BATESVILLE — Former Jackson Murrah High boys' basketball coach Marlon Dorsey, who admitted to whipping players with a 10-pound weight belt, has been hired to teach and coach at South Panola High School.

South Panola Schools Superintendent Keith Shaffer tells the Clarion-Ledger that Dorsey will be a teacher and will assist with athletic programs "at all levels."

Shaffer said Dorsey will not be a head coach.

Shaffer said he is aware of Dorsey's troubles in JPS and does not think his students nor anyone else is in danger.

"I think the gentleman learned a lesson and I think he deserves an opportunity," Shaffer said.

Corporal punishment is allowed in South Panola schools, but it is meted by administrators, not teachers, Shaffer said.

Dorsey came under fire in 2010 for whipping players with a weight belt as a form of punishment, something he admitted and for which he apologized. Corporal punishment has been prohibited in JPS since 1991.

Dorsey resigned from the Jackson Public Schools in May.

In 2011, a judge ruled the evidence was insufficient to charge Dorsey with simple assault. Dorsey admitted in court proceedings in 2011 that he did not intend to hurt players when he used the belt. Dorsey said he used the belt because of disciplinary problems, according to court records.

In the same hearing, three varsity players testified they were in pain after being whipped by Dorsey on at least five separate occasions. The boys said the whippings resulted from mistakes made during practice.

JPS is still involved in a federal civil rights lawsuit with the parents of some Murrah basketball players who were whipped.