UIL suspends former North Shore assistant football coach for violating recruiting rules

AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- At a hearing Wednesday morning, the University Interscholastic League executive committee suspended former North Shore football assistant coach Andrew Cameron from all UIL activities for three years.

Cameron resigned from his position on the North Shore coaching staff after school officials were made aware that he had attempted to recruit two players, one from Dekaney High and one from Cy Falls High, to play at North Shore.

The video above is from a previous report.

Cameron accepted responsibility for his actions and told the committee he acted alone.

"I accept full responsibility that my mistake has made and I sincerely apologize to Galena Park North Shore. All they did was trust me to be a leader in their program, and I failed them," he said.

Cameron was asked directly in the hearing if he was admitting to the fact that he contacted players to try to recruit them to North Shore.

He answered, "Yes, sir."

Cameron appeared to choke back his emotions as he told the committee he grew up in a family of educators, saying, "They taught me better than this."

UIL executive committee chair Mike Motheral called Cameron's recruiting of players from other schools "a massive violation in our state." Various members of the committee also thanked Cameron for his honesty and willingness to accept responsibility for his actions before they handed out the three-year ban.

Committee members also praised the work from Galena Park ISD and North Shore leadership to thoroughly investigate the accusations that led to Wednesday's hearing, calling their process "the precedent" for what they will expect from schools in the future.

North Shore leaders reported that they tracked every player in their football program from junior high school forward to determine how they ended up suiting up for North Shore. That investigation found no other incidents of players recruited to the program.

Despite that, the UIL also held North Shore head coach Willie Gaston accountable for what happened inside his program. Gaston will be suspended for the first two district games this fall. The committee stressed that Coach Cameron "acted independently" and no one else in the North Shore program was involved in the rules violations.

North Shore is considered one of the most successful football programs in the Houston area. The Mustangs reached the state championship last year but lost.

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