Montclair Prep Star Derek Sparks Leaves School, Returning to Texas

Running back Derek Sparks, considered one of the Southland’s top high school football players, left Montclair Prep High School in Van Nuys Wednesday and will return to his native Texas, according to Jerome Sparks, his uncle and legal guardian.

The departure ended a stormy relationship between the CIF Southern Section private school and Jerome Sparks.

The move was triggered last week when George Giannini, Montclair Prep football coach, told Leland Sparks, Derek’s cousin and teammate, that the Southern Section denied his request for a fifth year of eligibility.

Leland Sparks and two other players who were denied an extra year of eligibility each repeated a year for academic reasons while attending Montclair Prep.

Leland Sparks also will return to Texas.

Neither player attended school this week, and Derek did not practice with the team, which lost its opener to Farrington of Hawaii, 28-7, last Thursday night in Honolulu.

Derek, 6 feet 1 and 208 pounds, transferred from Wharton High in southeast Texas to Wilmington Banning in 1988 and was named sophomore state player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports. He enrolled at Montclair Prep for the spring semester in 1989 and was named The Times’ Valley back of the year after he rushed for 1,944 yards for the Mounties last fall.

“I’m sorry to see them go and sorry to see the boys go through this,” Giannini said, “but I told Jerome that if this is causing that many family problems, they should go to another school.”