High-school-basketball-coach-threatens-send-player-home-Haiti-profane-rant

November 2, 2018

2492

‘I’m the dirtiest, baddest motherf*er on this earth’: High school basketball coach calls a player ‘r***ed’ and threatens to send him back to his home in Haiti in a profane rant

Mike Woodbury – the owner of Port Saint Lucie’s Nation Christian Academy, where he coaches boys basketball – was recorded threatening the player
During the recording, Woodbury can be heard saying that he ‘control[s] transcripts,’ seemingly implying he could control the player’s GPA
When the player received his transcripts, he had a 1.4 grade-point average (GPA). He asserts that Woodbury changed his grades to harm his future
Woodbury denied the accusation and attributed the lower numbers to an ‘error’
The rant seems to be in response to the player’s decision to transfer schools
In the statement, Woodbury claims the foreign student actually lived with him
The player and a teammate claim they found a damaging conversation between Woodbury and a woman, which spurred him to ask for a request to transfer
Players coached by Woodbury in Maine claimed he verbally abused them

Mike Woodbury has admitted to the tirade

A basketball coach who owns a private academy in Florida has admitted to a profanity-laced tirade in which he called a player ‘r*****ed’ while threatening to send him back to his home country of Haiti after the student told him he was transferring to another school.

After a recording of the profane tirade was released on YouTube, Mike Woodbury – the owner of Port Saint Lucie’s Nation Christian Academy – admitted to the rant in a school statement.

Woodbury said the full conversation lasted 20 minutes. The YouTube clip is about three minutes long, but contains a litany of derogatory terms aimed at the player, who was seemingly telling the coach he intended to transfer.

In speaking with Stadium, the player said he left Nation Christian Academy two days after the

The Nation Christian Academy is owned by Mike Woodbury, who previously coached boys basketball in Maine, where he allegedly verbally abused players

‘Just get out of my face,’ Woodbury said at the start of the clip. ‘Take your broke asses – I’ll say it again – your broke asses back to the garage. I don’t want to hear from you. The bottom line … get the f*** out. Just walk the f*** out. I don’t give a shit. I control transcripts. I control where you go next. It could be back to Haiti, mother****er. That’s how easy it is for me.’

According to Stadium, that player and a teammate claim they found a damaging conversation between Woodbury and a woman, which spurred the player to ask Nation Christian’s head of school for a release and transfer.

When the player, who is reportedly being recruited by McNeese State, Louisiana Tech and other mid-majors, received his transcripts, he had a 1.4 grade-point average (GPA). He asserts that Woodbury changed his grades, but Woodbury denied the accusation and attributed the lower numbers to an ‘error in calculation.’

WOODBURY’S TIRADE

Mike Woodbury: What was this conversation about?

Player: I don’t know?

Woodbury : Me disrespecting you fake f***s? Just get out of my face. Take your broke a**es – I’ll say it again – your broke a**es back to the f***ing garage. I don’t want to hear s*** from you. Bottom line. The next thing I hear from you, just get the f*** out. Just walk the f*** out. I don’t give a s***.

I control [grade] transcripts. I control where you go next. It could be back to Haiti motherf***er. That’s how easy it is for me. You don’t want to – listen, I’m the one thing that you don’t want to cross. I’m the dirtiest, baddest motherf***er on this earth.

First of all, you can’t get to my level. You can’t; you can’t. It’s like I said when I came out and you tried to get out and (inaudible) and say you’re going to f***ing – and what did I tell you? I’m going to send your little…

Player: Yo, I…

Woodbury: Hey, shut up stupid a**. I screen shot it. You know what that’s called? What’s that called f***face? It’s called extortion. I have it on a text message you dumb motherf***er. I screenshot it.

(Both the player and coach talk over each other)

Woodbury: Stop talking. No, you’re done talking.

(Player talking in the background)

Woodbury: You’re still talking. You’re still talking. You’re done talking. Stop talking. Because now I control everything. I just want you to really know that.

Player: You control what?

Woodbury: I am going to f*** you in your a** the next time you talk out of line. I’m going to take everything from you. And let it be known, I’m saying it out loud. I am going to take everything from you…

Look up the word. I know you’re r*****ed. So take one of your friends and have them look up the word extortion for you. If you need some help spelling it, right maybe Simon can put it on f***ing word check.

During the recording, Woodbury can be heard saying that he ‘control[s] transcripts,’ seemingly implying he could control the player’s GPA.

Woodbury alleged to Stadium that the player had attempted to extort school leadership.

The player, who was in his second season at the school after moving over from Haiti at 15, allegedly skipped school, which, as Woodbury told Stadium, was the final straw.

The player denied many of the specific charges made against him by Woodbury to Stadium, and insists he was not trying to extort anyone.

Rather, the player claimed, he was worried the school would be shut down and he wanted to transfer before that happened.

He claims Woodbury’s efforts to misrepresent his GPA negatively impacted his chances to transfer: ‘I’ve already had two schools close down on me. I was afraid this one would be shut down also, so I wanted to get out of there.’

Multiple players coached by Woodbury in Maine told Stadium they witnessed verbal abuse from him. The private school league in which Nation Academy was a member of, Sunshine Independent Athletic Association, told Stadium it parted ways with the institution.

Woodbury released a statement Wednesday: ‘First, I want to apologize for the vulgar language that was used in the video that has been circulating around. I have had this particular student for a year. He is like family and sometimes family arguments get blown out of proportion.

‘I am in no way justifying the language, however, there are two sides to every story. This conversation did not take place at school, I do not coach the team. Without indicting the child too much, there were multiple conduct issues while this student was attending school and living in my home with my wife and son. One issue was criminal in nature, that was not pursed as the intentions are not to cause lifelong damage to this student.

‘Also, this particular student was asked to leave the school and we arranged for it to be done so amicably. The timeline on this “conversation” is deceiving as this was on 10/17/2018 with 4 other students and another coach present. This conversation was in regards to the several conduct issues and lasted 35 minutes, the particular clip was dubbed to 3 minutes. I am readily available for comment.’

The rant went viral after former Kentucky Wildcats star and journeyman NBA guard Rex Chapman posted the YouTube link on Twitter.

‘Sickening,’ Chapman wrote. ‘Please pay attention to the people “coaching” your kids. This is Nation Christian Academy Head Basketball Coach Mike Woodbury reacting to a player transferring. He was recorded. This is not coaching. Or teaching…’