HS Basketball Coach Juan Griles Reportedly Housing Players

Paterson Eastside High School has come under scrutiny because several international basketball players are currently living with the team's head coach.

According to Matthew Stanmyre and Steve Politi of NJ Advance Media, up to six players are living with coach Juan Griles, and all of them enrolled in the New Jersey school within the past two years. Three of the players hail from Puerto Rico, and three are from Nigeria.

The situation may be a violation of recruiting, transfer and coaching protocol rules, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association assistant director Larry White said, per Stanmyre and Politi, though the issue goes much deeper than that.

There is reportedly a concern about a lack of food for the players, and one student was reportedly kicked out of the condominium to make room for another. The state's Division of Child Protection and Permanency is looking into the situation.

Griles has denied wrongdoing and said he is a valued member of the community.

"I know people are jealous of our success here," Griles said, per Stanmyre and Politi. "I'm a coach, I'm a mentor to a lot of kids in the city of Paterson. If a kid is struggling at home ... if a kid wants to sleep over for a couple days before we can join him back with his family, I'll do it."

Paterson Eastside is 14-2 this season and in first place (9-0) in its conference. NJ.com ranked the Ghosts No. 17 in its latest state-wide rankings.

The question now is whether those wins are coming through legitimate means.

"It's absolutely ridiculous what's going on in this state," Linden High School head coach Phil Colicchio said, per Stanmyre and Politi. "Is winning a state championship that important to people's lives that you'd have six kids living with you?

"I don't care if you gave me LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul, they're not living with me."