East Hampton coach reinstated
East Hampton girls basketball coach Shaun Russell, who was placed on leave after an incident during a game in which he appeared to shove one of his players, has been reinstated and was set to coach Tuesday’s Senior Night game against North Branford.
“The investigation of Shaun Russell has been completed and as of [Monday] he was reinstated as coach of the girls’ basketball team at East Hampton High School after being on administrative leave since Dec. 21,” East Hampton superintendent Paul Smith said in an email.
The incident took place during a Dec. 20 game against Valley Regional. With East Hampton leading 62-38 in the fourth quarter, video by student-run Valley TV shows Russell pushing a player near him on the sideline, apparently to get her to move to another part of the court, while the game was in progress. The player stumbled after the shove before running to the other side of the court.
“The investigation, which included interviews with team members, parents and Mr. Russell indicated that the push from the sidelines, while unwise (and for which he was disciplined), was not done maliciously,” Smith said in an email.
Russell, who is also the athletic director at the school and has over 400 wins, could not be reached for comment.
On Jan. 3, Smith stated in an email to The Courant: “Regardless of the excitement of an athletic contest, we expect our coaches to temper their behavior to represent the high ideals of the East Hampton Public Schools. As a result of the incident of December 20, Coach Russell was suspended for a period of time following the game.
The coach is currently on leave while the district does a complete investigation of the event.”
East Hampton has only lost once, a 38-29 defeat to Cromwell on Jan. 3, but the Bellringers (17-1) have won 12 straight games and are currently ranked No. 1 in Class M, with the state tournament qualifying rounds set to start Feb. 24 or 25. They will host North Branford in a Shoreline Conference game Tuesday at 6 p.m. and have their final regular-season game Wednesday at Law High School in Milford.