2939 Bell Avenue (door on the left) in St. Louis is where former Vashon coach Floyd Irons rented an apartment for two players he recruited to Vashon. (Erik M. Lunsford/P-D)

ST. LOUIS — One of Missouri's most successful high school basketball coaches has admitted that, for more than four years, he rented an apartment for two Illinois teens, bought them food and clothing, and even had a housekeeper cook and clean for them.

In total, former coach Floyd Irons spent more than $25,000 to put up star players Johnny and Bobby Hill at an apartment down the street from Vashon High School, according to the transcript of an interview between Irons and the state athletic association.

In return, the teens played for Irons' storied basketball team.

It is the first public acknowledgment that Irons recruited players against state rules.

The Hills, from Alton, were key members of Irons' teams. They earned district, All-Metro and All-State honors. Their teams won state championships in 2004 and 2006, and took second place in 2005.

Johnny graduated in 2005, Bobby in 2006. Neither the brothers nor their father could be reached Saturday for comment.

The 2006 championship was Irons' last. He retired last school year as one of the most successful big-school basketball coaches in Missouri history, with more than 800 wins and 10 of the school's 11 championships.

Now, Irons' admission to leaders of the Missouri State High School Activities Association throws a cloud over his reign.

WORKING OUT A DEAL

In September, Irons pleaded guilty to federal charges of mail and wire fraud in a real estate scheme meant to kick back thousands of dollars to Irons and Mike Noll, a friend and fellow basketball enthusiast, prosecutors said.

As part of his federal plea agreement, Irons was required to tell the state athletic association everything he knew about eligibility and recruiting violations during his years at Vashon, 3035 Cass Avenue.

On Nov. 12, Irons met with a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent, and leaders of the state association.

The result is a 193-page transcript of that meeting. In general, it depicts association leaders trying to needle five- to eight-year-old addresses and relationships out of Irons' memory.

But almost 50 pages are dedicated to one narrative: how Irons brought the Hills to Vashon from Alton.

The state athletic association blacked out all student names in the copy of the transcript requested by the Post-Dispatch. The Hills, however, were the only brothers to play such a prominent role on the teams during those years. They also were widely known to have lived alone in an apartment near Vashon.

Now the state association is investigating the eligibility of at least 15 Vashon players spanning nine school years, from 1998 to 2007, according to association documents previously obtained by the Post-Dispatch.

If players are found to have been ineligible, Vashon stands to forfeit as many as five state titles.

In the transcript of the November meeting, Irons mainly denies wrongdoing. He steadfastly told investigators that all the other players they asked about either lived within the school boundaries, or that he did not know otherwise.

Irons' lawyer, Rick Sindel, said it wasn't Irons' responsibility to check residency requirements for his players. School administrators enrolled the students, Sindel said. They should have checked the players' eligibility.

Investigators pointed out, however, that Irons served as assistant principal and interim principal at various times at Vashon. But Irons reminded them that in the city, students often have fluid living situations.

"It's difficult to keep up with where a kid would live at a particular time," he said. "They can enroll in one situation, they can be living with an aunt."

Irons' tone changed when talking about the Hills. He did not deny that he broke state association rules. He told investigators he tried to become their legal guardian, and said he treated them like sons.

Irons said that on Noll's recommendation, he first visited the Hills at their home in Alton almost six years ago, in the spring of 2002.

Irons told investigators that the boys' father, also named Johnny Hill, wanted a place for his sons to live and play basketball.

The coach said he looked around at the cramped house, saw where the boys slept — two beds in the back of the basement. And he worked out a deal.

CADILLAC AND A COOK

Irons lined up a job for their father at a St. Louis restaurant. He gave him one of the coach's cars, a mid-'80s Cadillac Sedan DeVille.

And he rented an apartment for the teens at 2939 Bell Avenue, less than a mile from Vashon. At the time, the building was owned by the Lucas Heights III Redevelopment Corp. — whose officers included a former Vashon principal.

Johnny Hill, Irons said, was supposed to live with his sons at least some of the time, according to the transcript.

But Hill didn't come down to the apartment much, Irons admitted to investigators. The boys mostly lived alone.

So, for roughly five years, Irons provided for brothers Johnny and Bobby Hill, he said. He paid $460 a month in rent. He furnished the apartment, buying them beds and a television. He brought them food, bought them clothes, and even had a housekeeper clean and cook some "Sunday dinners" for the boys.

When Irons left Vashon, he was earning roughly $90,000 a year.

Irons tried to distance himself from the paper trail. He paid for the apartment with money orders, and put the utilities in the name of man named Rick Ryberg, an associate of Noll's.

"I didn't want a connection," Irons told investigators.

But Irons said he would do it all again "in a heartbeat."

"I don't think I ever talked to anyone about correcting the situation," he said in the interview. "I just felt it was my obligation …"

Investigators, however, wanted to be sure of Irons' intentions: They asked if he moved the Hill brothers into Vashon boundaries so they could play for his team.

"Oh, yeah," Irons said. "We got that straight."

"But you didn't say that," said the federal prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith, during the interview. "I mean, that was part of the agreement."

"Oh, yeah," Irons said. "No doubt that it was."

Noll, reached Saturday by phone, said he would not be surprised if he had told Irons about the Hills; they played for his eighth-grade club basketball team, St. Louis Game Face. But he said Irons had seen the boys play, too.

Neither Goldsmith nor association executive director Kerwin Urhahn would comment for this story. Urhahn said he was at a wrestling tournament all weekend and could not discuss the transcript immediately.

Sindel, Irons lawyer, said Irons would not talk until after his sentencing, currently set for Feb. 28.

But Irons' frustration during the November interview was clear. By the end he was rattling off coach after coach at competing schools, all who he said likely committed similar sins.

Nearly each time, investigators pushed him back to the subject at hand — Vashon.

Irons remained unrepentant.

He'd rather see his players in college, he said, than on the streets or in jail.

"That," he said, "is my response."

Jake Wagman and Matthew Fernandes of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

dhunn@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8411