New St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ basketball coach Austin Whitehurst suspended for recruiting violation by NJSIAA

When the NJSIAA altered its transfer policy a couple of years ago – most notably eliminating its residency requirement – it added the stipulation that schools are permitted to “recruit” student-athletes before they enter ninth grade, but emphasized all the ways that practice is illegal once they’re enrolled in high school.

And the NJSIAA also promised to crack down more on such illegal recruiting.

Apparently, the state’s high school athletic association is working to make good on that promise.

New St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ basketball coach Austin Whitehurst – who took over the program in the spring after Bob Turco left to become the head coach at Piscataway – has run afoul of those rules before even coaching a single game, and been disciplined by the NJSIAA.

NJSIAA Spokesman Mike Cherenson confirmed that news to Central Jersey Sports Radio in an email Tuesday, saying “NJSIAA’s Controversies Committee did hold a hearing and found that the coach had violated the Association’s rules against recruiting.  Penalties have been issued against the coach and the school.  NJSIAA will not provide any further comments on this matter.”

Sources familiar with the matter say Whitehurst was suspended for the first eight games of the 2025 season. The school was issued a fine, and Whitehurst also will have to attend education sessions and/or a workshop.

The suspension means Whitehead’s first game on the sidelines would be a non-conference home game on Saturday, January 11th against Cliffside Park, per the St. Thomas Aquinas basketball schedule posted on greatermiddlesexconference.org.

Reached late Tuesday afternoon, Aquinas Athletic Director Jerry Smith told Central Jersey Sports Radio that another school in the Greater Middlesex Conference had discovered that Whitehurst directly contacted one of its student-athletes, which is not allowed under NJSIAA rules.

Central Jersey Sports Radio is not naming the school or the player involved, in order to protect the player’s privacy.

The violation is considered a Level 3 offense, according to the NJSIAA’s Policies and Procedures for the 2024-25 school year. A Level 3 offense is “Direct recruiting contact/communication with a 9-12 grade student-athlete, or their family, from another high school by a district approved person including, but not limited to: paid coaches, volunteer coaches, students at the behest of their coach, or any district employee.”

The maximum penalties allowable for such a violation are as follows, per NJSIAA policy:

• Violating program is ineligible to compete in NJSIAA Championship Tournament for one year or removed from tournament if in progress.
• Vacating previously earned championships due to this recruiting violation.
• Head coach of program, if not directly involved, will be suspended for ⅓ of the season’s maximum contests for that sport (scheduled contests if sport has no max.)
• Any coach involved will be suspended in all sports for 1 year.
• AD, head coach and all other coaches involved will take NFHS Course and attend appropriate NJSIAA workshop at own or district expense.
• School (all sports) placed on probation for 1 year for 1st violation; 2 years if a repeat level 2 violation.
• School will be fined ½ of the maximum amount allowed in Article 10, Section 2.

Whitehurst – an assistant the past four seasons under Turco, and previously a fixture on the AAU circuit – was hired back in late April. Turco won three straight GMC Tournament titles in six years at St. Thomas Aquinas, going 123-34.

Several of Whitehurst’s AAU players were on Turco’s 2021-22 team, which went 27-2 with only one loss to a New Jersey opponent, to eventual Non-Public South A champion Rutgers Prep.

Smith said he understood the situation, saying “It is what it is. You accept the penalty,” adding saying he had no animosity toward the reporting school, and acknowledging that the reporting school’s administrators did the right thing in supporting their own coaches. That’s something Smith has been well-known for in his long career as an athletic director.

But he also offered some advice for his fellow athletic directors, since the connections between high school sports and AAU programs often tend to blur the lines in terms of contact with players from other schools.

“Watch when you hire coaches that belong to soccer clubs or AAU,” Smith said, urging that they do their due diligence. “If you hire any of those coaches who have access to many kids, you’re putting yourself at risk for a penalty.”