Florida High School Basketball Star Ruled Ineligible, Team Must Forfeit Games

CNN.com

A foreign-born high school basketball player who was declared ineligible is going to court Wednesday, arguing that he and his top-ranked Miami team should be permitted to compete in the playoffs later this week.

The hearing is set for 3 p.m. Wednesday in a Miami courtroom, officials said.

The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) board on Tuesday ruled that senior guard Brian Delancy, a native of the Bahamas, is ineligible and Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School must forfeit the 19 games it won when he played.

FHSAA spokesman Seth Polansky said that Krop reported that it had not provided the proper paperwork on Delancy’s eligibility.

But an attorney for the hoops star said the immigration form the FHSAA wanted isn’t pertinent in this case and the school tried to do what was required.

Federal law prohibits school districts from asking about a student’s immigration status. The FHSAA does require information on players’ eligibility and residency.

The FHSAA keeps such records so that “there is a fair and equitable playing field for all student athletes” and to discourage recruiting, Polansky said. Where athletes come from “is not an issue,” he said. “It is the paperwork.”

“Playing athletics is a privilege and not a right,” said Polansky, adding that it is up to schools to police themselves on student eligibility.

“All I want to do is to go to school and play ball,” Delancy, 19, told CNN Miami affiliate WSVN.

David Baron, who represents Delancy and two other Krop players, said Delancy first attended a private school, which require an I-20 form. An I-20 is a student visa which gives international students permission to attend school.

But Delancy or Krop were not required to provide such a form when he transferred to Krop, a public school, Baron said Tuesday. He argued that Delancy is an immigrant, rather than an international student.

“I don’t know what immigration status has to do with athletic eligibility,” the attorney said.

Although the FHSAA board ruled Delancy ineligible and vacated the school’s wins, its decision did not keep Krop out of the playoffs, said Polansky. Each district in Florida decides independently how its sports teams will advance in the post-season.

The district in which Krop plays decided that only the top four finishing schools will compete next, thereby eliminating Krop, he said.

Three of the team’s players are seeking a temporary injunction Wednesday afternoon in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, according to Baron.

The emergency petition argues the FHSAA never set a hearing or requested information from Delancy before making a “unilateral” determination on his eligibility.

It asks the court to order that Krop play in the district and state championships and that the FHSAA provide the plaintiffs an opportunity to make their case if an investigation is conducted.

Baron argues Delancy has always been forthright with the school on his background and should not have to prove his legal status to play.

“If you go up and down the rosters of teams in Dade County and you were looking for that, you would find a number of students that would be the same classification, but they’re playing on teams, and why is this student being singled out?” Barron told CNN affiliate WFOR.