Nicholas J. Crossan took to his Facebook page to share a heartfelt message of support for Tavar Proctor, a longtime head boys’ basketball coach at Franklin High School in Seattle Public Schools.
The longtime head boys’ basketball coach, Tavar Proctor, previously coached the girls’ team for several years, starting around 2017–2018, turning around a struggling program, before transitioning to the boys’ varsity role in recent years.
He focused on rebuilding the historic Quaker program with emphasis on culture, community, and developing young men beyond the court.
Meanwhile, Coach Proctor was removed, and one of his supporters, Nicholas J. Crossan, expressed his disappointment via Facebook.
He went directly into the subject writing, “I want to publicly support Coach Tavar Proctor.“
Crossan wrote about how anyone who really understands the game and, even more, understands working with young people knows this situation goes way beyond what happens on the court.
He spoke about the strong base Coach Proctor had been creating at Franklin High School for a long time.
Crossan revealed Coach Proctor brought opportunity and structure to kids who needed it most by building trust in themself creating an environment where they could grow as young men. He wrote:
Coach Proctor was building something real at Franklin
Nicholas J. Crossan
Above all, what bothers the people the most, according to Crossan, comes down to fairness and how rules seem to get applied differently depending on the program or the school.
“What makes this especially hard to accept is the inconsistency of the so-called ‘reasons’ being applied, ” Crossan wrote.
He pointed out that plenty of teams across Washington run things in a similar fashion, yet not everyone faces the same scrutiny or consequences.
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Crossan went on to emphasize that Coach Proctor serves as a true leader for the boys.
He said the coach is passionate about his job and pours energy into teaching accountability and discipline while helping them envision futures.
Crossan wrote that such guidance and impact go beyond the box scores and headlines but can deeply impact someone’s life. He wrote:
Programs can be rebuilt. Seasons come and go. The influence a coach has on kids lasts forever.
Nicholas J. Crossan
In the end, Crossan stood firm in backing Proctor, calling the current turn of events a redirection rather than an ending. He believes wherever the coach lands next, more young men will benefit from his presence and example.
Likewise, another supporter of the coach, Donyetta Jcoco Sanford, expressed her frustration in a Facebook post, writing:
OK, that’s enough. We talked about these jersey situation long enough, but can we talk about how another black coach was removed once again so my question is what is really going on?
Donyetta Jcoco Sanford
Under her post, LaShay’e Stanton-Phillips wrote, “Coach Proctor? Or someone else? They fired the black cheer coach same way about a month ago!“
To which Donyetta replied,
LaShay’e Stanton-Phillips yes Proctor smh and wait what a cheer coach too smh this is getting out of hand
Donyetta Jcoco Sanford
This post has people talking again about patterns in Seattle Public Schools when it comes to Black coaches at historic programs like Franklin.
