Is recruiting athletes rampant at El Paso high schools?

Is recruiting athletes at Borderland high schools a bigger problem than first thought?

ABC-7 is looking into it after the Coronado volleyball coach was just found to have recruited freshmen to his program.

But Coronado coach Raul Lawrence wasn’t the only one accused of recruiting transfers.

His accuser, Franklin coach Flo Valdez, was accused by students of doing the same thing during the District Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, leaving ABC-7 asking the districts whether recruiting in El Paso is rampant.

“Unfortunately, sometimes the power and desire to win becomes tantamount to doing things that are not what should be done,” said Mitch Morgan, the father of a Coronado High freshman, who he says was recently cut from the freshman volleyball team by varsity coach Raul Lawrence to make room for more than a dozen transfers. “We put a lot of trust in our coaches, our administrators and our teachers. And I feel that they should be our partners.”

A District Executive Committee ruled Tuesday that at least eight girls were recruited by Lawrence. ABC-7 asked Morgan whether Lawrence should be punished.

“I definitely think there should be something,” Morgan said.

UIL officials told ABC-7 that Lawrence can only receive a reprimand from a District Executive Committee, which meets again next month. However, if the case is referred to a state committee, he could face probation, a public reprimand or even suspension from coaching for one to three years.

A recent Dallas Morning News article suggests recruiting is “rampant” in Texas. In fact, all of this year’s state champs in basketball had more than one notable transfer in the starting lineup.

“Students certainly do often change schools, they do transfer,” UIL spokeswoman Kate Hector told ABC-7. “I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily rampant, but it happens much more often in major metropolitan areas.”

ABC-7 asked Morgan whether he thinks recruiting goes on at other schools in El Paso.

“There’s no doubt that all the schools on this side of this side of town do recruit to a degree,” Morgan said. “I’ve witnessed it.”

The athletic directors at the El Paso, Ysleta and Socorro districts all declined to give interviews Thursday, going as far as stopping ABC-7 from speaking with coaches who wanted to speak with the station about the recruiting problem in the Borderland.