SARASOTA – The Florida High School Athletic Association has suspended Booker High School football coach and athletic director Scottie Littles for six games and fined him $5,000 following an investigation for violating its improper contact and impermissible benefits policy.
The six contests include the Tornadoes’ spring game and will include their fall classic. Booker High also suspended Littles for two games, but that penalty will run concurrently with the FHSAA’s. The school additionally placed Littles on a one-year probationary program, which will include his removal as head coach if he’s found to violate FHSAA policies again, and he lost his salary from a ninth-grade summer enrichment program.
Littles said he would appeal the decision. The penalty will not affect Booker’s ability to play and qualify for state playoffs. Last season, Littles led the Tornadoes to their first regional title since 2005 before they lost in the Class 2S state semifinal 41-3 to Cocoa.
“We’re optimistic about our appeals process,” said Littles, a former Booker High assistant hired in 2022 to replace Baraka Atkins as head coach. “We appreciate the FHSAA and their due diligence. We want to uphold the FHSAA standards as best we can and continue to follow the rules and build a program people are proud of. No sanction levied by the FHSAA is going to harm our team or our players. At the end of the day, we respect the FHSAA and their rules and procedures.”
“Of course, we’re going to follow sanctions from the FHSAA,” said Sarasota County athletic director James Slaton, “but right now, Booker High School has put in for an appeal and we’re going to wait until that process plays out. And that appeal process will be next month.”
The investigation conducted by a Sarasota County Schools investigator and self-reported to the FHSAA involved Littles’ contact with a Sarasota Riverview player and his mother.
The FHSAA improper contact guidelines read: “No school employee, athletic department staff member, representative of the school’s athletic interests or third parties, such as an independent person, business or organization, may make contact, either in person or through any form of written or electronic communication or through any third party, with a student, or any member of the student’s family, in an effort to pressure, urge or entice the student to attend a different school for the purpose of participating in interscholastic athletics.”
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At a track meet on Feb. 27 at Booker High, according to the report, Littles approached the mother, saying he wanted to meet her. According to the mother, Littles told her that her son “would look good in purple and gold” and she told him “no.” And she explained she and her whole family were graduated from the same school her son attended.
In the report, the mother said she “vaguely admitted” she had been to Booker High and that she had had contact with Littles about their interest in the school. She also said Littles originally had contacted the player’s father. When asked if her son had met directly with Littles, according to the report, she advised she “wants to say ‘yes’.’’
In a video shot by security cameras and submitted to the FHSAA as evidence, the player and his mother can be seen arriving on March 11 in the Booker High parking lot. The player told the investigator he was there to work out with a friend, who never showed up. About 20 minutes later, Littles arrived. The player, his mother and Littles started talking in the parking lot. The player said he’s known Littles since eighth grade and Littles asked him “about colleges, college recruitment offers, how much he was benching, and other things like that to make sure he was on track.”
The three eventually walked to Littles’ office in the school, where they remained from 12:18 p.m. to 1:41 p.m. according to the video time stamp.
When asked why his mother stayed, the player said, “he thinks his mom was going to leave until Littles started having a conversation with him. He advised his mom is his rep, so he decided to stay.”
Riverview football coach Joshua Smithers heard rumors the player may be transferring to Booker and received a Snapchat of the player at Booker High. He reached out to the player’s mother and they both agreed they did not want the player leaving Riverview. Smithers told the investigator he showed the player’s mother “the picture and some text messages and she told him she did not know he met with Scottie Littles.”
Smithers did meet with the player but he didn’t say much and they spoke about “the pros and cons of leaving,” according to the report.
The investigator did show Smithers a screenshot of the surveillance video from Booker High and he confirmed the woman in the video was the player’s mother.
In a text conversation between the player and an unidentified person, the player was asked if he had met with Littles. He replied that he had and was considering transferring to Booker.
Unidentified person: “Noooo, ya flagging. If he ain’t talking about handing (cash symbol) out to you.”
Player: “Nah.”
Unidentified person: “Bruh, don’t go there, you not thinking with your brain. You went to his office, or y’all talk over the phone?”
Player: “His office.”
In a text exchange between Littles and the mother on March 5, Littles asked her when is a good time to call.
Mother: “Who is this?”
Littles: “Littles.”
Mother: “Hey, if this is about football, my son will remain at (school redacted).”
Littles: “My apologies. I text the wrong number. I got a new phone, I was trying to reach (name redacted). I understand completely.”
During his suspension, Littles can lead daily Booker workouts. But he won’t be allowed on the Friday night sideline.
“My coaching staff is more than equipped to handle it and coach our team and put our kids in the best position to be successful,” he said.
Earlier this year, Southeast High School filed a complaint with the FHSAA against Booker. The school alleged Littles was months late sending its EL6 player transfer forms. A total of six Seminole players transferred to Booker. But Southeast athletic director Matt Kitchie was told by the FHSAA that no penalty exists for tardy player transfer forms.
“We as athletic administrators are held to a higher standard,” Kitchie said. “Our schools, and more importantly, our student-athletes expect us to always do right.”
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