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HoosierCoop

High School Basketball Thread

By HoosierCoop, in Off Topic Forum

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mdn82    25,456

mdn82
Posted
Our Columbus East girls just beat the #12/#16 ranked Bloomington South team 54-43- sophomore Koryn Greiwe had 32 of our points.  2 seniors, 3 sophomores, and 5 freshmen!  Coached by Danny Brown (played for Louisville, in Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame)- the next few years could be really good for us!

Very nice! That’s a heck of a start to the season and definitely reason for optimism going forward.


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Loaded Chicken Sandwich    8,173

Loaded Chicken Sandwich
Posted

Paoli starts their season on Nov. 30th at home against Linton-Stockton. Junior Brett Bosley will be the star and should be expected to average about 20 a game. Problem is that the coach plays at a snails pace so a kid with his size and athleticism at such a small school is unable to be used. Hopefully they have a good season after the collapse in the state tourney last season.


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Loaded Chicken Sandwich    8,173

Loaded Chicken Sandwich
Posted
Its unfortunate, but when punishment is levied against a school or program, the athletes always feel the brunt of what is levied. My question, how can this be remedied?

Well really they are punishing the school by not letting them compete in such a huge tourney and important tourney. And the coach as well who can’t add to his record. Though he should have gotten a much harsher penalty. The athletes get screwed but it’s part of the school being punished.


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woodenshoemanHoosierfan    6,092

woodenshoemanHoosierfan
Posted
Our girls season here in Illinois starts next week. The boys Thanksgiving week. I am so ready

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Good article on our first coach almost 100 yrs ago. He is the one who gave our school the nickname Wooden Shoes



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Class of '66 Old Fart    80,877

Class of '66 Old Fart
Posted
6 hours ago, woodenshoemanHoosierfan said:

I saw this on Twitter. Figured the Indiana HS basketball fans would find it interesting. One thing I don't understand is why the coach got off easy compared to the players
 

 


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Brand is the former coach of SB Riley (Damezi's HS) and left at the end of the '17-'18 season.

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Class of '66 Old Fart    80,877

Class of '66 Old Fart
Posted

Story from the Indy Star on the Southport situation.

The Southport boys basketball program was hit with major sanctions by the Indiana High School Athletic Association for violations of undue influence, including removal from the 2019-20 tournament.

An IHSAA investigation last week found coach Eric Brand had provided a tuition payment to Perry Township Schools in the amount of $5,548 on behalf of Nickens Paul Lemba, a 6-6 freshman transfer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Perry Township accepted the payment on behalf of Lemba in order to remain compliant with U.S. immigration law and meet requirements of an F-1 student visa. 

An F-1 Visa allows a student to come to the U.S. as a full-time student.

IHSAA commissioner Bobby Cox met with representatives from Southport on Wednesday to discuss the violations and allow the school to respond. Perry Township assistant superintendent Robert Bohannon issued a letter of corrective measures to the IHSAA on Friday, which includes suspending Brand for the first two games of the season.

Brand is in violation of rule 20-1 of the IHSAA by-law, which reads, in part: “The recruitment or attempted recruitment of a prospective student, through the use of undue influence is prohibited. Undue influence is the act of encouraging or inducing a prospective student to attend a school for athletic purposes.”

The Southport athletic department is placed on probation for 365 days and Nickens Paul Lemba, a 6-6 freshman, is ruled ineligible for the season. The IHSAA notes that the two-game suspension of Brand “falls woefully short of the expectations of the IHSAA from its voluntary member school.”

Southport will be removed from Class 4A Sectional 11. The sectional will be a five-team sectional this season with Ben Davis, Decatur Central, Perry Meridian, Pike and Roncalli. Southport is scheduled to host the boys basketball regional; the IHSAA has not yet determined if it will move to another site.

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mamasa    14,815

mamasa
Posted
On 11/15/2019 at 9:59 AM, mamasa said:

Our Columbus East girls just beat the #12/#16 ranked Bloomington South team 54-43- sophomore Koryn Greiwe had 32 of our points.  2 seniors, 3 sophomores, and 5 freshmen!  Coached by Danny Brown (played for Louisville, in Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame)- the next few years could be really good for us!

Koryn now averaging 32 a game, lol.  O's are 4-0 on the season, play East Central tonight, which should be a great game

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Class of '66 Old Fart    80,877

Class of '66 Old Fart
Posted

Southport appealing 'unfair' boys basketball tournament ban, calls punishment 'illogical'

Calling the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s decision to ban the Southport basketball team from the 2019-20 tournament for undue influence as “draconian punishment” that is “arbitrary, unfair and illogical,” the Perry Township school system has filed an appeal with the IHSAA to reinstate the basketball team.

Perry Township assistant superintendent Robert Bohannon and Southport basketball coach Eric Brand came out strongly against the IHSAA’s decision on Tuesday, speaking for the first time publicly about the tournament ban since the IHSAA commissioner Bobby Cox made his statement on Nov. 18 that Southport’s violation of undue influence was “as egregious” as he has seen.

The IHSAA issued a release Tuesday that it has granted an expedited appeal hearing, which will take place on Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. at the IHSAA offices.

At issue was the alleged recruitment of a 6-6 freshman basketball player from the Congo, referred to by Brand and Bohannon as “N.P.L”, citing student-privacy laws. The IHSAA cited Brand’s payment of a check for the student’s cost reimbursement for his F-1 student visa as a violation of the IHSAA’s undue influence by-law. Cox accepted Southport’s decision to suspend Brand for two games, but called it “woefully short” of expectations of a member school and added the tournament ban, in addition to a one-year probation, on Nov. 18.

But Southport believes the IHSAA either overlooked or misrepresented the circumstances around Brand’s involvement. Brand said he already knew “N.P.L” would be ineligible to play on the varsity team by writing the check.

“I honestly did not know what I was doing was wrong,” Brand said. “I was transparent with my superiors the whole time. I felt like if I raised the money and the fact that this young man could not this year play varsity basketball, I still don’t understand the punishment — especially for the rest of our young men, who did not know about this or have anything to do with it.”

Cox said Tuesday it does not matter what level of basketball the student was projected to play.

“It doesn’t matter (if the kid is the varsity or not),” Cox said. “It’s still a violation of undue influence whether the young man plays on varsity or junior varsity. He’s still a scholar-athlete who received a benefit that no other student would be entitled to.”

In its appeal statement to the IHSAA, Southport claims “simply put, this is not a story of basketball recruiting. It is the story of a caring community banding together to support a person in crisis. The decision of the commissioner to banish Southport High School from the tournament — when Southport obtained absolutely no competitive advantage from the mistakes made — is arbitrary, unfair, illogical, and this aspect of punishment should be reversed.”

Brand said he was approached on Dec. 8, 2018, at the Forum Credit Union Tipoff Classic at Southport Fieldhouse by Ray Truitt. Brand said Truitt was interested in the possibility of bringing African players to the United States to play high school basketball.

“When I met him and we talked, I referred him to Mr. Bohannon,” Brand said. “I said, ‘I know that we are capable of having (students on F-1 student visas), but I don’t know what all of that entails.’ So I referred him to Mr. Bohannon.”

Bohannon, who also serves as the district’s designated immigration liaison, said he first met with Truitt in February. Bohannon said Truitt had spoken with Thomas Wright, a Perry Township orchestra teacher who, according to the school, has hosted more than 40 foreign exchange students over the years. Bohannon said Truitt’s plan was to have two Congolese students spend nights at Wright’s house while Truitt maintained guardianship and drove them to basketball games. Wright, according to Bohannon, rejected that plan.

Bohannon said Truitt persisted, presenting a fraudulent plan — for two other students from the Congo (not N.P.L) — to bypass the requirement for F-1 visa holders enrolling at a public secondary school to “pay the school the full cost of education by repaying the school system for the full, unsubsidized, per capita cost of providing the education.” That plan, Bohannon said, was also rejected.

In August, according to Southport appeal, Truitt rented a house within the Perry Township borders and enrolled N.P.L. as a freshman at Southport. According to Bohannon, per Perry Township policy, students with an F-1 visa do not have full eligibility for varsity teams, a rule that has been in place since 2013.

“We only allow F-1 student to have limited eligibility,” Bohannon said. “So they can participate as a freshman athlete or as a junior varsity athlete.”

But N.P.L’s F-1 student visa cost reimbursement had still not been paid. Bohannon said Truitt withdrew the student from Southport for several days before he eventually returned. Brand said N.P.L.’s mood had changed due to his treatment at home. Brand describes his involvement as “protecting a young man who needed help.”

“He seemed like a worn-down and confused young man and he often missed school,” according to the school’s appeal.

Truitt, according to the school, requested to Brand the Wrights take in N.P.L. for at least two months. The Wrights eventually received custody from N.P.L’s mother in the Congo. Brand said he realized N.P.L would not be able to stay in the United States if the F-1 student visa was not paid in full.

Truitt did not immediately respond to a phone call or message from IndyStar.

Brand, as president of the non-profit booster organization, raised money to pay for the cost reimbursement. Brand signed the check for $5,548 to secure the F-1 student visa. According to Brand, he knew that writing the check would eliminate N.P.L’s eligibility to play varsity basketball this season but believed it was in his “best interest to obtain a visa to remain in the United States and to have a stable and supportive home and learning environment.”

“His English is much better,” Brand said. “But I don’t know everything that he understands. He’s a 15-year-old who has been in another country for three-and-a-half months. The first man he came in contact with didn’t treat him right. I hug him a lot. We have other Congolese students here. I try to utilize 16-, 17-, 18-year-old young men to try to help translate. All I’ve told him is he’s done nothing wrong and because of the man who brought him over, this is why this is happening. I’ve promised I will help him in the future try to get to a safe spot. There’s private schools or different situations where all is not lost for him.”

What happens next for N.P.L. is unclear. He remains enrolled at Southport, but is unable to play basketball games at any level. Under his current visa status, he would be unable to stay at Southport next year.

“This was all about me trying to protect this young man and give him a stable environment,” Brand said.

In its appeal statement to the IHSAA, Southport stated: “The faculty and the staff of Southport High School acted at all times in the best interest of N.P.L., and the contorted scenario of 'undue influence' described by the IHSAA simply could not have happened. The decision to banish the boys’ basketball team from the tournament should be reversed.”

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Class of '66 Old Fart    80,877

Class of '66 Old Fart
Posted

Can any btb members that live in the Richmond area give us anything on possible recruiting issues with the Richmond boys basketball program?  Close friend is a coach at my local high school and he was told that allegations have been made against the Richmond coach.  And isn't the current Richmond coach formerly the head coach in Fort Wayne at Keion Brooks' former high school?

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Alford Bailey    12,226

Alford Bailey
Posted
1 hour ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Can any btb members that live in the Richmond area give us anything on possible recruiting issues with the Richmond boys basketball program?  Close friend is a coach at my local high school and he was told that allegations have been made against the Richmond coach.  And isn't the current Richmond coach formerly the head coach in Fort Wayne at Keion Brooks' former high school?

Havent heard anything about it. Yes Shabaz Khaliq is the Richmond coach.

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