The continuing saga of former Vashon High basketball coach Floyd Irons took another turn this week when one of his former players was declared ineligible to play NCAA basketball on Tuesday.
Former Vashon High standout Johnny Hill was declared ineligible to play basketball at Southeast Missouri State, pending further review. It was revealed that Irons paid thousands of dollars to house Hill and his brother Bobby in an apartment during their four-year careers at Vashon.
In an November interview with Missouri State High School Activities Association officials, Irons admitted to spending more than $25,000 to put the Hill brothers up in an apartment down the street from Vashon, located on Cass Ave.
Irons, 60, agreed to speak with the state association after pleading guilty to federal charges of mail and wire fraud in a real estate scheme in September. As part of his plea agreement, Irons was required to tell everything he knew about recruiting allegations against Vashon. That meeting took place in November, which is where he made his admission about how he brought the Hill brothers to Vashon from Alton, Ill., where the boys previously lived.
According to transcripts from the interview cited in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Irons admitted to renting an apartment for the Hills for four years, giving them food and clothing as well as a housekeeper to clean the apartment.
Johnny Hill, a 6’3” forward and Bobby Hill, a 6’6” swingman, were integral parts of Vashon’s Class 4 state champions in 2004 and Class 5 state champions in 2006. They were also a big part of Vashon’s 60-game winning streak and No. 1 ranking in the country for much of the 2005 season.
Johnny is in his third year at Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau while Bobby Hill is a sophomore at Lincoln Junior College in Lincon, Ill. He played his freshman year at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. and was slated to return there next season. When the information about the Hills became public, the colleges began launching their own inquiries, which could jeopardize the Hills’ permanent eligibility and their amateur status.
Irons was relieved of his coaching duties after the 2006 championship season. He finished his career with more than 800 victories and 10 state championships. Now, the state is investigating the Vashon program and looking at the possibility of stripping Vashon of some of those state championships, which could throw cast a cloud over Irons’ coaching legacy.
One person who does not see Irons’ legacy being tarnished is former National Football League football standout Demetrious Johnson, who is a close friend and has been an outspoken advocate of Irons over the years.
“You can take away those championships, but you can’t take away his legacy and what he’s done for those kids,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen it for myself what he does for young black kids. He’s had more kids go to college than any other coach in the Public High League.”
Johnson has also expressed outrage at the correlation between Irons’ federal case and the state association’s investigation of Vashon’s basketball program. He contends that one has nothing to do with the other.
“It’s obvious that this has nothing to do with real estate anymore,” Johnson said. “This is personal. This is about trying to destroy a man and make sure he doesn’t have a life anymore. The man was trying to help kids get into a better situation, and now he’s being painted as an evil person.”
Johnson continued, “What does the state association have to do with real estate? I’m not excusing what he did. Coach Irons made a mistake, and he stepped up like a man and admitted to what he did and he has to pay the price. But, now they want to bring the state association into it. That tells me that this is a personal agenda. What people don’t talk about is that Johnny and Bobby Hill’s father signed off on this move because he wanted his sons in a better situation. They just didn’t move by themselves.”
Irons’ sentencing is currently scheduled for Feburary 28.
