WPIAL finds no evidence of racial taunts in Leechburg-Propel Andrew Street game

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, February 3, 2020 | 8:13 PM

The WPIAL found no evidence a Propel Andrew Street boys basketball coach was the target of racial taunts during a game last month, but Leechburg will take proactive steps anyway.

Representatives from the two schools and on-court officials attended a closed-door hearing Monday at the WPIAL office in Green Tree to discuss why their Jan. 17 contest was cut short.

“Leechburg (coaches and administrators) didn’t hear anything, but they are going to alter their announcements. They’re going to hang banners. They’re going to have conversations,” WPIAL associate executive director Amy Scheuneman said. “Even though they didn’t admit to hearing it, they took it as an opportunity to learn.”

Neither school will face any additional discipline.

The boys basketball game was halted in the final minute after Propel Andrew Street coach Donnell Wilkins was ejected, and his players then left the court with 46.8 seconds remaining.

Leechburg led 65-41.

Wilkins was adamant someone in the crowd had targeted him with racially insensitive taunts, which prompted his team to leave the court early. Leechburg investigated and couldn’t find any evidence — video or eyewitness — that corroborated the allegations.

“Leechburg talked to players and administrators and game personnel. They pretty much interviewed everyone who was in the gym that night,” Scheuneman said.

“Nobody heard anything of a racial connotation,” said attorney Brian Simmons, general counsel for the WPIAL. “From the officials who had no horse in the race to the official scorekeeper, nobody heard what the coach thought that he heard.”

The accusations were the taunts came from an adult in the stands.

“Not a student section, not a player, not a representative of Leechburg,” Scheuneman said. “It was an unidentified adult.”

The WPIAL board initially scheduled Monday’s hearing not for the racial allegations but because one team left the court early — a situation the WPIAL doesn’t accept. The board praised Propel Andrew Street for taking that violation seriously and suspending Wilkins for two games, one more than required by his ejection.

Propel Andrew Street spokesperson Sonya Toler said the school wouldn’t have any response to the WPIAL hearing until after it reviewed complete game video provided Monday by Leechburg. The WPIAL reviewed a condensed video provided by Leechburg.

“If Propel were to find something, of course we can look at it again,” Scheuneman said. “Leechburg assured us that they’ve reviewed it a million times and haven’t found anything.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Leechburg