Basha High School parting with Jim Schilling as its baseball coach

A memo was sent to Chandler Basha High School parents late Thursday afternoon, stating that Jim Schilling will not return as the school's baseball coach.

Schilling was under investigation by the Chandler Unified School District since early April over undisclosed reasons and never returned to the team.

The district and school administrators would not comment on the reason why Schilling wasn't allowed to coach his team, which ended up reaching the 6A state semifinals, before losing to Queen Creek on a grand slam. Assistant coach Eric Albright filled in as interim head coach the last month-and-a-half of the season.

Basha Athletic Director Eric Magnana confirmed in a text message to The Arizona Republic that Schilling would no longer be the coach. But he did not elaborate.

Jared Harrison, whose son played this season at Basha, shared the notice he received that was addressed to Basha Baseball Families.

"This message is to communicate that Basha Baseball Coach, Jim Schilling, will not be returning as the Head Varsity Baseball Coach for the 2023-204 Baseball season. Coach Schilling has served as the Head Varsity Baseball Coach of our program since 2010. We will now begin a search for our new Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Basha High School. Coach Eric Albright will continue acting as the interim head baseball coach until further notice. We will keep you updated with the process of the hiring of our next had varsity baseball coach."

It was signed, "Basha High School."

Schilling, who continued teaching at Basha while under investigation, was not able to speak publicly during the investigation.

In a text message to The Republic on Thursday evening, Schilling said, "Utlimately this stems from a group of parents whose kids weren't playing due to performance or lack of hustle."

"I'm so thankful for the opportunity to impact so many players' lives in a positive way over the past 25 years," he added.

Jared Harrison, whose son Dallin was among a close, senior-loaded team, praised the job Schilling did building the program for 13 years. He said that nine of the seniors were part of the Chandler Grizzlies youth team when they were 12.

"You always want to go out on your own terms," Harrison said. "To have this season ripped away from you, and basically held hostage for two-and-a-half months and have it end like this, I feel bad.

"He changed a lot of lives. He impacted a lot of lives for the better. Coaches aren't perfect. There are always going to be the critics. But, in general, I've known this man for six, seven-plus years now, and he put his heart and soul into that program. Thirteen years. He put those kids first. There are going to be critics. But that man loved coaching and he loved coaching Basha High School baseball players."

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