West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (right) has withdrawn his name to consider a position as a boys’ basketball coach at a local high school – but he’s not going quietly.

The Greenbrier County School Board on Monday rejected a motion to hire Justice to coach the boys at Greenbrier East High School, located in Lewisburg, WV, about two hours southeast of Charleston, the largest city in the ‘State. News organizations reported that the board voted 3-2 to reject a recommendation from county schools superintendent Jeff Bryant to take justice.

In a letter submitted to the board on Tuesday and published by Metro News, Justice wrote: “Does the hatred of these board members hurt? Yes of course. In the letter, Justice said he had received “hundreds of calls from people totally in disbelief and sorry for the Council’s despicable action.”

Justice, who is 70 and was easily re-elected for another 4-year term in 2020, already coaches the women’s basketball team. There has been success – a 74.1% winning percentage, as he points out in the letter, and a state championship in 2012 – despite his state failing to win the vaccination rate. In fact, with just 40.2% of residents vaccinated, West Virginia is in last place according to the Mayo Clinic, which tracks vaccination rates.

Several residents told the New York Times and the Washington Post that they did not understand how the governor was not too busy to coach not one, but two high school basketball teams given the demands of his elected office. , especially during a global pandemic that has killed more than 660,000 Americans.

“I’m a little offended that he thinks the governor’s office doesn’t deserve a full-time governor,” Brentz Thompson, a longtime Lewisburg resident, told the Washington Post.

“Anyone would feel some level of vacuum,” Justice said of the ruling in a video shared by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. “There is no doubt that this is the worst of the worst from a children’s perspective.”

Justice said in 26 years he never removed a student who tried or caused a player to become academically ineligible.

This is far from the first time that Justice has made the news for potential conflicts of interest. The state’s richest resident, Justice is a billionaire who owns coal mines, a casino, and a resort that employs the superintendent who backed his candidacy for the boys’ basketball coach.

The justice closed its letter by writing: “I refuse to spend my time fighting HATE”, then closed with a series of acclamations.

“My children in principle gain values!

“My kids are winning in the classroom academics!

“My children are winning in life after basketball!

“And my teams from the East are winning on the ground! (496-173 74.1%).

Contribution: The Associated Press