Riverside fires state champion girls coach

Donald Nelson, one of eight active Milwaukee-area girls basketball coaches to have won a WIAA state championship, has been fired as the coach at Milwaukee Riverside.

The decision ends an eight-year run that included a Division 1 state title in 2013 and City Conference Gold Division titles in 2013 and ’15. He was the Journal Sentinel’s area coach of the year for the 2012-’13 season.

The team finished 3-5 in the division and 9-14 overall this year. It marked the third straight sub .500 year for the program.

Nelson, however, said his exit was the result of complaints that surfaced after a player suffered a season-ending knee injury during practice while involved in horseplay with a teammate. Nelson said the injury occurred after he had separated the girls initially.

“They said it was my fault because I took them to half court when I separated them,” Nelson said. “(They said) that was the wrong thing to do and I’m a supervisory role and that if that is the type of stuff I’m doing, they don’t want me in charge, supervising girls at her school in her basketball program.”

Nelson learned he’d been let go Thursday by Riverside principal Maria Gonzalez-Edwards.

Gonzalez-Edwards didn’t comment but through the distirct’s media relations department confirmed his departure.

Nelson is the second-high profile coach to leave during this off-season. Pewaukee coach Todd Hansen resigned earlier this month after 19 seasons. As for Nelson, he says he’ll be back. “I’m definitely going to continue coaching,” he said. ”I’m just going to be somewhere else. Whenever the dust settles and the smoke clears I’ll be standing and most likely be in a better position than I was down here.”