Coach wants job back after being cleared of recruiting allegations

An accomplished Borderland basketball coach is fighting to keep his job at Pebble Hills High School, even though he was cleared of accusations he recruited a player.

The Socorro Independent School District still has coach Peter Morales assigned to a different campus.

ABC-7 spoke to concerned parents, the district and even Morales’ attorney and some are confused as to why he still doesn’t have his job back.

“I’ve watched (Coach Morales) shape so many young men into incredible people on and off the court,” said Amy Marcus, mother of Mitchell Marcus, a former Coronado special needs student, who made national news when Morales put him in a rivalry game and he scored. “I understand that coach was accused of recruiting. He’s been cleared of all charges of that so I don’t understand why he has been demoted and sent to an elementary school.”

“My husband and I ultimately decided we were going to put him in his home school, Pebble Hills,” said Amy Brown, mother of Austin Brown, the 14-year-old freshman Morales was accused of recruiting to Pebble Hills.

She said a text from her son to Morales resulted in the allegations.

“He texts Coach Morales and asks would he in fact still be able to play if he switched over,” Brown said. “And he said that he would he just needed to make a decision quick for both schools.”

Last week a District Executive Committee found Morales not guilty. But Morales still hasn’t been given back his position at Pebble Hills.

“The district is not obliged to wait for or look to the district executive committee for a specific outcome,” SISD spokesman Daniel Escobar told ABC-7. “The district is obligated to look into it itself.”

“(SISD) did reassign him before the DEC met,” Morales’ attorney, Austin-based Mark Robinett told ABC-7. “The district told us it did it because he recruited the student. But that determination was false. We expected the district to put him back to work that night. But they are still refusing to do so.”

“It was a premature decision we believe and they’re not correcting it,” Brown added.

Morales’ attorney said they’re fighting through the district’s internal process to get him reinstated at Pebble Hills.

Brown said the situation has left her son, Austin, in a difficult position.

“Our son has to carry this now,” she said. “You know he feels guilty.”