Prep School CEO Goes on Profanity-Laced Tirade, Threatens Basketball Player

    Mike Woodbury, the owner of a Florida private school Nation Christian Academy, admitted to a profanity-laced tirade in which he threatened to send one of

    Mike Woodbury, the owner of a Florida private school Nation Christian Academy, admitted to a profanity-laced tirade in which he threatened to send one of his players, Marvens Petion, back home to Haiti, and also called himself the “dirtiest, baddest motherf—– in this program.”

    “Just get out of my face,” Woodbury said at the start of the more than three-minute audio clip that was posted on YouTube. “Take your broke asses – I’ll say it again – your broke asses back to the garage. I don’t want to hear from you. The bottom line … get the f— out. Just walk the f— out. I don’t give a shit. I control transcripts. I control where you go next. It could be back to Haiti, motherf—–. That’s how easy it is for me.”

    “Now I control everything,” he later said in the audio. “I just want you to really know that. I’m going to f— you in your ass next time you’re out of line. I’m going to take everything from you. I’m going to end everything you’ve ever had.”

    “I did that,” Woodbury told Stadium early Wednesday morning. “I own that 100 percent.”

    Woodbury told Stadium that the conversation lasted about 20 minutes. This was three minutes of it.

    “No. F—, no,” Woodbury said when asked by Stadium if he had any regrets about the interaction. “Yes and no. I regret the fact I tried to be a father figure. It hurts my heart.”

    Woodbury, who said he is the CEO and owns Nation Christian Academy, told Stadium on Wednesday morning that he was frustrated with a series of ongoing events involving Petion, who had been in his second season playing at the school.

    Woodbury made several accusations to Stadium regarding Petion, including finding alcohol in the player’s room, incidents of theft and alleged attempts to extort school leadership. Woodbury said the final straw was Petion skipping school.

    When reached Wednesday morning, Petion – who came over from Haiti when he was 15 and was one of a half-dozen or so players who stayed at Woodbury’s house – denied all of those allegations. Petion told Stadium he didn’t have any alcohol, didn’t steal, has missed just one day of school this year and wasn’t trying to extort anyone.

    Petion said he and a teammate found a damaging conversation between Woodbury and another woman that prompted him to go to head of school Liz Bell and ask for his release to transfer elsewhere.

    “I’ve already had two schools close down on me,” said Petion, who previously attended a pair of prep schools in Kansas. “I was afraid this one would be shut down also, so I wanted to get out of there.”

    Petion told Stadium that he left the school two days after the taped conversation – which took place about two weeks ago – and is now enrolled at West Oaks Academy, which is also located in Florida.

    Petion received his transcripts on Tuesday and was shocked to discover that he had a 1.4 grade point average.

    “He changed everything,” Petion said. “He changed what I did.”

    Woodbury denied changing the transcript, and said he doesn’t have administrative capabilities. Bell told Stadium there was an “error in calculation,” and Petion had a B average in his time at Nation Christian Academy.

    Petion said he is being recruited by McNeese State, Louisiana Tech and other primarily mid-major schools.

    “That’s not the first time he threatened to send me back to Haiti,” Petion said. “He did that in a game when I wasn’t playing well. He told me he was going to cancel my visa in the middle of the game. What kind of person does that?”

    “He never put his hands on me, but he said some crazy stuff to me and my teammates,” he added.

    Multiple players who were coached by Woodbury in Maine reached out to Stadium and said they witnessed verbal abuse by him to both them, other players and even parents.

    In a statement obtained by the Sunshine Independent Athletic Association, a private school league within the state of Florida, the SIAA told Stadium that it was parting ways with Nation Christian Academy.

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