A legendary Columbia High School basketball coach lost his job after a parent shared video showing him hitting players with his shoe during a team trip.
📱 What’s Happening: DeKalb County Schools fired Dr. Phillip McCrary on Monday after reviewing footage from a November team trip to the Bahamas.
• The video shows McCrary telling a player to lower his pants before hitting him multiple times with a shoe.
• A second player was also struck, according to the parent who shared the footage.
• The player was struck for sneaking a girl into his room, according to the video.
🎯 Between the Lines: The parent who came forward no longer has a child at the school and asked to remain anonymous out of fear.
• Her son witnessed the incident and suffered mental health effects afterward
• She only felt safe speaking up after her child transferred away from Columbia High
🏀 Why It Matters: Parents trust coaches to mentor their children safely. When that trust breaks down, it affects entire school communities and raises questions about supervision during school trips.
🏆 The Big Picture: McCrary built a legendary career at Columbia High, winning hundreds of games and earning the honor of having the school gym named after him.
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Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
