Otis Reclaims Old Job

After waiting more than five hours to go before members of the Compton Unified School District board and explain why he should have his old job back, Russell Otis got his chance late Tuesday night.

And, as he seems to almost always, the controversial basketball coach emerged a winner.

The board voted 4-3 to approve Otis’ nomination, allowing him to return to the Dons boys’ team as coach. He starts today.

Otis previously coached Dominguez for 13 seasons, guiding the Dons to seven Southern Section championships and four state titles. Dominguez finished the 1999-2000 season ranked No. 1 in the nation, but Otis was arrested in November 2000, after a former player alleged the coach had sexually molested him.

Otis denied the charges and he was acquitted in April 2001. However, by then he had lost his basketball job. Two months before his acquittal, Otis was fired by the Compton district, which cited his failure to obtain a permanent teaching credential as the reason.

Otis requested reinstatement as coach after his acquittal, but the school board denied him. He spent last school year as a teacher at Gardena High.

The player whose allegations led to Otis’ arrest has brought similar accusations in a civil case in Compton Superior Court, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The Compton district is also a defendant in the case, accused of negligence. A jury trial is scheduled for early February.

Conrad Kohrs, Otis’ attorney in the civil litigation, has brought a cross-complaint against the plaintiff for lying during the criminal investigation and trial.

Back on the basketball court, Dominguez briefly continued its success after Otis’ departure, winning an unprecedented third consecutive state title in 2001 with interim Coach Steve Singleton, a former Otis assistant.

But the Dons fell on hard times last season under Mack Calvin, finishing 15-12 and losing in the second round of the playoffs.

Dominguez started the season last week by splitting four games in a tournament near Fresno.