Holcomb Must Sell Thomas on Eligibility : Commissioner to Rule on Recruiting Issue

Buzz Holcomb, the salesman who opened his home in affluent Westlake Village to a group of youth athletes from a disadvantaged neighborhood, faces perhaps his toughest sales job when he meets with Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas next week.

Thomas and Southern Section administrator Bill Clark will meet Wednesday at Westlake High with Holcomb, Westlake Principal Paris Earls and Athletic Director Bob Fisher to discuss the eligibility of Holcomb’s son Erik, and Brian Brison and Mukasa Crowe, former Pacoima residents who have moved in with the Holcombs.

The immediate reaction to the case by Thomas, who returned from vacation Wednesday, was one of skepticism.

“I want to know why these boys aren’t residing with their parents. I want to know why Buzz Holcomb has taken these boys in. If it was to improve the Westlake football team, then the spirit of the rule has been fractured,” he said.

The three boys have enrolled at Westlake as freshmen but were ruled academically ineligible by school officials this week. They lost their eligibility because Holcomb withdrew them from a private school in Thousand Oaks four months before the completion of the spring semester. Southern Section rules state that in order to maintain eligibility a student must have passed at least 20 units at the completion of the last regular grading period.

Holcomb, who hired a private tutor for the boys after withdrawing them from First Baptist Academy in Thousand Oaks, said he will appeal that ruling to Thomas and the Southern Section’s executive committee. Meanwhile, Thomas will use Wednesday’s meeting as a fact-finding session before he rules on the matter of recruiting.

Southern Section and state rules prohibit the use of “undue influence” in a student-athlete’s decision to enroll at a school outside his or her attendance area. Recruiting accusations accompanied the news in the spring that Holcomb had opened his home to four Pacoima athletes who competed on the same youth football and track teams as Erik Holcomb.

Brison and Crowe have enrolled at Westlake, and Leonice Brown has enrolled as a sophomore at Crespi High. Antiwaun Carter, the fourth Pacoima athlete to move in with the Holcombs, returned home this summer and is planning to attend Kennedy, a City Section school. Nicholas Tehrani moved in with the Holcombs this month after his Westlake Village parents divorced but he is not affected by the Southern Section inquiry.

Holcomb has assumed legal guardianship of the boys with the blessing of their parents, who insist Holcomb is innocent of any recruiting. Thomas wants to hear for himself.

Thomas lauded Westlake for its handling of the case, indicating that the school is innocent of any wrongdoing. Thomas also said that the section has the authority to rule the boys ineligible for four years, even though the rule book calls for a one-year punishment.

“You won’t find that in the book, but we can interpret the rule that way,” he said.

He also indicated that unless Holcomb can demonstrate hardship, it is unlikely Brison and Crowe will be granted eligibility. It is unclear what effect the ruling will have on Brown’s eligibility at Crespi, a private school that has no defined attendance area.

The Southern Section defines hardship as “an unforeseeable, unavoidable and uncorrectable act, condition or event, which causes the imposition of a severe and non-athletic burden upon the student or his/her family.”

Holcomb’s defense centers on the Pacoima neighborhood the boys left. The Pacoima parents have claimed that the gang-related violence and drug activity prevalent in their neighborhood jeopardized the safety of their sons. They also have said that the educational opportunities at Westlake are superior to those in the Pacoima area.

Holcomb expressed confidence in his case, saying the evidence will show that he is innocent of undue influence.

“Stan Thomas wants to look me in the eye and look me over and get the straight story about what this guy’s up to,” Holcomb said. “We’ll be able to give them the straight story and go over the details with each kid and why they came here. He’ll have something to make a good judgment about the spirit of the rule.”

Holcomb says the commissioner has heard too much about recruiting from other football coaches, including Bob Richards of Thousand Oaks and San Fernando’s Tom Hernandez, who have accused Holcomb of recruiting.

“I want him to have more than the quotes from Bob Richards and Tom Hernandez, who say unequivocally that it’s wrong,” he said. “I’ve never met Bob Richards and I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but what, is he God? How does he know what we’re doing? I know that with all the media hype, Thomas wants to handle this straight.”