Brandon Roy Handles His Coaching Ordeal With Grace

One of the things that has marked the basketball career of Brandon Roy -- from Garfield High School to the University of Washington to the NBA and back -- has been his ability to be unflappable in pressure situations.

Such was the case on Thursday when Roy, with nary a negative word, returned to his high school alma mater and reclaimed the coaching job that was taken from him last year amid allegations of improperly trying to recruit a player.

The former Husky All-American and NBA All-Star stood at a podium in Room 121 on the main floor at Garfield, in front of TV cameras, media members, administrators and family and friends, and simply said he was glad to be back.

There were no calls for an apology from him, no indignation over the way he had been treated. He was only interested in setting a positive example during a tough situation.

"People smeared my name in a lot of ways," Roy said. "Hey, it was a learning experience."

What created the situation was a principal from out of the school district came forward and made allegations that Roy was involved in an effort to recruit one of his players with the offer of an apartment, a car and money.

In what seemed a haphazard way of doing things, Seattle Public Schools fired Roy from his coaching position shortly after the allegations were made and then launched an investigation that ultimately cleared him.

Dr. Tarance Hart, Garfield's principal since 2021, made the unpopular decision to remove him from his coaching job before last season began.

"Would I have liked to have coached while that investigation was going on?" Roy said. "Yes, and I expressed that to him. But at the same time, I understood that he had a position and a job to do. I was understanding of that. I went home and told my kids that sometimes you have to be patient."

Brandon Roy (7) played parts of six seasons in the NBA. | Craig Mitchelldyer-Imagn Images

If anyone did any backtracking it was Hart. He felt an immediate backlash from people across the city who felt the situation, while dealing with right and wrong at the school level, had been handled without compassion.

"I underestimated the swift reaction of our community," the principal said. "I would never make that mistake again. Just the importance of someone like Brandon Roy, who's a product of Garfield and gone on with his life to make major accomplishments, I would have handled it with a lot more care."

Roy returns to Garfield as a highly successful coach, having won four state championships, three coming with the Bulldogs in 2018, 2020 and 2023.

Making the whole ordeal a little more onerous was the fact Roy simply wasn't given his job back.

He had to apply for it.

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