From Deseret News archives:

Ex-Lehi coach sues parents

Published: Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004 9:02 a.m. MDT
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Three of the parents named in the suit said they were unaware of the suit and hadn't seen it Wednesday night. Jenna Burningham declined to comment, as did Drew Downs.

"I knew he'd (O'Connor) talked about it," said Robert Price, who is named as a defendant along with his wife. "I guess I sort of expected it. I guess we'll see what it's about."

A letter to school officials written by Price and his wife wrote stated, "We will no longer tolerate this sort of behavior and will seek legal avenues if necessary to remedy the problem. We believe that coach O'Conner (sic) has the technical understanding of basketball to be a good coach, but he needs to improve the way he treats his team members. Because O'Conner (sic) seems unwilling to change, perhaps we need a new women's basketball coach at Lehi High School."

"I didn't really want to see him go," said Price, "we (the parents) just felt ignored and left out of the loop."

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O'Connor and his family said they've been deeply wounded by allegations that he was abusive to players, misused team money and recruited players to come to Lehi. He called the past two years an "emotional roller coaster" and said that while parents may be well-meaning, they need to let coaches have room to run their own programs.

"Parents are supposed to be involved, but to what extent?" O'Connor asked.

When asked about the multi-million dollar price tag the suit put on his pain, O'Connor said, "It is not about money . . . That's legal stuff that I'm putting my trust in Mr. Rust."


E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com

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