Grayson Appealing His Suspension

Gary Grayson, the boys’ basketball coach at Westlake High for 10 years, has been suspended until the end of the season, Athletic Director Joseph Pawlick said Tuesday.

Pawlick confirmed that Grayson is appealing the decision. Grayson declined comment.

Richard Sanders, the Westlake junior varsity coach for three seasons, will take over for the remainder of the season on an interim basis.

Pawlick said Westlake will begin accepting applications for a permanent coach after the season. He said Grayson would not be excluded from the process.

According to sources close to the Westlake athletic department, Grayson’s suspension was related to an incident that took place last month in Honolulu. Westlake player Adam Mazarei missed the team’s flight to LAX a day after the Warriors won the Kona tournament title.

Mahdi Mazarei, Adam’s father, said his son returned on a later flight after he was late checking in with the team. Adam Mazarei declined comment on details of the incident, but said Grayson attempted to get him on the team’s scheduled flight.

Grayson and a union representative are scheduled to meet Friday with Jody Dunlap, assistant superintendent of personnel services for the Conejo Valley Unified School District, and Westlake Principal Ron Lipari. Dunlap said Grayson’s suspension will not be reversed.