Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
With Prime Prep Facing Closure, Deion Sanders Vows to ‘Fight’
With his embattled Prime Prep Academy facing closure by Texas state officials, Deion Sanders has vowed to “fight.”
“My former Co-Founder DL Wallace was a Crook and Heartless and we are still suffering from his Devilish ways,” Sanders, the school’s co-founder, said on Twitter. “TEA [Texas Education Agency] informed Prime Prep they would revoke the charter pending appeal for the Food Program that Wallace hustled the state out of $45,000. We will appeal immediately.
“I feel bad for this nonsense of yesterday affecting today and the potential of tomorrow for our students and NEW administration. We will fight this like we have all the other battles that we’ve faced.”
Wallace, who co-founded the school with Sanders in August 2012, resigned last November.
Fox 4 out of Dallas/Fort Worth reported Tuesday that “the State of Texas has moved to revoke the charter of Uplift Fort Worth, the parent company of Prime Prep Academy.
The move effectively shuts down the Prime Prep campuses in Fort Worth and Dallas. Prime Prep’s co-founder was NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
The state says the charter holder has failed to satisfy accepted standards of fiscal management and failed to comply with the Texas education code and its rules.
Prime Prep has until July 31 to appeal the decision to revoke the charter and can remain open during its appeal.
An NCAA source told SNY.tv, “Anyone who’s saying that he wouldn’t have qualified for sure is simply guessing. All that being said, Prime Prep does have really deep issues that extended far beyond its athletes. It’s a total mess.”
Other Prime Prep athletes have vowed to stay at the school, including 2016 small forward Terrance Ferguson, who told COBL.com: “I started here and I will finish here.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on TwitterAnd like ZAGS on Facebook
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
With his embattled Prime Prep Academy facing closure by Texas state officials, Deion Sanders has vowed to “fight.”
