Juan Diego High considering basketball independence; principal says it is 'being held hostage'

SANDY — For the last five months, some parents of Juan Diego Catholic High School's boys basketball team have worried that allegations of recruiting against the team's head coach would adversely impact the players.

The team has played under a cloud of uncertainty after the Utah High School Activities Association sent a letter to Juan Diego on Dec. 19 claiming violations of the transfer rule, student eligibility requirements, undue influence, and principal responsibilities, "including lack of institutional control, and duty to report and cooperate."

The allegations were the culmination of a yearlong investigation into whether private schools were using F-1 Visa programs to recruit athletes from foreign countries. KSL conducted its own investigation and published articles detailing the experiences of several host parents and student-athletes last winter. After their investigation, the Utah High School Activities Association concluded there was enough evidence to hold a hearing on Jan. 8.

But that hearing was never held, and rumors about why and what might happen swirled around the program. The team won a regional title despite the issues, but the uncertainty created lingering questions for some. Last week, the fear that a settlement or punishment would hurt the players reached a fever pitch as head coach Drew Trost began discussing the possibility of the program playing independent of the Utah High School Activities Association for two years.

Playing basketball as an independent school means the program couldn't play for region or state titles and players wouldn't be eligible for any post-season awards.

Tuesday night, the parents and players got some answers during a meeting at the school.

The meeting was not open to the public, but KSL obtained a recording of the meeting and talked with three parents who were in attendance. They spoke with KSL on the condition of anonymity because they fear retribution for their children.

Juan Diego High Principal Galey Colosimo said "leaks" and rumors have made it impossible to resolve the issue.

"What that means is that we're not negotiating in good faith with an association trying to solve the problem," Colosimo said. "What we're doing is being held hostage by the association to please former parents who want to make life miserable for Juan Diego, for the basketball program, and most especially for Coach Trost."

Colosimo blamed the allegations of recruiting, the hearing delays, and the possibility of going independent on two things — a Utah High School Activities Association vendetta and a group of disgruntled former parents.

"Some think our problems are (that we're) going to go independent," Colosimo said. "But that's not our problem. Our problem goes back basically a year before that, and there were two things that occurred. The first was that the association, in very controversial fashion, made this rule that said international students can't play, and one of our international students challenged that successfully in federal court and won. ... What he won was an injunction that said, until this gets before a court, international students can play. And so, that was not our lawsuit. That was the lawsuit that was brought by the student himself. But it became connected to Juan Diego as if it were crossing (the association), so the association is sore about that, about losing, and they tend to assign that to us, even though it was a student at Juan Diego.

"But OK, so that's the first issue. The second issue is … that there is a collection of former parents that have a lot of hard feelings about Juan Diego, the basketball program, Coach Trost, and they are driving this issue constantly. So it's those two things, right? So we have some former parents that are really upset with us and that we have the association that's really sore with us," Colosimo said in the meeting.

Colosimo said the association has made settlement offers, only to have them overruled by what he called "a cabal" of disgruntled former parents. Neither the association nor attorneys for Trost would comment on any settlement discussions or offers.

"And what that does is it makes it really hard to get to settlement," he said. "Because when we sit down and we negotiate with the association, we think we're dealing with the decision-makers, but we're not. What the association does is, after we have some negotiation, they turn around and they want to have it cleared by this group of people that are out to make life difficult for Juan Diego, the basketball program, and coach Trost."

Colosimo repeatedly said there is no validity to any of the recruiting allegations, and he said the Utah High School Activities Association doesn't have any evidence.

He also said the school doesn't want to play an independent schedule, but it may not be the school's only choice.

"This isn't us," he said. "We can't say, 'Oh, we're going to be independent.' Like, that's not our decision."

He continued, "We're not trying to go independent. We may end up going independent because the association pretty much makes this or essentially puts a proverbial gun to our head. But if we do go independent, it's not because we want that."

He said the school could attend a hearing, but the school officials don't believe they can get an impartial hearing panel.

"So the fix is in, guys," Colosimo said. "I don't want to be paranoid. I don't want to act like, you know, they're out to get us, but I kind of think they're out to get us."

The meeting lasted nearly an hour and a half, with parents asking if it was too late to revive the earlier deal or if they could just demand a hearing.

"If you weren't guilty, wouldn't you want your day in court?" asked one parent.

The three parents who spoke to KSL said they felt manipulated by how Colosimo described the parents' concerns.

"The reason everybody's fired up about it is because Drew's been telling the boys that they're likely going independent, and it's going to be so great," a parent said. "He's already talking about it, like it's a real thing."

The parent said the way Colosimo framed the issue left several of them with even more questions.

"The fact that Galey wouldn't acknowledge (Trost is) where the rumors were coming from, and Drew just sat there. … They're trying to make us all sound like crazy people running around in circles. It's just like all these little things that start adding up that … just gives us a lot of skepticism that anything else that they're saying is even true."

One mother asked if he was advising them not to talk to each other or former player's parents.

"I think this conversation is fine," Colosimo said. "I would hope that tomorrow, you don't call up the association and say, 'There was a Juan Diego parent meeting last night. Here's everything that went on.'"

He continued, "I don't expect you to, like, get in the way of our negotiation, but … all of you, I think, are acting in good faith. It's the ones who do not act in good faith that are … causing the problem, making life really difficult. We've been trying to solve it since December. And keep in mind, we did not do what they said we did. So what we're willing to do. We said this right at the front. We were willing to be penalized for an infraction that we did not commit based on evidence that they do not have. … We've come to the table pretty far to say we want to solve this."

He explained why the school agreed to be punished for something it didn't do.

"And frankly, the reason we did that is we knew if we went to a (hearing), we could have the best lawyers and the best presentation in the world. But if you have five people where the fix is in, you're going to lose."

Trost said his attorney advised him not to trust the hearing process.

"He goes, 'You would absolutely win in a court of law. If we could take this to a court of law, you would win. But I don't trust this hearing, so I think we should settle. So that's why we agreed to the settlement. That's what I told the boys about. When that fell apart, we hired two more lawyers, really well known lawyers in the city, and all three of them looked at it again, and they came (to the same conclusion). … It's the noise that's being created (that's) … causing this grief, and not allowing us to put an end to it."

KSL reached out to Colosimo and Trost's attorney for comment but received no response.

Mark Van Wagoner, attorney for the Utah High School Activities Association, said the association was and is prepared to hold a hearing.

"Far from refusing to set a hearing for the allegation against Juan Diego, the UHSAA set the first hearing on those matters for Jan. 8, 2025," Van Wagoner said. "Because of the holiday season, that date was continued until the week of Jan. 19" and then to Feb. 5.

"On Jan. 30, we were informed that Juan Diego had hired counsel," Van Wagoner said. "At the end of January Juan Diego and UHSAA began negotiating a settlement agreement. Negotiations did not produce a result. A new hearing date of April 24 was scheduled. On March 4, we received a letter from counsel representing Drew Trost. From and after that time, Mr. Trost's counsel suggested that Mr. Trost did not want a hearing but wanted a settlement. We have been working toward that until today."

Van Wagoner said, "Someone was misinformed to say that in these negotiations, the UHSAA is forcing Juan Diego to take 'independent' status. It was a subject of discussion when raised by counsel, but no decision was reached. The UHSAA has no authority to 'force' any school or program to become independent unless such a conclusion was reached by an authorized hearing panel."

Van Wagoner said he was "surprised" to hear that "Juan Diego representatives claimed they could not get a fair hearing. That is incorrect."

Van Wagoner said the association's board of trustees is comprised of "highly educated and accomplished individuals" who are competent and professional.

Van Wagoner said the association is negotiating in good faith and only brought allegations forward because it has a duty to enforce the rules.

Some parents are concerned that this situation will escalate and their sons will lose opportunities. Several have shared their concerns with the Catholic Diocese, which oversees the state's Catholic schools.

"No one is thinking they're going to go to the NBA at that school, that I'm aware of," one parent said. "They just want to play basketball, be challenged, have some personal goals and make good friendships, just like any other kids. And it's just constant drama."

"I just think there's a lot of weird other dynamics," the parent said. "My concern, first and foremost, is for these kids who are coming in."

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