Holy Family U. basketball coach resigns

PHILADELPHIA - February 24, 2011 (WPVI) -- Coach John O'Connor has apparently told his basketball team that he is stepping down.

That ends an unhappy chapter for the coach, his players and for Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia.

Hours after the coach appeared with his student player on Good Morning America, reports surfaced that Coach John O'Connor has decided to resign.

The move comes as no surprise for some.

Holy Family Basketball Coach John O'Connor appeared on Good Morning America on Thursday morning with player Matt Kravchuk accompanied by their lawyers to talk about what happened at practice on January 25th.

The coach, who has been with the team less than a year, says he was trying to teach his players what he called a combat rebounding drill.

"The drill itself is, you're supposed to try to continue to try to keep the drill going, as he goes down. I'm trying to get them to stay competitive and keep the drill going, so I just nudged him with my foot to try and keep him kind of moving," explained John O'Connor.

"Not really, I just feel like I was a coach, and I was trying to make my team more competitive," said O'Connor.

Kravchuk suffered a bloody nose, suffered an injury to his wrist but continue to go to practice for a few days before he decided he could no longer play.

Thursday morning the coach tried to apologize on Good Morning America.

"Matt, this was an accident, I was just trying to make us a better team and make us more competitive, and in doing so, an accident happened," said O'Connor.

"To be honest, it's kind of hard to accept your apology just because you claimed it's justifiable, and you claimed you weren't crossing the line. And also, I can no longer play basketball right now. I'm injured. I can't play, and I can't play for you anymore just because as your player, I'm supposed to be able to respect you, I don't feel I could do that anymore," Matt Kravchuk.

Upon hearing of the coach's resignation, Kravchuk's lawyer issued a statement.

"It's a sad conclusion for everybody, but as far as we're concerned, it has now come to an end."

The District Attorney's office reviewed the case and decided on Thursday that no criminal charges were warranted.

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philadelphia, pennsylvania, assault, holy family university, seth williams, local/state

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