Nearly a year after Juan Diego Catholic High School was first asked by the Utah High School Activities Association to address allegations of undue influence surrounding international student athletes, school officials agreed to a settlement that admits some of the allegations, imposes sanctions and requires proof of institutional changes.
The compromise, proposed by Juan Diego, concludes a hearing that began Sept. 3 and 4 with testimony, often contentious, from school officials, parents and a former assistant coach, but eliminates the need for the third, which was scheduled for Monday, Sept. 22.
The association released the details of the settlement late Friday afternoon in an email.
In the agreement, Drew Trost, the head basketball coach and assistant principal overseeing admissions, “will admit that he exerted undue influence in the course of admitting Derrelle Desire as an international student at Juan Diego Catholic High School.”
Desire attended the school during the 2022-23 school year and then transferred to Corner Canyon, where he played his senior season. It was this transfer hearing that first alerted Association staff and members to the allegations that club coaches and others were bringing international students to private high schools to play sports. KSL.com’s first story on this issue ran a couple of months after that hearing, and prompted a wider investigation into whether the association should allow students attending high schools on F1 visas to play varsity sports.
The association passed a rule restricting how F1 visa holders can compete in high school athletics, and that is currently being litigated by a student from Juan Diego and St. Joseph’s Catholic High School. Another private school that was investigated — Layton Christian Academy — chose to go independent in several sports, including boys basketball, rather than restrict the participation of international athletes.
Coach Drew Trost’s punishment for violating the state’s undue influence rules in recruiting Derelle Desire is that he’ll have to miss four games during the 2025-2026 school year.
In the agreement, the school also admits failures when it comes to these students, all of whom are attending the school on F1 visas.
“Juan Diego Catholic High School will admit that it lacked institutional control over the admission process for international students,” the agreement said.
The settlement was proposed by Trost and school officials through their attorneys, but the hearing panel, chaired by Bingham High principal Rodney Shaw, had to approve the deal because the association’s rules require that once a hearing has been convened.
The panel approved the penalties and promised changes offered by Juan Diego, with some minor adjustments.
In addition to Trost missing four games, the panel fined the school $1500 for the ‘lack of institutional control’ violation. The panel also imposed a 2-year “institutional probation on Juan Diego High School.”
Any violations of association bylaws will constitute a violation of probation, which may be subject to additional sanctions being imposed.
A number of parents were scheduled to testify on Monday, and they expressed shock, disappointment and fear that coming forward would cost their children opportunities.
“We risked retaliation for the community we love and to tell the truth,” said one parent who requested anonymity. “We’re baffled that the UHSAA doesn’t even want to know all the facts before making a decision. This wasn’t just a single student or a single case.”
Another parent questioned why the school fought the allegations for so long, did nothing about the problem and then just settled the case.
“As part of the community of parents who pay tuition at Juan Diego,” the father said, “we are left wondering how the money wasted on attorneys’ fees could have been used to help our students and community.”
Other aspects of the agreement are as follows — and this wording is from Juan Diego’s proposal or the association’s announcement:
Juan Diego will sever all connections to Ballers to Ballers Heaven, Roger Payne and Bryce Payne, and all connections to Utah Basketball Academy and Jorge Perez. The school said it has and will again send Ballers Heaven and Utah Basketball Academy cease and desist letters reiterating that Ballers Heaven and Utah Basketball Academy has falsely claimed a partnership with Juan Diego and will demand that Ballers Heaven and Utah Basketball Academy cease using Juan Diego’s name and logo on their websites.
Juan Diego has already started and will ensure that all international student inquiries and applications are immediately referred to and handled by Juan Diego’s international admission director (currently Ken Hoshino). The school agrees not to have an athletic coach serve in the role of international admissions director.
Drew Trost will no longer serve on Juan Diego’s tuition assistance committee. This committee reviews tuition assistance applications for all domestic and international students.
Juan Diego will immediately implement a new policy that prohibits any athletic coach from being involved in admission decisions for any athlete that plays their sport, i.e., Drew Trost will be walled off from any admissions decisions for any student applicant, domestic or international, that expresses an interest in basketball.
While giving a tour of the school to prospective students and/or their parents/families, Drew Trost will refer all questions regarding the basketball program to the school’s athletic director.
The panel accepted Juan Diego’s remedies, but asked for written proof of them in their announcement of the settlement, including the following: