MONTGOMERY — In two lengthy spasms of testimony Monday within earshot of each other, former Mary G. Montgomery coach Zach Golson admitted he “skimmed” through the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s handbook but AHSAA Executive Director Heath Harmon offered no documentation that the rules he used to punish Golson and the school were properly enacted.
However, in the first legal airing of a case in which the AHSAA penalized MGM for what it called violations of its recruiting rules, including charges of improper contact, U.S. District Judge Bill Lewis seemed intrigued by what Golson said was a denial of his rights to defend himself in the investigation. Lewis questioned why MGM didn’t appeal Golson’s one-year suspension, whether the rules the association cited were properly approved or not. After self-reporting the violations connected to a freshman signing ceremony, Principal David Diaz put Golson on administrative leave two weeks before Harmon issued the sanctions.
“It sounds like the school sold you up the creek,” Lewis said.
Golson — who has filed a separate lawsuit charging he was defamed and denied due process — responded by saying no local or state officials would let him tell his side of the story.
“I tried to reach out (to MGM officials),” Golson replied, “and they would not appeal on my behalf. The AHSAA told me I had no voice, no due process, that I could only appeal through a member school. I met with the investigator without (legal) representation. This is the only time I had a chance for a face-to-face.”…