A Wheeling Middle School coach is accused of assaulting basketball players at practice on Thursday. Head Coach Bryant Walker said Hammers since resigned his position as coach.

The family of one of the alleged victims filed assault charges against coach Tim Hammers Friday morning at Wheeling Police Department. The family is alleging the coach picked their son up by the shirt, and threw him against some bleachers.

This all started Thursday afternoon during basketball practice at Wheeling Middle School. According to the student NEWS9 spoke with -- the players were having a pizza party, and were getting loud. One of the players, Richard Hall, admitted to mouthing off to the coach, after the coach told them to run laps. After Hall refused to run, he said, the coach snapped.

Hall said the coach picked him up by the shirt, ripping it, and threw him against the bleachers. Then, Hall says, the coach picked another player up, and threw him out in the hallway.

Hall said other kids witnessed the whole thing, and were visibly shaken.

"They were all crying, upset and yelling they were saying they weren't going to run either," said Richard Hall, a Wheeling Middle School basketball player. "They said they all quit because what he did."

Hall's mother was angry when her son told her what allegedly happened.

"I do realize my son was in the wrong, because he did get smart with the coach," said Dawn Hannah, Hall's mother. "But as I told the police officer in there, a child being smart with the coach doesn't give him justification to pick him up and physically throw him into the bleachers."

NEWS9 contacted the Ohio County superintendent to see what he had to say. However, superintendent Miller said he can't say anything because this is a personnel matter, but he is looking into the allegations.

Hall's mother tells us they set up a meeting with the school board to discuss what happened.

The school's principal held a meeting with concerned parents this afternoon to answer questions about the alleged assault.

John Paul, NEWS9