Boys’ basketball: King Coach Tim Sweeney Jr. resigns under pressure

Riverside King boys’ basketball Coach Tim Sweeney Jr., one of the most successful in the Inland Empire, announced in a news release Friday he has been asked to step down by his school administration, and he cited issues involving the booster club as a key reason.

Sweeney, the head coach for 14 years, won three Southern Section titles and a state title in 2002. His team won a Southern Section 1A title this last season, and he gave hints of issues at the winning news conference, saying he had been close to resigning.

“The past two years have been the most difficult years of my career,” Sweeney wrote in an email. “A small segment of parents from the booster club succeeded to erode the fabric of our program with accusations of verbal abuse, bullying, lack of playing time, and much more.

“In the Maxpreps National Holiday Classic this past December, I was physically confronted by one of the members of this group at Xavier Preparatory school. With all this said, the main complaint is regarding playing time. Last season was no exception, with harassment over issues of playing time in which both years [it] went to the district superintendent and the board of education.

“As I reflect on this unfortunate decision, what disappoints me the most is that the Riverside Unified School District has chosen to take the easy way out and, in my opinion, place my resignation over a plan to protect the coaches from unnecessary attacks from rogue parents.

“I understand that the majority of parents should not be placed in this group. However, the ones that are create undue stress for not only the coaches that care as much or more about the student-athlete as they do winning, but on all of the hard-working team members striving to achieve the same goals. This year’s 2014 CIF championship team was nearly destroyed due the constant barrage and accusations.”

Principal Darel Hansen told the Riverside-Press Enterprise there was an investigation of parent complaints.

“Any time that parents make a complaint of any matter, an investigation will take place,” Hansen told the newspaper. “There were complaints that we looked into spread over [previous years]. There is nothing further going on.

“For the past 14 years, Tim’s been an outstanding coach. He’s still a member of our teaching staff and will remain that. He was great for this program and I do appreciate everything he’s done.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com