Frederick Douglass High School seeking new boys’ basketball coach
Three days after reports that Frederick Douglass High School had dismissed boys’ basketball coach Jason Moseley from the team, the school posted the head coaching position on the Fayette County Public Schools’ jobs page on the internet.
On that same Monday this week, Fayette County Public Schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall declined to comment on Moseley’s status with the team but noted he was still employed at the school.
“Fayette County Public Schools does not comment on individual personnel matters,” Deffendall said. “Since it is a matter of public record, however, we can confirm that the individual you asked about is employed as a physical education teacher at Frederick Douglass High School. Speaking generally, supplemental duty assignments like coaching are one-year contracts that are renewed at the discretion of the school principal/director. Contracts for winter sports have not yet been filed with the district.”
Only two other winter head coaching positions in the school system are posted in such a way at this time — postings for Douglass’s swim and bowling coaches that date to July 26.
A phone call and voicemail message from the Herald-Leader to Moseley has not been returned. As of Thursday morning, Moseley’s Twitter account continued to list him as the Douglass coach in his biographical information.
The apparent dismissal came in the wake of the decision last week to cancel a planned nationally televised all-star basketball event in which Frederick Douglass High School was announced as the host. The game was intended to help raise money for Eastern Kentucky flood victims.
Kentucky Sports Radio’s Matt Jones said the all-star event issue and Moseley’s dismissal were related in comments made Friday on his Twitter account.
“I was just told that Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington has fired their Basketball Coach Jason Moseley after he scheduled the Reed Sheppard/Travis Perry charity basketball game without giving notice to the school,” Jones tweeted.
The Kentucky High School Athletics Association does not allow high school basketball players to participate in outside-of-school events during this part of the school calendar and refused to grant waivers for North Laurel star Reed Sheppard and Lyon County star Travis Perry or any other in-state prep players to take part, thus scuttling the promotion.
Moseley took over the Douglass basketball program ahead of the 2020-21 season and led the Broncos to consecutive 42nd District championships and 11th Region finals with season records of 19-2 and 19-15, respectively.
Douglass overcame a seven-point deficit in the final minute of last season’s district finals to defeat Henry Clay in overtime. Henry Clay later avenged that loss by topping Douglass in the region finals.
Douglass recently suffered a significant player departure when last season’s leading scorer and rebounder, rising senior Tyson Barrett, announced he would play for Quality Education Academy, a Winston-Salem, N.C., prep school, this season.
Prior to coming to Douglass, Moseley, a Louisville native, coached at Rocky River High School in Charlotte, N.C. Before moving to North Carolina, Moseley had been an assistant coach at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.
This story was originally published August 25, 2022 at 8:13 AM.
