Alfrico “Chico” Potts can finally sleep a little better.
After “a mess” of a weekend in which he weighed the pros and cons of staying at Indianola Gentry High School or leaving his hometown to become the new boys’ basketball coach at Columbus High, Potts decided Monday night to stay at Gentry High.
“Friday night I was in and out of sleep with this decision on my mind,” Potts said on Tuesday. “It was the same thing Saturday. …”But last night I really had peace about my decision.”
On Friday, the Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees voted to approve Potts for a teaching position slotted for $41,270 at Columbus High and a $9,400 supplement for him to be the school’s new boys’ basketball coach. The move set the stage for Potts to replace Luther Riley, who led Columbus High to a 37-33 victory against Starkville in the Mississippi High School Athletics Association Class 6A State title game, the program’s first ever first state championship.
But the board previously voted to void Riley’s employment contract because he failed to sign it within 10 days of receiving it. On Friday, the board voted to re-hire Riley as a teacher without a coaching supplement. A motion to bring Riley back as the school’s boys’ basketball coach failed, as did a motion to remove Potts’ name from the list of coaching supplements up for approval.
Riley didn’t return a call for comment Monday and wasn’t available for comment Tuesday night.
Money not a factor
Potts led the Indianola Gentry High boys’ basketball team to a 26-6 record and a trip to the Class 4A State quarterfinals this past season. He received a call Friday afternoon informing him the CMSD Board of Trustees approved him to be a teacher and the new Columbus High boys’ basketball coach, but he said he hadn’t seen the contract and that he was going to review it when he received it and decide if he was going accept the positions.
Potts reiterated Tuesday that it was “good to be wanted.” He said there was a difference of $2,200-2,500 between the positions, and money was “not a determining factor.” Still, Potts acknowledged he had a lot of other factors to consider, including a desire to help lead the Gentry High boys’ basketball program to a state title.
Potts and another basketball coach spent six days in Columbus earlier this summer working with potential members of the boys’ basketball team. He said he and the other coach were paid $1,200 each for that work as “consultants,” and that he could tell the Columbus High program had plenty of positives with rising junior Robert Woodard II and other promising young players. He said Tuesday night that he expects Columbus High still will find a quality coach even though it is only weeks before the start of the 2016-17 school year and that many teachers/coaches likely have signed their contracts.
“Right now I feel a part of Columbus is still with me,” Potts said. “I know I only spent six days over there, but you know when you meet genuine people because those people stick with you.”
Potts suggested Columbus High also had talented individuals already in the school district who have worked with the team as assistant coaches and might be able to step in and take over, possibly on an interim basis. On Friday, the CMSD Board of Trustees listed Phillip Morris as the only other boys’ basketball coach (eighth-grade coach). Two positions for assistant coaches were vacant. Gary Griffin, Tyler Adams, and Don Deloach were Riley’s assistant coaches last season.
Potts, though, will turn his attention back to Gentry High so he help position it to take a similar step to the one Columbus High took earlier this year. He said he “sympathizes” with Columbus High’s situation, but he believes the pieces are there for the Falcons to continue their success.
“It was moreso a stalemate of the pros and cons on both sides,” Potts said. “It was pretty much decision that came from my heart. I feel good about it. I slept good last night and have no regrets about that. I definitely wish nothing but success for Columbus High School, the district, and those people over there because they care about the kids. That is what you want in a school system.”
The Dispatch could not reach CMSD Superintendent Philip Hickman or Board President Angela Verdell by press time.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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