Does Washington Have the Dirtiest High School Basketball Player in America? Watch the Video and You Decide

• The coach of this individual has no business in sports.  The officials should be suspended for failure to uphold the integrity of the game.  Obviously they think nothing of their own integrity.

• i m 96 born and 6.8 tall how i come thir

• Coach Oscar Garza, would you give a "teddy bear" that could closeline to your 7 year old?  I'll bet your child's face wouldn't light up then.  Take responsibility for your team's actions, apologize, discipline and teach self-restraint, respect and consequences. Cold is going to meet way bigger individuals than himself in the near future; you're not doing him any favors by protecting him from himself now. 

• I'm heated...Vanderbilt would be in a hospital if I was there

• Without a doubt, the actions by these players were premeditated. These two clowns went into this game intending to bring harm to the opposing players. In my day, there would have been one helluva' fight break out. The players, coaches, refs and game administartors should all have been suspended. There is NO defense for their actions and inactions. NONE!!

• wait a minute - "poor cole"? he is the worst bully I have ever seen. Let me assure you I do not fear the fricking a..hole. I would love to catch him on my watch, his smirk would be no longer as he crys for his poor of an excuse of a mother and grandmother Karen. If the coach and refs are not fired and the school forgo a complete basketball suspension you can bet there will be a public outcry. #42 you can't even write or spell correctly, no college would want you two bullies, canada is down one pig farmer, you two would fit in nicely.

• Coach and team mates behind him??? PLEASE. That is one bad coach, that would allow this sort of play to go on. It's like one of those Hollywood movies where the coach is so bad that every one hates him. Has this boy been suspended yet??? Refs reprimanded? Coach fired???  School district sued??????? C'mon!  Shame on you. That kid that you call a teddy bear is just a big big bully.

• Remember the real bad guy here is the coach, Oscar Garza.

• Condoning and allowing? it appears to me, promoting and encouraging. Also, this kid is playing basketball like it's football. It's worth noting that he seems more like a football player who has been misplaced on this team (on purpose?) by the coach and the school to bully the other teams and to get wins. The situation smacks of incompetence and dirty tactics.

• Does the coach still have a job?  If he thinks that is basketball the team and school deserve better.

• Cheap shot punk should  have assault charges laid against him. You will hear of this animal having future dealings with the criminal justice system in the future.

• This is not a child!!!!  His massive size and weight gives him a LARGE advantage over the other players. The fact that his team and his Coach support him and the way he plays the game says a lot about the faculty. If they support this bad sportsmanship they should not be employees of the school district. They are allowing him to BULLY others and get away with it. He should have been thrown out of the game!!!  If these are the kind of people guiding our children's future we are in trouble. It's not only #34's responsibility to play by the rules, but also the adults to advise them to know what is acceptable. The officials, and the coaches need to make better judgment calls, Better yet they should be FIRED!!! This kid should to be allowed to play and should get counseling. Something is wrong with him and his PARENTS who allow him to behave in such a UGLY manor. Maners start at home with the parents, who obviously FAILED!!

• #34....what a piece of work...the fact that he kept playing shows how bad the coaching is. i bet the parents are proud of that fat sob who will undoubtedly will bring them disappointment as a total failure...jail time awaits you porky 

• Most of these are all harder-than-hard fouls, to be sure, but the only truly sickening one is the 4th. That should have gotten Vanderbit T'd up or tossed, and at least his coach had the good sense to remove him after a noticeable smirk came over his face. That same sort of foul got Andrew Bynum suspended four games. But more importantly, are the Huskies recruiting Cole Vanderbilt to play defensive tackle? Because they really should.

• Like 99 % of the people that saw this video I was APPALLED. WHERE IS THE ADULT SUPERVISION!! After thinking about it for a while, there are three things to suggest:     !) Mr Valentine should be suspended for a minimum of 3 games with a zero tolerance policy for similar actions when reinstated.      2) The coach of Connell High should be immediately relieved of any coaching and teaching duties. Allowing ( no, ENCOURAGING) this type of behavior by not yanking Mr Valentine from the game after the first or certainly the second incidence says volumes about him and his attitude about sportsmanship and safety. I would not want him influencing any teen with his apparant lack of understanding the basics of good values.    3) The ref involved should be suspended for the rest of the season and be required to pass a test, including a supervised practice game before being allowed to return to the arena. If he is the best this conference has to offer, then for the safety of the kids the season should be halted until the siuation is rectified with competent officials.  Thanks for your time - JR BUSCH, MD

• This kid should not be allowed to play organized sports.. If he is that flagrant and I saw him smiling after each one of his fouls, he's not in it for the sport. He's playing to hurt people. His coach should sede this and put this kid in his place before another kid gets hurt. Playing High School sport are competitive and should be fun for the student competing. A student should not have to worry about getting hurt by another player who does not have the discipline to conduct himself properly. As far as the ref's go. It's on the video, the school should report it to the governing commission. The fouls were flagrant and violent in nature done right in front of the ref's. They need to be counciled or sent for re-certification to ensure they know how to properly ref a high school sports contest.

• This clearly shows that both the coach and the School Board approve and condone such condut.  Cole would not be smiling and laughing and high-fiving after committing the fouls if he was not confident that both the coach and School Board were going to pat him on the back later and congratulate him.   Shame on you coach and School Board!

• Cant wait for a follow up story on Oscar Garza or Vanderbilt getting assaulted some where by some convict or thug that likes to mess people up who think they're "hard"

• Coach Garza- Has Cole Vanderbilt ever clothe-lined your 7-year-old son?

• Referees should be fired along with coach. These kids are out if control and will eventually cause serious harm to another student. Boys you need to lose some weight get in shape and learn how to play ball.

• Keenan Hollebecke and Cole Vanderbilt are hateful jerks who think bullying is cool, and they are “proud” of being thugs and the potential injuries to the opposing team they got away with doing. BOTH of them need to be banned from any type of organized sports for the rest of their nasty lives. Soon we’ll be reading about both of them being hauled off to jail (where thugs like them eventually wind up). Karma will not be pretty for those 2 monsters. Additionally, Oscar Garza is a disgrace, and needs to be fired- obviously he was taking some payola for “overlooking” the obvious bullying going on.

• Keenan Hollebecke and Cole Vanderbilt are hateful jerks who think bullying is cool, and they are “proud” of being thugs and the potential injuries to the opposing team they got away with doing. BOTH of them need to be banned from any type of organized sports for the rest of their nasty lives. Soon we’ll be reading about both of them being hauled off to jail (where thugs like them eventually wind up). Karma will not be pretty for those 2 monsters. Additionally, Oscar Garza is a disgrace, and needs to be fired- obviously he was taking some payola for “overlooking” the obvious bullying going on.

• Maybe Cole has dreams of getting a scholarship at Xavier or Cincinnati.  He looks to have the proper "thug" moves down.

• Wow - I can't believe the coach is defending this kid. Any coach worth his salt would boot the kid for the rest of the season. That school should be ashamed.

• This is the most ignorant, close-minded comment I have read in awhile. They don't have resources? And as for being from a rural town...yea, we never see youths from inner city schools getting into brawls on the basketball court! I am from Texas, and the rural schools here have much stricter discipline and rules for their teams and players than larger towns and cities (on the average).

• Overreact much? Firing, fines, sanctions, forfeiting wins, turning students over to juvenile authorities...come on, there is a better way to handle this. The first two fouls were regular fouls; the third foul should have been a technical foul and he should have been kicked out on the fourth when he pushed that kid in the back. His fouls got progressively worse. The worst part of the story is the coach's response. The school's athletic director should call that coach into his office, show the video, and set him straight. The boy should be suspended for several games, run for punishment, and told that on the next flagrant intentional foul he commits...he is off the team. This kid acts this way because he has been raised by idiots and he knows the coach will allow this kind of behavior. Other parents on the team should make their feelings known to the coach and school authorities. I wouldn't want my child associated with a player and coach that displays such horrid sportsmanship.

• I grew up on a farm and and was poor as dirt too and I didn't grow up to be a brute savage like this kid acted.  I don't know who he really is but his life hangs in the balance of how he reacts to this attention.  Will he understand his idiotic ways (no doubt taught to him by his dad and coaches, etc.) or will go on to clotheslines and push more innocents to the ground?

• I think that the right thing to do is to kick this team off the season playouts maybe then they will learn some respect by being punished!!

• I agree with your comment but I'm from Washington as well not every school plays this way so when u say “Washington..DISGUSTING” I take offense to that yes everyone is free to their own opinion but take in mind that ALL OF WASHINGTON IS NOT THE SAME!!

• I don't think the coach saw what we dis on the video. I don't know who's worse now the coach or his player!! They should be ashamed of this insted of trying to justify the acctions :/

• Simply put, the coach should be fired, the officials should be fired, and that sorry excuse for a basketball player, Cole Vanderbilt should be in jail.  It is clear that the primary responsibility lays on the shoulders of the coach who is obviously encouraging this sort of behaviour.

• I work at a school where a player did this one time.  The coach pulled him from the game.  The athletic director and the superintendent reviewed the game film and the player was dismissed for the season and given in-school suspension.  No one complained including his parents.  The other players said they felt ashamed because of what he did. The Eagles obviously were raised in an entirely different culture.  That's why the world has to tell the Eagles this is totally unacceptable.  Too bad - it should be a no brainer. 

• The Superintendent even defends him.... look around on the internet.  Wow!!!!  Unreal!  

• This coach should be ashamed of himself! Condoning such behavior is the reason why basketball is such an ugly sport, and its because of people like him that teach to win at ALL costs! They dont enforce sportsmanship and playing the game on clean basic fundamentals. He needs to be replaced as Head Coach and the school administration needs to answer for this disgusting, disgraceful behavior!!! Unfortunately though it happens everywhere, referees are only there for their paychecks, nothing more, its rare to find a good referee nowadays!!!

• "And finally, you have to give major credit to the *CONNELL* guard who reaches down to help . . ."

• I understand this is a very rural community and the kids come from farming, etc. It's probably unlikely they have the resources to make any changes. They are probably proud this kid put them on the map!

• This is no doubt what passes as "talent" at Connell HS.  Not a reflection or commentary on the residents or student body as a whole, more an indictment of the limitations of the coach and his ability to train, prepare and coach. It's apparent, even in the short video clips, Cole is nothing more than an undersized (height), out of shape and lazy player using a thug-like bullying technique to play the post position.  The fact he got to continue to play in that manner reflects more poorly on the coach.  Not only should this kid be conditioned a little better, but coached to use his bulk to fill up the lane and force some lesser percentage shots by opponents.  But the worst reflection on the coach is condoning his player's actions as he continued to let him play.   Particularly when it was clear he was not only outmatched by much quicker and more talented Highland players but was not attempting to play 'D' . . . simply being a thug. The officiating was highly questionable for any level of experience of refereeing and should be reviewed and scrutinized as the person who shot the video points out before someone gets seriously injured and possibly suffers a life-altering encounter. I agree with previous commenters that point out sanctions/punishments should be meted out to coach and/or school (as well as officials).  This "kid" will just play this way until something or someone deters him from doing so. And finally, you have to give major credit to the Highland guard who reaches down to help up the Highland player who got clocked by Cole in one of the first flagrant fouls.  It almost looks like he uses his left arm to shield Cole back from lording above him and uses his other arm to reach down to help the opposing player up off the court. As for "poor Cole" and his feelings about being roughed up verbally by viewers of the video . . . he seems like he should be able to take that . . . he didn't seem overly sensitive (like a teddy bear) or concerned with dishing out physical roughness (elbows to the head, clotheslines, etc)  Get a clue coach, sympathy isn't what this "kid" needs!!!

• The Superintendent, Prinicipal and coaching staff should be fired.  That jerk should have been yanked off the court by his own school district after the first one.

• This is 100% the fault of the Coach and or School Board. Cole's actions show that he is proud of his actions, thus he has been instructed to act this way. Yes Cole is guilty and should be punished, but the actual criminals here are the Coach and School Board for condoning and allowing it.

• I THINK THE SCHOOL SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR A NEW COACH, IT IS UP TO THE COACH TO KEEP THEIR PLAYERS IN LINE.    THE TWO PLAYERS SHOULD BE BANNED FROM PLAYING BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON.

• Perfectly said. In all professional sports fines and sanctions are placed on players..why not high school...why is this school not doing anything about these players..and i agree with you..child support services should be called to that 7 year old's house..bully in the making...

• Terrible officiating and coaching. The team and coach are behind these two players? Appalling and unacceptable. Get rid of the offending players, coach and officials... including permanent sanctions and/or fines, strip Connell of all wins for the year in which these players played, not allowing the players to play ANY sport, and not allowing Connell to compete for a few years in any sports, especially basketball. That might start to send an appropriate message in response to this unacceptable behavior. The coach needs to be fired, and prevented from ever coaching again (perhaps benefiting from some counseling as to what is and is not acceptable in high school or any type of sports). The officials need to be fired and never be allowed to officiate at any sport of any sort, perhaps even face disciplinary actions. The students from Connell need to be removed from the team, suspended, and turned over to juvenile authorities... because they appear to be incorrigible, and, the parents, at least one grandparent, the coach and school, seem to condone these actions by either promoting it or not doing something to stop it. This type of behavior is unacceptable, in any forum, let alone sports. The 7-year-old who is referenced as "looking up" to Venderbilt needs to have some counseling to understand that these types of actions are unacceptable, and there is nothing to look up to, except the actual height when standing. If the Connell players shown as offenders are 18 or older, then someone needs to treat him in the same manner in some parking lot or back alley, just to illustrate what it might feel like to have some of this dished out in return. Neither of these two students should be on the basketball court, any more than they should be put into a cage or ring with an MMA fighter. They aren't prepared for that type of MMA action, nor are the other team's players for these student's actions on the court. Kids need good role models, and there's something wrong if Vanderbilt is being touted as one. He's not. Far from it. That seven-year-old might need to have child protective services make a visit, because there might be even greater problems going on at home, if these actions are allowed on the HS court and the child is allowed to consider this thug as someone to endeavor to emulate as they grow up. I can't help but think that this type of collective ignorance has to in some way manifest itself in other ugly instances at home or in private, anger management issues, verbal and/or physical abuse, etc.

• His coach is behind him and supporting him..then the coach needs to go to. We are not talking about how this kid is off the court but how he plays the game. It is disgusting that this school allows this type of "teamwork" to go on. Digusting Washington..DISGUSTING!!!

• The coach should be punished for letting his players #34 and #42 play that way. It is the coaches job to teach these kids how to play, not to allow them to play dirty.

• Poor Cole Vanderbilt...Wait, wasn't it he who was grinning after the fouls?  Wasn't it he who used excessive force when his sheer size would have block that last rush.  Watch the video.  His arm follows through after and during the clothesline.  I have the most respect for the other team for not mirroring the dishonorable, cowardly way the team appears to have been instructed to play.  "Connell, where bullying is a High School sport."

• That fat piece of shit would not have lasted 2 minutes after all the cheap shots where I played.

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