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Vandebilt Catholic High School has fired its boys’ basketball coach.
As a residual effect, they also lost their starting quarterback – a tough blow because he’s one of the top players in the state for the recruiting class of 2019.
The school sent out a press release early last week announcing that Jeremy Ezell was the Terriers’ new boys’ basketball coach, which meant the end of the tenure of coach Drew Robison, who had worked with the team the past three seasons.
Robison confirmed the move to The Times last week, saying that his contract was not renewed by the school and that he was seeking employment elsewhere for next year.
At the time of the phone call, Robison asked The Times to not run a breaking news story about his dismissal because his son, Terriers quarterback Andrew Robison, was taking final exams that week at Vandebilt and the dad didn’t want his son’s exams to be disrupted.
Later in the week, the news developed even deeper when the family announced that the younger Robison would be enrolling at Hahnville for the 2018 football season – a significant blow to the Terriers’ chances in 2018.
Robison is one of the top quarterbacks in Louisiana for the 2019 recruiting class. He was a two-year starter for the Terriers and was among the area’s leader in all major passing stats, while also leading the team to postseason play both years. He’s being recruiting heavily by several colleges – some local and others not in the area.
Robison will be eligible to play right away with Hahnville because of a hardship waiver dealing with his father no longer being employed in the Houma area.
He will join a Class 5A district which houses several local teams, including Central Lafourche, Thibodaux, Terrebonne and H.L. Bourgeois.
Attempts to reach Drew Robison after initial contact were not successful over the weekend, but a source close to Vandebilt athletics confirmed the move.
There is no word on who will replace Robison as Vandebilt’s offensive coordinator at press-time. The Terriers also lost longtime assistant coach Mike Walker this offseason. He became the head coach at Berwick.
EZELL SET TO TAKE OVER BASKETBALL TEAM
In Robison’s absence, Vandebilt will have a new face running its boys’ basketball program – a team which has struggled in the past few seasons.
Ezell will seek to fix that, landing in the job after time with the girls’ basketball program.
The Terriers were once a state power in the not too distant past – the days when Lionheart Leslie and Elijah McGuire roamed the halls of the school.
But under Robison, Vandebilt struggled mightily, winning just nine games combined in the past two years. In each of the past two seasons, the Terriers struggled, in part, because of injuries to Andrew Robison, who missed significant time both years, but was a standout player.
Ezell is a 2006 graduate of Vandebilt. As a student of the school, he played basketball for three seasons. After graduating from Morehouse College, he returned to Vandebilt as a chemistry teacher, while also getting back into the fold athletically as an assistant girls’ basketball coach, while also working with the track and field teams.
Ezell said he is eager to try and lead the Terriers into the future.
Vandebilt had several underclassmen playing in key positions last year, which should bode well for the 2018-19 team and beyond.
In the release, Ezell is listed as the interim coach, so it is not known if the Terriers will actively try and find a full-time coach before the season. Ezell’s quote reads as though he is planning to run the program next year.
“It is about building a brotherhood with one another,” Ezell said. “Where faith building and developing chemistry will translate to successes on and off the court. I am extremely humbled to be selected as the new coach.”
TERRIERS ALSO NAME NEW SOFTBALL COACH
While Ezell is set to take over the boys’ basketball program, the Lady Terriers are also welcoming a new softball coach into the fold, as well.
In the same news release which announced Ezell, the school also announced that Vandebilt alum Danielle Price will now be the school’s softball coach.
Price, a member of the graduating class of 1992 was a multi-year letter winner for the Lady Terriers and a member of two State Championship softball teams as a player.
Since graduating from Louisiana College, Price has coached all around the state, including South Terrebonne, Vandebilt and St. Thomas More.
With the Gators, Price was the head softball and basketball coach. She was named district and regional coach of the year three times. With the Lady Terriers, she was the head volleyball coach and assistant softball coach under legendary coach Margaret Johnson.
She was also an assistant softball coach at St. Thomas More.
With Vandebilt, Price’s job will be to restore Vandebilt to its rich, winning history – a tradition which has been lost since Johnson retired.
The Lady Terriers used to compete to win State Championships just about every season under Johnson.
Since her retirement, the Lady Terriers have sunken and the past few seasons, they’ve been nowhere near the title picture.
Price said she can’t wait to get started at Vandebilt, adding that she plans to hit the ground running as the team’s new coach. She said she wants to embrace Vandebilt’s winning history, planning to get more alumni involvement during her tenure with the team.
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