Explanation given for new Dominguez coach
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The associate superintendent of Compton Unified School District said ‘a renewed focus on athletic accountability’ led officials to replace former NBA and USC player Duane Cooper as coach of Compton Domiguez High’s elite program.
Cooper, whom the district described as an interim walk-on replacement to the legally imperiled former Dons coach Russell Otis, expressed disbelief last week when he was replaced after one season by little known Jordan Littlejohn. After Otis led the Dons to 10 Southern Section titles and six state championships since the late 1980s, Cooper directed Dominguez to a Southern Section semifinal and to the state playoffs.
Credentialing has been an issue at Dominguez in the past. District officials cited Otis’ lack of a permanent credential as its reason for firing him in 2001, the year he was acquitted of sexually molesting one of his players.
Otis had coached Dominguez from 1987 to 2000 without obtaining a permanent teaching credential, according to records from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. During those years, he used a series of temporary credentials to remain eligible to teach at the school. Otis obtained a permanent credential in 2001, the records show. The Compton Unified School District re-hired Otis as Dominguez’s coach in 2002.
Otis’ second stint as Dominguez’s coach lasted until 2008, when allegations of unwanted sexual advances on a player and commercial burglary surfaced.
Associate superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen said district policy requiring credentialed teachers to coach and CIF standards led the district to appoint Littlejohn.
‘In hiring Littlejohn, we’re following state case law and ... renewing our emphasis on both academics and athletics,’ Hansen said.
Cooper, who led USC to the NCAA tournament and played for the Lakers, said he was working toward his credential and was enrolled in a Master’s degree program.
Littlejohn’s coaching experience includes AAU coaching in Chicago, the girls’ basketball varsity job at Los Angeles Locke High and as a frosh/soph boys’ coach, Compton Unified’s prepared news release said.
Already, two Dominguez standouts, returning San Gabriel Valley League MVP Keala King, and 6-feet-9 center Norvel Pelle, have expressed their interest in transferring. King is registered at Mater Dei, and Pelle is considering his options.
‘I look forward to continuing the Dominguez tradition of state championships and focusing on the long-term academic achievement of our athletes,’ Littlejohn said in the news release.
--Lance Pugmire and Stuart Pfeifer
