Originally published Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 12:00 AM

High schools | Cleveland High basketball coach quits

Coaches at Cleveland High School have been told they must reapply to keep their jobs, and boys basketball coach Calvin Johnson says he won't...

By Craig Smith

Seattle Times staff reporter

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Coaches at Cleveland High School have been told they must reapply to keep their jobs, and boys basketball coach Calvin Johnson says he won't do it "because it's a slap in the face."

Johnson, 57, has been the head coach at Cleveland for 30 seasons and is the dean of Metro League coaches. He was voted Metro League coach of the year by fellow coaches this past season.

Johnson said he got the news that all coaching jobs were being opened "in a two-line e-mail." He said the new Cleveland administration that takes over in the fall is apparently behind the move. The new principal will be Princess Shareef, currently principal at Meany Middle School.

"I still don't have an explanation," Johnson said. "This is just cold. ... It's frustrating to have put in all the time and not be given an explanation."

Johnson said he wanted to coach one more season because he has eight juniors returning next year.

A Cleveland employee left a telephone message to The Times on Friday saying the school has head-coaching openings in boys and girls basketball and girls soccer.

Johnson, who teaches physical education at Cleveland, guided the Eagles to eight state-tournament appearances, including a second-place finish in 1979 in the AA (now 3A) classification.

The Eagles were 15-9 this past season, finished second to Rainier Beach in the Metro League Sound Division and won two games in the Sea-King District tournament before being eliminated.

The Cleveland girls basketball team, under second-year coach Tony Trahan, was 9-11, an improvement from his first season of 4-15. Trahan said, "I thought I did a pretty good job" and said he intends to apply to keep his job.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com

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