Hoover High Scandal Update

SI PLAYERS, JULY 16, 2007
For followers of Hoover High, reality has proved far juicier than anything on TV. The Alabama football powerhouse that MTV tracked for its docudrama Two-a-Days has been hit by allegations of grade changing and adultery, humiliating a program that won four Class 6A state championships in the last five years.

A 68-page report, the product of a two-month inquiry funded by the school district and led by a retired federal judge, details the misdeeds of Buccaneers head coach Rush Propst (above), as well as school administrators. Among the more salacious allegations: Teachers were pressured by officials and Propst, 50, to favor players, and an assistant coach spied on rival Vestavia Hills's football practice. The report also indicated it is likely that rumors that Propst has a second family in the Pell City area are true. (He has a wife and three children.)

Even as Hoover has gone 6--1 this season, calls are being heard for Propst's job, and last week superintendent Andy Craig asked the Alabama State Ethics Commission to investigate his personal finances. "These are things that a handful of people have known for a number of years," Hoover city councilman Gene Smith says. "It has really torn our community apart."

PHOTO

GARY BOGDON (PROPST)