Roosevelt Recruiting Scandal: Seattle AD Appeals Fine, Questions WIAA Authority + Ineligible Transfers Back in Action at New Schools?

A lawyer for Seattle Schools says AD Pat McCarthy agrees with the institutional penalties, but wants personal fine dropped because he was barely mentioned in fact-finder report.

“Seattle individuals treated the fact-finding as an adversarial process, rather than one in which they had an obligation to provide documentation and to respond truthfully to questions.” - WIAA Fact-Finder Marilee Scarborough

SEATTLE — A state-appointed fact-finder issued a report substantiating allegations of improper recruiting and fraudulent registration practices tied to the Roosevelt High School football program last June, recommending a slate of serious financial and administrative penalties to district and building administrators as well as former Roosevelt head football coach Sam Adams and his staff.

The investigation found that Adams and his staff engaged in the improper recruiting of as many as 18 area football players, players the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) says were enticed to transfer to Roosevelt via a mix of impermissible campus benefits, promises of increased exposure and future college scholarships that largely failed to materialize.

The report painted a picture of a program and building lacking institutional control: impermissible benefits used to lure area players to Roosevelt, false residential info and fraudulent homeless benefit applications used to get around eligibility rules, booster clubs issuing sole-source payments to football coaches, who in turn oversaw players-only “Kennel” clubs where athletes watched wall-mounted big screen tvs, avoiding grade and attendance checks until the bell rang and practice began.

Example of recruiting violation by Roosevelt staffer provided to J425 by a player…originally published in October of 2024.

Administrators who assisted the malfeasance –or at least provided the necessary cover and on-the-record denials for the football program to proceed to the State Quarterfinals… as external allegations piled up.

As a result, an unprecedented slate of penalties and fines were recommended by the investigator and ultimately approved by the WIAA last June.

The sanctions include the following:

1. $2,500 fines issued to Roosevelt coaches, principal, athletic director, district director and to Seattle Public Schools Athletic Department

2. Roosevelt football program forfeiture of games for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons and returning any awards or trophies earned during those seasons.

3. One year suspension of football coaches

4. One year ban for Roosevelt post season play (2025-26 season) & three-year probation for the Roosevelt athletic programs, The Metro League and SPS athletics

5. All Roosevelt High School transfers must submit paperwork to the WIAA for review

6. Any past transfer who submitted false information must sit out one calendar year

On August 17, Seattle Public Schools appealed the sanctions and asked for reconsideration, per the WIAA appeals process. The most noteworthy request came from Seattle Schools Athletic Director Pat McCarthy, who, according to WIAA board meeting transcripts – did not contest the the fact-finder’s report, accepted responsibility for the violations and did not contest the institutional penalties, forfeitures, probations or the suspension from postseason – choosing instead to contest the individual fine levied against him in his role as AD.

A lawyer representing McCarthy questioned the authority of the WIAA Executive Board to assess fines to individuals and requested the removal of monetary penalties to individuals. Seattle Schools forwarded their belief that level three violations to administrators should not have been assessed at all, especially given their contention that Seattle Schools Athletic Director Pat McCarthy was mentioned only briefly in the fact-finding report.

Greg Narver, lead attorney for Seattle Public Schools (SPS) requested reconsideration of the WIAA Executive Board assessed fines to the Seattle Metro League and Pat McCarthy and stated that Seattle Schools hoped to return at a future time in order to potentially reduce penalties and suspensions based upon work done.

A lawyer for the district said Roosevelt coaches and administrators would appear separately, and that a decision on this appeal will be made by the WIAA at a later date. As of press time, no information regarding a WIAA conclusion has been made public.

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“Seattle was uncooperative, non-responsive and defensive.”

Fact-finder report description of Seattle Schools disposition towards fact-finding effort

Despite McCarthy’s contention that he was barely mentioned, the fact-finder report issued by the WIAA last June outlined serious programmatic failures that fall under the purview of the district athletic director, first of which is the duty of WIAA member organizations to both self-report violations and comply with the requests of WIAA fact-finding initiatives. As the administrator responsible for overseeing athletics for Seattle Schools, McCarthy bears responsibility, and at the most basic level, that responsibility requires Seattle Schools and Roosevelt to cooperate with the inquiry.

And yet despite WIAA member schools’ duty to participate in mandated investigations, the fact-finder’s final report described institutional non-compliance at both the school and district level. Not surprising considering the attitude displayed by school leaders since the scandal’s inception. Consider Principal Tami Brewer’s response to the J425 story substantiated the improper recruiting last October.

All Staff email sent by RHS Principal Tami Brewer the day after J425’s October 3 report publicized the state investigation into alleged recruiting violations at Roosevelt. Brewer claims all allegations were investigated and cleared. If any attempt was made to clear specific allegations outlined in J425 reports, including first hand accounts from recruits and direct evidence, it is unclear how this was accomplished.

In fact, the report stated Roosevelt and the Seattle School District ultimately completely failed to provide requested documents regarding transfer student enrollment, Kennel Club funding and policy documentation, and records relating to Tracy Ford and Ford Sports Performance.¹

Further, the fact-finder revealed that Seattle did not provide any of the requested email correspondence for Roosevelt coaches or administrators (including the athletic director).

The lack of compliance with record requests combined with a series of deliberate delays in scheduling mandatory interviews resulted in an extraordinary on-the-record admonishment.

On March 24, almost four months after a fact-finding initiative was announced, and over six months after serious allegations of improper recruiting at Roosevelt arose, WIAA Executive Director Mick Hoffman wrote Seattle Schools Superintendent Brent Jones an extraordinary letter that both admonished the district for non-compliance with the investigation, and reminded Seattle Schools of the contractual duty of WIAA members to cooperate with such matters.