KHS fires varsity boys basketball coach

Oscar Lopez won’t return for fifth season after receiving sit-down evaluation Tuesday

By Brian Sumpter

Lake County Sports on Facebook

KELSEYVILLE >> Oscar Lopez is out as Kelseyville High School’s varsity boys basketball coach, a decision that came down Tuesday after the coaching veteran received a sit-down evaluation with principal Mike Jones and athletic director KC White.

Lopez, a middle school physical education teacher at Mountain Vista Middle School, is a 2012 Kelseyville graduate and was a member of the school’s 20-7 team during his senior season of 2011-12. 

“It’s tough because I played for this program, it’s a special place for me,” the 30-year-old Lopez said. “I’ve been coaching for nine years, the last six at Kelseyville High.”

He inherited a struggling Kelseyville varsity boys program after COVID wiped out the 2020-21 season. The Knights were coming off an 8-17 campaign in 2019-20 and a 5-21 mark in 2018-19. Under Lopez’s watch the last four seasons, Kelseyville has gone 66-46 overall, including a 42-16 mark in league play and a 4-4 record in the North Coast Section playoffs.

“They told me they wanted to move in a different direction,” Lopez said of his sit-down meeting with Jones and White. “I’m not sure what that means. We’ve been successful on the court, so it can’t be about wins and losses.”

The Knights have excelled in the classroom as well, according to Lopez, compiling a 3.8 GPA this past season.

“They couldn’t give me any specific reasons for what I did wrong,” Lopez said. “The only thing they mentioned was a comment I made to Lake County Sports about the district’s decision (to forfeit Kelseyville’s league game with Cloverdale on Feb. 11, which cost the Knights a share of a second straight league title). I didn’t put anyone underneath the bus with the comment, I just told the truth.”

Kelseyville was rolling toward a share of the league championship when three players posted an offensive photo online following a league win over archrival Clear Lake.  The photo included nine members of the team posing with a custom-made banner featuring an offensive phrase aimed at Clear Lake. While two members of the team immediately removed the photo, one did not. The Kelseyville Unified School District announced the forfeiture the following day on its website. As a result, the Knights ended up 11-3 in the league standings behind 12-2 St. Helena and 12-2 Middletown.

The Knights went on to reach the North Coast Section Division 5 semifinals as an at-large team, losing to eventual state champion International (San Francisco). They also qualified for the NorCal playoffs, losing to Sonoma Valley in the opening round (Sonoma Valley later lost a close game to International).

Feeling good about coming off another successful season, Lopez said that feeling didn’t last long. While working on next season’s schedule, Lopez said he sent an email on Friday, March 14 to athletic director KC White inquiring about the dates for the Stokes Tournament this coming December in Kelseyville. He received an email back saying that he was to meet with Jones and White for a sit-down evaluation Tuesday.

“I’ve never had an evaluation before, not a sit-down one anyway,” Lopez said. “I did meet with him (Jones) after my first season because of the six technical fouls I received. He wanted me to cut them down.”

Lopez didn’t receive a single technical this past season.

“We don’t really comment on personnel matters,” Jones told Lake County Sports when asked about the evaluation Lopez received.

Kelseyville’s principal would only confirm that Lopez would not return for a fifth season as varsity boys basketball head coach.

White said the evaluation process for Kelseyville’s coaches was instituted this year, which is why Lopez has not received an evaluation in the past.

“I’ve been directed to give an evaluation to every coach we have beginning with the fall (2024) sports season,” White said. “The coaches will be meeting with me (and the principal) at some point. I haven’t completed the evaluation process with all the winter sports coaches yet. Less than a handful.”

White said he could not comment on the evaluation Lopez received or his firing.

“Unfortunately, I can’t give comment on personnel matters. I’m kind of stuck. I can’t talk.”

Lopez said he was evaluated in 29 categories using a scale from 1-5, one being the worst and five the best. His average score was 3.4, including five fives and 13 fours he received, but also five twos and two ones.

He received a score of one for “supervision of the locker room/training room”, and another one in the category for “individual and team discipline/control.” He also received scores of two for “being a good role model” and for “public relations,” which encompasses media relations, interaction with the school’s booster club, parents/guardians, and spectators.

Lopez said he is at a loss to explain the low marks in those categories. On the category of public relations, he said he reported the scores of every one of his games to the media (he reported 100 percent of his games to Lake County Sports) and isn’t aware of any problems this season with parents/guardians or booster club members.

“I don’t know of any coach who spends every minute with his players in the locker room before and after games,” Lopez said. “And I can’t stop any player from posting something on the Internet.”

As for disciplining players, Lopez said he did exactly that during a league game in mid-January against Cloverdale, benching a trio of Knights for showing up late to practice. He said he also almost dismissed a player from the team earlier in the season because of lack of effort but was able to work things out with the player.

When another player in the program was underperforming academically, he said he took it upon himself, with the help of his players, to make sure that player was able to stay eligible.

“We took a struggling player and made him academically eligible,” Lopez said. “We nearly got him to almost 3.0 (GPA).”

Lopez said he’s not sure if the decision to fire him originated at the high school or higher up the ladder.

“I don’t know if this (decision) comes rom the top, if I pissed someone off,” Lopez said of Kelseyville Unified School District superintendent Nicki Thomas.

“You and I both know that I cannot comment on personnel matters,” Thomas said in an email to Lake County Sports. “Sorry.”

Lopez said he’s received support from the community in the wake of his firing as varsity coach, though he doesn’t know what good, if any, it will do. He’s certainly received the support of his players.

“Coach Lopez is an unfathomably amazing coach,” senior Sebastian Chavez said. “Having the privilege of spending the last four years as his student in basketball taught me what hard work and dedication is. Lopez cared for us as players, students and individuals and personally showed me what it takes to be a man. In every practice and every game, he pushed us past our limit and believed in us through thick and thin. He always had our back in any situation and if we needed anything we knew he would be there for us. By letting him go you’re not only punishing our basketball program, but also the next generation of basketball players who will not get to play under him.”

“I can confidently say the decision to fire Oscar Lopez is a grave mistake and just flat out wrong,” added senior Kyle Watkins, a four-year varsity veteran. “This year he had a career low in technical fouls and ejections (none). This year he has conducted himself with more class than ever. I know many will agree with me when I say he did not do anything to deserve getting fired. What is being done to our boys basketball program from our own school board is an abuse of power. It is a disgrace to not just our high school, but to all of the schools that reside in our district. I believe the decision to release Oscar was unjust and unfair.”

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to coach Lopez for allowing me to be a part of his program over the past four years,” senior Brock Barrick said. “During my time in the basketball program, I’ve grown not only as an athlete but also as an individual. Coach Lopez’s passion for basketball and his deep care for his athletes have made a lasting impact on me. He has always pushed us to be better players and, more importantly, better young men. I remember watching him play, and it was clear that he was a fierce competitor — a quality that has been evident throughout his coaching as well.  I went into every sporting event without a doubt in my mind that he had my back through thick and thin. I believe it’s a mistake letting him go.”

“I was coached by Lopez for three seasons, and we accomplished more than any other Kelseyville basketball team ever has in those years,” senior Gene Holdenried said. “He was always tough on us but we got better because of it. His commitment to our program and youth basketball in Kelseyville didn’t go unnoticed.”

Looking ahead to his future, Lopez hasn’t decided if he’ll seek a coaching job elsewhere.

“I don’t know if I want to coach anywhere else,” Lopez said. “If there was an offer that presented itself, I might have to consider it.”

Lopez does know that he’ll be coaching his son Anthony’s fifth- and sixth-grade All-Star team during a tournament this weekend in Lakeport. After that, your guess is as good as his.