Two Broward basketball coaches, including one who led Blanche Ely High’s boys team to win state championships last season, were arrested Wednesday, accused of improperly renting out school gyms and pocketing the money, authorities say.
Henry Lewis McNabb, 42, a security specialist and former coach at Blanche Ely, and Brenton Hankerson, 43, a security specialist and girls varsity coach at Coral Springs High, were arrested on charges of obtaining property by fraud and grand theft, according to arrest records.
“Both employees in question were arrested by Broward Schools Police as part of an investigation into the improper use of district facilities for personal gain,” district spokesman John Sullivan said in a statement. “The Superintendent maintains a zero-tolerance stance on public corruption, and both employees will be subject to termination.”
McNabb, also known as JR McNabb, led the Blanche Ely boys basketball team to a state championship last season, after having won three girls basketball state championships in succession from 2018-2020, with the 2018 and 2019 titles at Somerset Prep and the 2020 championship also at Blanche Ely.
He has won the Florida Dairy Farmers basketball coach of the year, an honor for the top coach in the state, multiple times, including for girls basketball in 2018 and 2020 and for boys basketball last season.
This school year, the same time the investigation was active, McNabb didn’t coach at Blanche Ely and instead coached girls’ basketball for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
The cases began on June 3, when the district’s Special Investigative Unit “received a report of possible fraudulent activities” involving the rental of the gym at Blanche Ely, according to an arrest affidavit for McNabb.
McNabb was holding a basketball tournament that was not paid for nor approved in Facilitron, a platform community members can use to rent school facilities and administrators can use to manage requests, schedules and payments, the report on his arrest states.
A complaintant, Delvin King, had booked the gym through Facilitron to hold a graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 31, the report states.
“An administrator assured complainant King that no other event was booked at the gym for that weekend and approved starting setup the night before,” the report said. But when King arrived at 9:30 a.m. on the day of his booking, he found a basketball tournament in progress, the report states.
King reported that “all folding chairs set up on the basketball court were removed and that a large graduation sign displayed on the stage was damaged,” and he called a school administrator and the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the report states.
“At this time, it appeared that the school administrator was unaware that Coach McNabb was conducting an illicit basketball tournament at the school gym,” the report said.
After sheriff’s deputies and school officials arrived, the basketball tournament was canceled, and King was allowed to rearrange the gym for his school graduation, the report said.
King told investigators that McNabb “entered into private agreements with outside basketball associations. The allegations also mentioned that Coach McNabb benefited financially from these private agreements while exposing the district to severe liability and safety concerns,” the report said.
The district’s investigation found that McNabb also held “additional illicit basketball tournaments” at Blanche Ely on June 1, May 18, April 26, and April 27, 2025, which were hosted by two sports groups, the report said.
District police learned he also held similar tournaments at Hollywood Hills High School on three dates in May, which also were hosted by one of the sports groups.
Investigators subpoenaed McNabb’s bank statements and found he had received about $5,200 in payments from events held at the two schools. The district estimates that the two schools lost $12,920 due to their inability to lease the gyms lawfully, the report said.
The district’s investigation revealed that Coral Springs High’s gym also was being rented out improperly for basketball tournaments on seven dates from April 6 to June 8, the affidavit for Hankerson states. These events were hosted by two sports groups with different names from the ones identified at Blanche Ely and Hollywood Hills.
Subpoenaed bank records showed that Hankerson received $5,950 in Zelle payments from the two groups, the report said.
District police interviewed officials with the two groups that used the Coral Springs High gym, who confirmed the payments were for the use of the gyms, investigators wrote.
Coral Springs High forfeited about $11,805 in rental fees they would have collected had the gym been properly rented out, the report said.
McNabb has been with the district since 2019 and makes $44,503, according to district records. Hankerson has been with the district since 2012 and makes $45,838. Hankerson also received about $12,500 in overtime last year, according to a district overtime report.
Staff writer Steve Svekis contributed to this report.
