Report: 6 Foreign Players Spotted Living With NJ High School Basketball Coach, Could Be Going Hungry

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A coach at a New Jersey high school basketball powerhouse has allegedly been allowing as many as six players from overseas to live in his home and at times has not been adequately feeding them.

The allegations against Paterson Eastside coach Juan Griles could violate state recruiting rules, and the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency is investigating, New Jersey Advance Media reported Monday.

Reporters staked out Griles' Paterson condo over several mornings and spotted several players -- three from Puerto Rico, three from Nigeria -- routinely leaving for school in the morning, their departures staggered over a span of about 30 minutes.

As of last week, five of the boys listed Griles as their legal guardian, while another listed an assistant coach as his guardian.

One player, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Griles did not provide enough food in the house, giving an example of two people sharing a loaf of bread for two weeks. The boys would sometimes seek food at a local church, NJ.com reported.

One of the boys was exiled from the house permanently and was found by a teacher inside a Dunkin' Donuts alone and hungry, a source told NJ.com.

Griles denied any wrongdoing. He admitted to being a legal guardian for two players from Puerto Rico. He said he used to live in Puerto Rico, has "lineage" there and is the godfather to one of the players.

Griles, however, denied that more than two players had ever lived with him or that he is the guardian to more than two players.

A school district spokeswoman told NJ.com that officials had confirmed Griles was the guardian to two players and assistant coach Alberto Maldanado was the guardian to two others. The spokeswoman said Griles had two other players living with him temporarily because they had nowhere else to live, adding they have since moved.

The spokeswoman did not respond to a follow-up question about why five players were seen leaving Griles' condo as recently as Thursday.

Eastside is 14-2 this season and ranked 17th in the NJ.com's statewide poll.