CINCINNATI — Purcell Marian girls basketball coach Jamar Mosley and principal Andy Farfsing responded Sunday to published comments from an opposing coach who alleged recruiting within the nationally-ranked program.
The reigning two-time state champion won its fourth consecutive regional title Friday night after it defeated Badin 75-29 in Springfield. It was the second straight season the two teams played in a Division II regional final.
"To make it to the regional finals with all kids that live in our district, that all weren’t recruited, that all were Catholic school kids — I’m proud of them," Badin coach Tom Sunderman told the Journal-News and Butler County Sports Report. “I just didn’t want our kids to quit. When you recruit six or seven Division I’s, you get four transfers in, you got 10 girls that live out of district — none of them went to parochial schools in grade school — it’s going to be hard. You have to have all the stars line up, and they didn’t line up.”
Mosley told WCPO 9 he was "disgusted" to read the coach's postgame quotes.
"Was this comment made due to the fact that my kids look different from yours?" Mosley said. "In reality, I have Catholic kids on my team, with over half of them having attended Catholic schools. Why was this assumption made? I can't stay quiet any longer for the school community and for our kids."
Mosley, in his seventh season as the head coach and the school's co-athletic director, said he's heard plenty of reaction from the school community about the quotes.
"We had alums; we've had parents," Mosley said. "Just a bunch of different people just reaching out to me about it. So I was just like 'You know what — I can't stay quiet.' I have to say something about it. It was just like where's this coming from? Where's this recruiting message coming from? We're not recruiting. Now, do we attract talent? Maybe. But, great kids want to play with great kids. And I'm not even talking about great athletes. One of the best things about the team that I have is we have a bunch of great kids."
Farfsing posted the story on Facebook with his perspective on the comments.
"The racial undertones and poor sportsmanship of this coach are beyond words," Farfsing wrote. "Sadly, we see this too often and I’m done with it. I will fight this to the end. To the students, families, alumni, and staff of our school, I will not allow this to be swept under the rug."
He spoke with WCPO 9 on Monday, saying the school won't "let somebody else define to whomever the reader is who these students are."
WCPO's Taylor Nimmo asked Farfsing if Purcell Marian recruits players. He said, "No one does."
"The comment was really more targeted to, I guess, kids coming from all over and not being a part of a system," he said. "I can tell you that our kids on our basketball team, it's about a five-mile radius from our school. So the kids that are playing for us, that's an average are really close to the school."
Farfsing told WCPO 9 he's exchanged emails with Badin president Brian Pendergest that are "professional and cordial" in nature. He said all parties have been in contact with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Catholic Schools Office.
"Purcell Marian has a great team and we wish them well on their quest for another state title," Badin athletic director Geoff Melzer told WCPO 9 in a text message Sunday afternoon.
Purcell Marian, winners of 25 consecutive games, is preparing for its fourth consecutive trip to the state Final Four. Purcell Marian (27-1) plays Copley (25-3) in a Division II state semifinal at 1 p.m. March 15 in Dayton. Purcell Marian is ranked No. 13 nationally by ESPN and No. 15 nationally by MaxPreps.
"People just want to be a part of something great," Mosley said. "There's been other schools in the Cincinnati area — not going to say any names — but they had great success and some of them are still having great success. Kids want to be a part of that. It comes with the territory. These other programs, it's been going on for a couple decades now, that they've just been having success year after year after year and I hear people talk about them — 'Well they do this and they do that.'
"Now, we're having that success that other programs have had. Now, we haven't had it for decades. We've had it for a few years now. And people are saying the same thing about us — 'They're doing this and they're doing that.' When in reality we're not doing anything. Kids just see what's going on and they just want to be a part of something special."
Mosley lauded his team after the regional final saying Purcell Marian has exceptional student-athletes and not just talented basketball players.
"Having kids like Dee Alexander, having kids like Jayda Mosley, having kids like Ky'Aira Miller — other kids want to be around kids like that," Mosley said. "And again not even just talking from the athletics standpoint but just talking about their character, just talking about the kids themselves."
Mosley said the focus is on the state Final Four but he plans to address the published comments with the team at some point.
"We know there's a bunch of people, there's a bunch of critics out there just waiting for us to lose and waiting for us to do certain things," Mosley said. "However, our goal remains the same regardless of what this coach has to say or what the next coach has to say. Really just try to block out all the outside noise and keep it moving."
He said the situation could be a learning moment, too.
"There is a bunch of things that you can take away from this," Mosley said. "But one of the things that we talked about before this is that people are going to talk. This is one of the clear evident messages that I'm going to have with our team is that no matter what you do in life people are going to talk. Some people are going to talk positively. Some people are going to talk negatively about you. At the end of the day you can't allow that to affect what you have going on. We just have too much going on to really let this, let these comments affect what we have going on now and what we have going on in the future."
Farfsing said he hopes to get a similar message across.
"Words matter tremendously, right?" said Farfsing. "We need to be mindful also that in sports, high school sports, we're dealing with kids, and in no way shape or form should kids ever become collateral in any way, dealing with adult issues."
