Duncanville athletic director, basketball coaches get reassigned following UIL punishment
Just over a week after the Duncanville basketball programs were hit hard by the UIL, superintendent Marc Smith has reassigned athletic director Dwight Weaver, boys head coach David Peavy and girls head coach LaJeanna Howard, the district announced on Thursday.
The district said that Peavy and Howard have been reassigned to fill vacancies within Duncanville ISD that are in alignment with their teaching certification areas.
Weaver has been reassigned to serve as a campus administrator, filling an existing vacancy.
“This change in leadership is the first of a multi-step plan to strengthen our athletic programs and our national reputation as a powerhouse athletics organization,” Smith said in a statement that was shared via e-mail. “It is also imperative, and my desire as Superintendent, that Duncanville ISD is known as an example for how it follows and enforces UIL rules within its programs. We will win and show everyone we follow the rules.”
In the meantime, Kenya Larkin-Landers has been named interim athletic director. Duncanville also announced that an athletic compliance officer position will be a new position within the athletics department.
The UIL handed down harsh penalties to both basketball programs on Oct. 31.
The governing body suspended Peavy and Howard for this season. The girls basketball season is underway while the boys can officially play regular-season games on Friday.
The UIL also stripped the boys Class 6A state championship that they won in March for using an eligible player, 5-star guard Anthony Black, who now plays at Arkansas. Black had transferred to Duncanville in the summer of 2021. The UIL ruled that the Panthers were forced to forfeit all games Black played in, which included the state final against McKinney. Black scored 17 points and was voted state title game MVP.
The girls were handed down a stricter punishment that included a ban from this season’s playoffs due to alleged recruiting, school practices and game restrictions. Duncanville held an open gym for tryouts before UIL teams could practice and at least one player from Arlington came to the tryout.
Howard is a graduate of Duncanville.
The Pantherettes won the 2020 Class 6A state championship over Houston Cypress Creek, the program’s 11th state title all-time. They have lost to DeSoto in the regional final during the past two seasons.
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM.