As the girls basketball season started, Lincoln High School quietly dismissed Robbie Sandoval, the fourth-winningest coach in CIF San Diego Section history.

Four games into the season, the Hornets got rid of interim head coach James Townsend.

Both were let go for the same reason, Lincoln athletic director David Fai said: They were recruiting illegally. CIF rules refer to it as “pre-enrollment contact.”

The CIF then went one step further, banning this year’s Hornets from postseason play even with both coaches purged from the program. Lincoln likely would have made a deep playoff run in Division 3. The Hornets are ranked No. 6 in the Union-Tribune’s weekly girls basketball poll, which is voted on by 12 local coaches. They’ve been rolling their Central League opponents.

Banning a program after firing its coach is rare, but it’s not unprecedented.

“We have no authority to hire, fire or suspend coaches,” CIF San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz said. “We can, however, sanction athletes and schools.”

‘I got this’

Sandoval posted a 568-167 record in 23 years at Mount Miguel, climbing to fourth all-time in wins behind Terri Bamford of La Jolla Country Day, Jay Trousdale of Poway and Wade Vickery of Santana.

Sandoval’s Mount Miguel teams won 23 straight league championships, posting a record of 184-4 in league play. He coached the school to seven CIF San Diego Section championships, including the 2019 Open Division title. The Matadors played in 13 section title games under Sandoval.

The school suspended Sandoval near the end of the 2022-23 season. Three weeks later, Sandoval was told he was being let go.

Other high schools and junior colleges reached out, but Sandoval said he was going to take his time before finding a new landing spot.

Lincoln hired Sandoval in the weeks leading up to the 2023-24 season. Fai, the athletic director, said he “did my homework” before making Sandoval an offer.

Lincoln had gone 4-20 during the 2022-23 season.

“Robbie said he was going to completely rebuild the program,” Fai said. “I told him he had to walk the straight and narrow. He said ‘I got this.’”

New-look Lincoln

Sandoval’s first Lincoln team went 0-23, losing games by 55, 42, 40 and 38 points.

A completely new set of girls joined the Lincoln roster for the 2024-25 season. Included were transfers from Eastlake, Steele Canyon, Olympian, Chula Vista and Mount Miguel. Three players from Mexico joined Lincoln’s program as well.

The Hornets opened the season with wins over La Costa Canyon, Las Vegas Faith Lutheran, Las Vegas Democracy Prep Agassi Campus and Fullerton Rosary.

Townsend was then let go, and Lincoln was forced to forfeit those games because he was coaching.

Fai’s choice to replace Townsend was an interesting one. Christine Fitzgerald coached girls flag football at Lincoln and boys basketball at Mount Miguel. She is also Sandoval’s sister.

The Hornets haven’t slowed down under their new coach. They beat Coronado 79-16, Canyon Hills 74-11 and Mission Bay 83-22 in league play. Clairemont and Kearny decided to forfeit league games rather than take a beating.

Hornets ‘forced to let Robbie go’

Sandoval admits what he did.

“I did it. I’m guilty,” he said. “But let me explain.”

Sandoval said one of the girls that went on to play for him at Lincoln was a family friend who he had known for years.

“I see her all the time at family functions,” he said. “I didn’t think that was pre-enrollment contact.”

Another one of the girls played for Sandoval’s club team. The coach said he thought it was “only natural for her to come play for me.”

There’s more: Last summer, Sandoval said he drove his club players to a tournament when their ride failed to show. That’s a clear violation.

Sandoval and Townsend — known as Coach T — sat close enough to the club team that it could be interpreted as coaching. That’s another violation.

“So we were forced to let Robbie go, then let Coach T go,” Fai said. “I had asked Robbie to keep me in the loop, and he didn’t. I think Townsend was kind of an innocent victim, and I’d consider bringing him back.

“But I can’t do that with Robbie.”

‘Dont make my kids pay’

Even with no postseason to play for, the Hornets continue to roll. They beat Coronado by 63 points on Jan. 10 and Mission Bay by 61 on Jan. 21. On Monday, the team is scheduled to play Canyon Hills, a team it beat 74-11 a month ago.

Senior point guard Asia Darcuicel averages a team-high 20.1 points, 3.9 assists and 4.3 steals per game, and is viewed by many as one of the best players in the county. Junior forward Anijah Stowers averages a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game.

It’s unclear if they’ll receive postseason accolades, or how many games Lincoln may play the rest of the season. Rival league coaches have considered forfeiting their remaining games against the Hornets. Others are weighing whether they should vote for Lincoln players at their all-league meeting.

All-CIF teams are generally based on all-league teams.

Fitzgerald says the potential forfeits and snubs amount to more punishment for a program that has already lost two coaches and its postseason eligibility.

“The first blow was that we were banned from the playoffs. No playoffs, no state championship. There were a lot of tears,” she said. “Then this other stuff came up. It has been hard to motivate the girls. If teams forfeit, my girls don’t get a Senior Night.

“It’s not fair, but it has drawn us closer. The girls aren’t being allowed to play a full schedule. But they’ve dealt with all this with grace.”

Sandoval, for his part, believes his former team is being treated unfairly.

“Do what you want to me. Fire me. Ban me,” he said. “I offered to step down. Don’t make my kids pay for my mistakes.”