament, according to Jack Willis, assistant superintendent of the Dougherty School System.

A three-day suspension without pay was recommended by Westover principal William Chunn, but Dougherty County School System superintendent Butch Mosley has yet to determine the exact disciplinary action.

The Patriots will play host to Dougherty tonight at 7:30.

Repeated calls to reach William Chunn were unsuccessful.

While participating in the Statesboro Gentlemen’s Classic, Smith and an assistant coach conducted a room check where suspected marijuana was found in the room of one of the players. According to an incident report from the DCSS police department, the assistant coach discovered the contraband. Smith then disposed of the drugs by flushing them down the toilet, according to the investigative report.

“We expect our people to behave and use good judgment,” Mosley said. “We don’t feel like it was used in this case.”

The player’s mother was informed of the incident. She consented to and paid for the student to be transported by taxi from Statesboro to Savannah, where he waited for hours at a bus station before boarding a bus. The player then rode a Greyhound bus from Savannah to Tifton, where he was picked up by his mother, Willis told The Albany Herald.

“I did the only thing that I knew to do,” Smith said. “I called the player’s parents and I called my supervisor. I didn’t know the steps to take — there is no procedure and no policy. They told me nothing else to do.”

The player is no longer part of the team, Smith said.

The incident report indicated the superintendent’s office was not notified of the incident by Chunn or anyone in Westover’s administrative staff until Monday. By that time, Willis said they had learned of the situation from another source.