A high school baseball player was denied a potential chance to play at the next level simply because he is from the state of Colorado.
Gavin Bell, a high school senior from Aurora, Colo., reached out to Texas Wesleyan University head coach Mike Jeffcoat to inquire about potentially playing for the school, but the coach was not willing to entertain the idea.
It had nothing to do with talent, however. It was solely because recreational marijuana use is legal in Bell’s home state.
Because of that, the 18-year-old received this response from Jeffcoat:
“Unfortunately, we are not recruiting players from the state of Colorado,” Jeffcoat’s email said, via ESPN. “In the past, players have had trouble passing our drug test. We have made a decision to not take a chance on student-athletes from your state. You can thank your liberal politicians. Best of luck wherever you decide to play.”
Yikes.
Well, after the email response went viral, the school elected to fire Jeffcoat — a former professional baseball player — on Thursday for both “his remarks as well as the NAIA violations under his watch.”
It also is worth noting that according to the team’s website, they currently have one player from Colorado — who is a freshman — on the roster.
