Trevor Wilson Is Reinstated at Cleveland

Cleveland High All-American forward Trevor Wilson, dismissed from the Cavalier basketball team in April, will return to the team this fall, principal Dr. Kay Smith said Tuesday.

“Trevor will be back on the team,” Smith said in a phone interview. “He has resolved his differences with his teammates and the coach and he will be playing for Cleveland again.”

Wilson could not be reached for comment.

In April, former Cleveland Coach Greg Herrick and assistant coach Bob Braswell said they dismissed Wilson because of “recent violations of team rules and his continued disregard of our program and its objectives.”

Herrick announced Wilson’s dismissal April 29. The following day, Herrick announced his resignation as coach, citing “a need to be challenged” as his reason for leaving. Despite the timing, Herrick said Wilson’s dismissal and his own resignation were unrelated.

But Herrick added: “I didn’t want to leave Braswell with the situation (with Wilson). I wanted Braswell to start clean. I didn’t make the decision alone. Braswell and me both decided to let him go.”

No replacement has been named for Herrick, but Smith said Tuesday that Braswell probably will be chosen as the new head coach.

“We still have to wait on naming a new coach,” Smith said. “But to the best of my knowledge, Braswell will be named.”

In an interview shortly after Wilson’s dismissal and Herrick’s resignation, Smith had indicated that because Herrick no longer was affiliated with the school, his decision to dismiss the two-time All-City forward would not necessarily stand.

“We’re working with a super young man, only 17 years old, and certainly no one’s going to wash their hands of him yet,” Smith said. “We are working with him to resolve the problems he’s had on the team. . . . We’re all trying to do our best.”

Similarly, although Herrick and Braswell said they made the decision to dismiss Wilson together, less than a week after the dismissal was announced, Braswell reversed his position.

“The door’s still open,” Braswell said. “What I was concerned with is that Greg Herrick is not affiliated with the school anymore. He made the decision, and that is not necessarily the decision that will stand.

“I think the kid’s (Wilson) salvageable,” he said. “He know’s he’s made some mistakes, but he’s just a kid. My job as an educator is to take care of him. We have rules he’s going to have to abide by. A lot of the things were said in the heat of the moment. We need a cooling-down period.”