Texas Wesleyan head baseball coach Mike Jeffcoat is under investigation by the university after an email showed him telling a high school baseball player that they don’t recruit players from Colorado because those players struggle to pass drug tests.
A Cherokee Trail High School (Aurora, CO) baseball player showed interest in attending Texas Wesleyan, and received an email response from Jeffcoat saying that “[Colorado] players have had trouble passing our drug test.”
Jeffcoat also told the high schooler in the email, “You can thank your liberal politicians,” which is obviously referring to Colorado’s recreational marijuana laws.
Here’s a screencap of the email tweeted out by 104.3 The Fan (Denver) radio host Darren McKee on Wednesday:
Lol THIS really happened. Smh. pic.twitter.com/bF9ywQw15d
— Darren McKee (@DMacSportsCO) February 28, 2018
“Thanks for the interest in our program. Unfortunately, we are not recruiting players from the state of Colorado. In the past, players have had trouble passing our drug test. We have made a decision to not take a chance on Student-athletes from your state. You can thank your liberal politicians. Best of Luck wherever you decide to play.
Texas Wesleyan released a statement about Jeffcoat being under investigation for the comments, and said, “the comments he made are in no way a reflection of Texas Wesleyan University, its values or its recruiting practices.”
We are aware of the email sent by our baseball coach, and the comments he made are in no way a reflection of Texas Wesleyan University, its values or its recruiting practices.
This is a personnel matter and it is currently under investigation. It is our University policy to not discuss personnel matters, but we want to reiterate that this email does not reflect our values and we do not condone discrimination. This includes discrimination on the basis of race, color, origin, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability or sexuality; or the political legislation of one’s home state. We are committed to providing an inclusive campus for all of our students, faculty, staff, visitors, potential students and their families.
Texas Wesleyan has a long tradition of excellence in athletics and we are committed to recruiting student-athletes who will excel at our university. Like the NAIA’s core values, we are focused on building and recruiting champions of character.
The high schooler’s former baseball coach, Alan Dyer, explained to Denver’s ABC-7 that the athlete has never been in trouble, and said “it’s unfortunate that this would happen to such a good kid.”
“He has never been in trouble. He’s a leader and a good student,” said Alan Dyer, who coached the player for three years and saw the email from the Texas coach. “It’s the first time I’ve seen anything like that before, and it’s hard to believe. It’s unfortunate that this would happen to such a good kid.”
The story in general is unfortunate, but it’s probably a blessing in disguise that the kid doesn’t have to play for Jeffcoat.
UPDATE: Jeffcoat has been fired.
BREAKING: @TexasWesleyan coach no longer with the university after he sent e-mail passing on Colorado student due to state's law on marijuana. #9News
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) March 1, 2018
