Jason Frakes, Louisville Courier JournalWed, December 3, 2025 at 8:09 PM UTC·2 min readAfter an eight-day suspension, Chris Gaither has been reinstated as the Collins High School boys basketball coach and led the Titans to a 61-58 victory over LaRue County in the Dec. 2 season opener.
Josh Rhodes, spokesperson for Shelby County Public Schools, confirmed Gaither was reinstated as a coach and teacher at Collins on Nov. 25.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Any time we have an accusation brought to the district, districts are going to take that very seriously,” Rhodes said. “Our responsibility is to protect the safety and due process of all of the individuals involved. We did an internal review in collaboration with our board attorneys, and we did reinstate Coach Gaither at Collins. …
“If we have additional details that come forward in any type of situation, we’ll obviously look at that new information.”
Mark Dean, Gaither’s lawyer, said his client was suspended with pay on Nov. 17.
Asked Dec. 3 if Gaither’s suspension was related to allegations involving a defamation lawsuit the coach filed during the summer in Shelby Circuit Court against the parents of two high school basketball players, Dean responded, “Yes.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA hearing in that case is set for Friday.
“It’s just interesting that all of this happened when it happened,” Dean said.
Rhodes said there have been no new allegations against Gaither since Nov. 25.
Gaither is in his 15th season as Collins’ head coach, and Tuesday’s victory gave him a career record of 295-149. He led the Titans to the Sweet 16 in 2015, 2017 and 2020.
Gaither was an assistant coach under Curtis Turley when Collins opened in 2010 and was named head coach in the program's second season.
“It’s not old times by any means,” Gaither said of his return to the sideline.
“With everything that’s been thrown at you, there’s a lot of hurt for your family. There’s a lot of anxiety built up from it," he told The Courier Journal on Dec. 3. "I will say that we’ve had an army of supporters surrounding us in our community. Those things help you heal and help you go through the next day.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJason Frakes: 502-582-4046; [email protected]; Follow on X @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Chris Gaither, Collins High School boys basketball coach, reinstated
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