UIL issues Duncanville (Texas) girls basketball 1-year postseason ban, 3 years probation

'I take full responsibility for not double and triple checking,' said Pantherettes coach LaJeanna Howard

The University Interscholastic League handed the Duncanville Pantherettes girls basketball program a one-year postseason ban, three years probation and suspended head coach LaJeanna Howard for the 2022-23 Texas high school basketball season on Monday. 

During a disciplinary hearing with the UIL's state executive committee in Austin, the UIL handed down a number of punishments to the Pantherettes for multiple rule violations against the UIL Constitution's policies regarding recruiting, school practice and game restrictions. 

The UIL — a Texas high school governing body — issued public reprimands to both Duncanville athletic director Dwight Weaver and Howard, who played basketball at Duncanville in the early 2000s. 

It all took place the same day the Panthers' boys basketball team was stripped of their 2022 6A UIL state championship and head coach David Peavy was suspended for the upcoming season for playing an ineligible player, guard Anthony Black.

“It’s my job to check that all of the rules are being followed,” Howard told the UIL executive committee during Monday's hearing. “I take full responsibility for not double and triple checking.”

Additionally, the UIL reserved the right to revisit further potential sanctions against Duncanville High School at a later date.

The decision marked the second time in the last four years that a Duncanville girls basketball coach has been slapped with a suspension by the UIL.

In 2019, the UIL issued a public reprimand and three-year suspension to former Duncanville girls basketball coach Cathy Self-Morgan, the longest suspension that the UIL's state executive committee can give out.

Self-Morgan received a three-year suspension for recruiting violations that included recruiting then-junior guard Deja Kelly to transfer from San Antonio Johnson to Duncanville for the 2018-19 season.

As a senior at Duncanville, Kelly — now a junior guard at North Carolina — led the Pantherettes to their most recent 6A state title and was named a McDonald's All-American.

Self-Morgan resigned as the Pantherettes' head coach and announced her plans to retire two months before being suspended. The Duncanville girls basketball program was also placed on a two-year probationary period for its 2019 recruiting violations, which was lifted about a year ago.

Howard and the current Pantherettes' coaching staff landed in hot water with the UIL in large part because of an open gym or "tryout" hosted in August at Duncanville, two months before UIL teams are allowed to begin practicing.

At least one unnamed student-athlete from another school outside of Duncanville ISD was confirmed to have been in attendance. Howard was suspended internally by Duncanville ISD after social media posts surfaced indicating that the program was hosting tryouts. 

The Pantherettes finished 34-7 overall against one of the toughest schedules throughout the Lone Star State last season.

They advanced to the fifth round of the Class 6A girls basketball playoffs before falling to district rival DeSoto 60-47 in the Region II championship game, marking Duncanville's third loss of the year to the Eagles.

The Pantherettes, who have 11 UIL state championships in program history, last won a girls basketball state title during the 2019-20 season and have since reached back-to-back regional finals in the last two years.

The group will bring back several members of its core rotation this season with four returning players who averaged 10 points or more per game last year.

Headlining that group is junior point guard Victoria Flores, a TCU Horned Frogs commit who tallied 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.1 steals per game for the Pantherettes last year.

Duncanville, however, also welcomed five incoming transfers to its roster for the 2022-23 campaign: Mariah Clayton, Jasmine Gipson, Trystan James, Chloe Mann and Imani Morris.

Morris, a senior who transferred from Stockton St. Mary's (CA), is verbally committed to Memphis, while James is a sophomore forward coming to Duncanville from Monroe Ouachita Parish (LA).

Mann and Clayton, however, made names for themselves last season in the DFW as then-sophomores at Fort Worth Boswell and North Forney.

Mann averaged 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game for a Boswell squad that finished with a 31-7 overall record last year. She would have been the Pioneer's top returning scorer this season.

Clayton, meanwhile, played a major role in North Forney's 21-9 finish and run to the Class 5A regional semifinals last year.

Duncanville is set to tip off its upcoming season against the Frisco Liberty Redhawks at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, in Duncanville.