Bonita Head Basketball Coach Resigns After Halftime Incident

LA VERNE – Bonita Head coach Greg Eckler resigns abruptly last Friday as a result of wrestling incident during the halftime of last week’s Bonita / Diamond Bar game where one of the players received a cut on his head.  Bonita went on to lose that game 43-40, as well as the subsequent game to Rowland, 49-41.

The injury was not severe, according to Bonita Unified assistant superintendent Curtis Frick, and the player returned in the second half to finish the game.

“Its unfortunate that this happened,” Frick said.

Eckler stepped down from his position after being confronted by administration when parents complained about what allegedly happened the following day.

“For personal reasons, coach Greg Eckler has chosen to resign his coaching position at Bonita High School,” Bonita athletic director Eric Podley said in a statement released by the school. “We would like to thank coach Eckler for his 12 years of coaching at Bonita High School. We appreciate his dedication and leadership of the program. He has helped to make Bonita basketball one of the premier programs in the Valley. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

He coached at Bonita for 12 years, and in the process winning the league title in six of the last eight years, including three in a row the past three years.   His team also had a 28 game league winning streak which was broken last year as a result of a 50-41 loss to Diamond Ranch.

Eckler will continue to teach at the school, Frick said.

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