Prep Coach Suspended; Denies Hitting Player

Louie Nelson, basketball coach at Compton High School, has denied that he knocked one of his players unconscious in a locker room scuffle after a game at the school last Friday night.

But Nelson, 36, who played with five National Basketball Assn. teams during the 1970s, has been suspended by the Compton Unified School District, pending an investigation.

A criminal complaint of assault was filed against the coach earlier this week. A Compton Police detective declined to comment beyond confirming that the case is being investigated.

“I did not hit the kid,” Nelson said Thursday. “He came toward me.”

The player is John Ruffin, a senior reserve, who did not play in the game, an 80-72 loss to Lakewood High.

Ruffin’s attorney, Clifton Albright of Beverly Hills, said he would meet with school district officials before determining if a civil legal action should be filed.

School officials declined to comment.

“After the game, the coach was cursing at the players and verbally abusing them for losing,” Albright said. “(John Ruffin) told an assistant coach that he was going to quit because he never gets a chance to play. The assistant coach told Nelson.

“The coach (Nelson) said, ‘Fine, I was going to take your uniform anyway because you’re no good and you’re never going to be any good.’ ”

Albright said that Ruffin then threw his uniform on the locker room floor and refused Nelson’s request to sit down.

“(Ruffin) attempted to pass the coach, and the coach straight-armed him, pushing him in the neck,” Albright said.

The attorney said Nelson then threatened Ruffin, rolled up his sleeves and assumed a fighting stance.

“He tried to leave, and the coach hit him in the face with his fist and knocked him unconscious for 3 to 5 minutes,” Albright said. “Delbert Wright (assistant coach) and some of the players grabbed the coach and held him.”

Albright said that Ruffin suffered bruises on his face and that he has a knot on the back of his head from falling on the floor.

The Times was unable to reach the other players or the assistant coach for comment.

Nelson, who is in his first season at Compton after spending 5 years as an assistant coach at Cal State Los Angeles, confirmed that Ruffin threw down his uniform. But the coach said he did not straight-arm Ruffin or hit him in the face.

“That’s not true,” Nelson said. “I didn’t cuss the players out and I did not roll my sleeves up . . . I had a jacket on. Delbert Wright and my players did not have to restrain me.”

Nelson claims that Ruffin came toward him.

“I didn’t know what he was going to do,” Nelson said. “He was cussing and hollering, and I was trying to calm him down.”

Nelson said Ruffin has played in only a couple of games this season and that he had kept him on the team only at the request of Principal Charles Watkins.

“I explained (to Watkins) that he wouldn’t play unless he improved his skills,” Nelson said.

“What this is about is jealousy. He (Ruffin) was jealous of the other players, thinking he’s better. Players have to learn they just can’t have their way. When kids think they’re better than they are, you’re going to have problems. It’s a coach’s prerogative to choose the players, and it’s up to the student-athlete to prove that he deserves to play or start.”

Nelson, who also teaches algebra, said he has tried to help Ruffin with personal problems.

“He wanted to quit school last summer, and I talked him into staying,” Nelson said. “He got suspended from a class last week. I helped him get back in after I found him sleeping in the gym.”

Nelson said Ruffin tried to pick a fight with Terrance Adams, the team’s leading scorer, before last Friday night’s game. Adams could not be reached for comment.

Of Ruffin, Nelson said, “He’s basically a nice kid, but he doesn’t take authority.”

Nelson, who starred on two Compton state championship teams in the late ‘60s and later was the backcourt partner of Pete Maravich on the New Orleans Jazz, has tried to turn around a losing program.

Compton was 11-4 2 weeks ago but is now 12-8 and in last place in the Moore League. Wright filled in for Nelson Tuesday night when Compton lost to Long Beach Wilson, 69-63.

During a recent loss, Nelson slammed a clipboard to the floor during halftime and screamed at his players that they didn’t want to win badly enough.

He has admitted to being emotional and volatile. “Sometimes I do things without thinking,” he told The Times earlier this month. “There’s only two ways I can be, real nice or real mean. If we’re not winning, I’m mean.”