The UHSAA and Juan Diego High School came to an agreement on sanctions on Friday that puts an early end to the three-day undue influence hearing involving the basketball program, and institutional problems with international student admission.
The first two days of the hearing were held two weeks ago in front of a three-person panel of the Executive Committee as they heard testimony from witnesses along with lengthy presentations from attorneys representing the UHSAA and Juan Diego High School. More testimony was scheduled for Monday.
The Executive Committee panel members in charge of the case were Bingham principal Rodney Shaw, Olympus principal Jennifer Christensen and Tabiona principal Darin Jenkins.
By admitting wrong doing on some of the allegations, Juan Diego and also boys basketball coach Drew Trost avoid a potentially harsher punishment from the panel.
Trost, who is also an assistant principal, admitted to the panel via a statement that “he exerted undue influence in the course of admitting Derrelle Desire as an international student at Juan Diego Catholic High School.”
Desire, an England native, played one season at Juan Diego for the 2022-23 school before transferring to Corner Canyon for his senior year because of frustration within the school.
As a school, Juan Diego also admitted to the panel “it lacked institutional control over the admissions process of international students.”
With Juan Diego admitting to these things, the panel placed the school on a two-year probation, fined the school $1,500 to be paid to the UHSAA and suspended Trost four games for the 2025-26 school year.
The sanctions were the end result from the panel after agreeing to changes Juan Diego would make to address the institutional control issues.
Listed below are the five changes Juan Diego promised the UHSAA to make.
- Juan Diego will sever all connections to Ballers to Ballers Heaven, Roger Payne, and Bryce Payne and all connections to Utah Basketball Academy and Jorge Perez. The school said it has and will again send Ballers Heaven and Utah Basketball Academy cease and desist letters reiterating that Ballers Heaven and Utah Basketball Academy have falsely claimed a partnership with Juan Diego and will demand Ballers Heaven and Utah Basketball Academy cease using Juan Diego’s name and logo on their websites.
- Juan Diego has already started and will ensure that all international student inquiries and applications are immediately referred to and handled by Juan Diego’s international admission director (currently Ken Hoshino). The school agrees to not have an athletic coach serve in the role as international admissions director.
- Drew Trost will no longer serve on Juan Diego’s tuition assistance committee. This committee reviews tuition assistance applications for all domestic and international students.
- Juan Diego will immediately implement a new policy that prohibits any athletic coach from being involved in admission decisions for any athlete that plays their sport, i.e. Drew Trost will be walled off from any admissions decisions for any student applicant, domestic or international, that expresses an interest in basketball.
- While giving a tour of the school to prospective students and/or their parents/families, Drew Trost will refer all questions regarding the basketball program to the school’s athletic director.
The Executive Committee panel agreed to those changes, but asked for written proof as outlined below:
- UHSAA staff be provided copies of letters, on JDHS letterhead, sent for verification that item 1 in the preventative measures has been completed. As agreed, this included severing all ties and communications with these groups and individuals up to and including not making JDHS available for tournaments that may be sponsored by any of them.
- Juan Diego High School provide, in writing on Juan Diego Letterhead, the process they have formally put in place to resolve item 2 in the preventative measures.
- Juan Diego High School provide, in writing on Juan Diego Letterhead, that Drew Trost will no longer serve on the tuition assistance committee for neither domestic nor international students to resolve item 3 in the preventative measures.
- Juan Diego High School provide, in writing on Juan Diego Letterhead, the policy, once the new policy is written and implemented, that clearly states that coaches at any level or program are not involved in admission decision making for athletes in their program to resolve item 4 in the preventative measures.
- Juan Diego High School provide, in writing on Juan Diego Letterhead, the written directive given to Coach Trost that he is to refer all questions to the athletic director for anyone who expresses any interest in the basketball program. Although this proposal was speaking specifically to “While giving a tour of the school to prospective students and/or their parents/families” it should also extend to communications with anyone who is not officially enrolled as a student.
The UHSAA state that during the two-year probation, any violation of the probation would be subject to additional sanctions.