Seems like a cloud has developed over the unbeaten season of the Racine Park boys basketball team.
A Racine Journal Times report by Janine Anderson and Gery Woelfel indicates that some members of the team are under investigation for eligibility issues that may involve truancies dating back to September.
The Racine Unified School District confirmed Friday that questions have emerged regarding the eligibility of some of Park’s players. At the request of Directing Principal Dan Thielen, RUSD has initiated a review. Area Superintendent Brian Colbert will perform the review.
If violations of the RUSD Athletic Code emerge, according to the statement, players may be suspended from game participation. Other disciplinary actions may also take place.
District spokesman Paul Holley said he can’t say how many or which players are under investigation, or exactly what kind of violations are being investigated.
A grandmother of one of the team’s players said Friday that truancy is the issue.
If ineligible players are found to have been used, all of the Panthers’ victories in which those players participated could become forfeits, and the team’s No. 1 ranking in the state’s Division 1 polls would become history.
I have no problems with that if indeed that is the case. Students’ first priority should be in the classroom, not athletics.
What concerns me is the possibility that students may have been truant dating back to September and nothing was done. Was it just bureaucratic ineptness that allowed a bad situation to get worse and emerge five months into the school year? Or did officials know about problems and hope to keep them quiet in order to avoid jeopardizing a potential championship season, hoping the facts would never emerge?
Here’s a listing of Park’s victories this year. There’s no indicated which ones are in potential jeopardy of becoming forfeits:
- Nov. 27 Park 74, West DePere 50
- Nov. 28 Park 78, Baraboo 54
- Dec. 1 Park 89, Milwaukee Custer 44
- Dec. 11 Park 75, Kenosha Bradford 33
- Dec. 18 Park 61, Somers Shoreland Lutheran 51
- Dec. 19 Park 51, Racine Lutheran 47
- Dec. 29 Park 65, Beloit Memorial 51
- Dec. 30 Park 62, Waterford 58
- Jan. 5 Park 60, Muskego 38
- Jan. 12 Park 73, Racine Case 54
- Jan. 15 Park 72, Franklin 61
- Jan. 16 Park 69, Chicago Fenger 42
- Jan. 19 Park 58, Kenosha Tremper 46
- Jan. 22 Park 80, Oak Creek 75 (OT)
- Jan. 29 Park 65, Kenosha Bradford 63 (OT)
- Feb. 2 Park 66, Racine Horlick 61
- Feb. 5 Park 62, Muskego 52
- Feb. 16 Park 75, Franklin 63
- Feb. 19 Park 75, Kenosha Tremper 41
It would be interesting to know which players are being investigated — some names have surfaced but we won’t identify them, since it’s pure speculation — and the games in which they were involved. The Panthers have had only seven games (highlighted in bold) which were decided by 10 or fewer points; had those players not played — presuming they were ineligible — how many of those games would still have been victories?
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