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02-11-2006, 07:18 AM
TAPPS 4A girls hoops playoffs on hold
01:16 AM CST on Saturday, February 11, 2006
By DAMON L. SAYLES / The Dallas Morning News
The TAPPS 4A girls basketball state playoffs, which were scheduled to begin Friday, have been postponed until a court rules on the eligibility of four suspended Carrollton Christian players.
TAPPS director Edd Burleson announced the decision hours after a Denton County judge set a hearing date of Feb. 24 to determine whether a temporary injunction should be granted in the case and a trial date set.
Fifteen schools across the state – including Carrollton Christian and five other area schools – qualified for the 4A playoffs. The 4A championship game had been scheduled for Feb. 25 in Tyler.
In a news release, TAPPS said it postponed the playoffs because its board does not feel "that the playoffs should begin if there is a possibility that the results could be overturned by court action."
Burleson refused to elaborate.
"Several schools that play [Friday] or [Saturday] will have to cancel hotel reservations and will lose money. Referees still have to be paid," said Chris Covington, athletic director for Carrollton Christian, which was to host Tyler All Saints on Monday. "Everybody's upset. A lot of schools are affected. For TAPPS to do this last-minute, they're not thinking about everybody involved."
Bill Stetzer, father of Arlington Pantego starting guard Alex Stetzer, said he is angry with TAPPS and Carrollton Christian. Pantego was to play Ovilla Christian at 7 p.m. Friday in Red Oak.
"TAPPS should get their heads out of you know what and let's play," Stetzer said. "In essence, we're being punished for what one team did – Carrollton Christian."
Garland Christian, scheduled to play at defending champion Lubbock Trinity Christian today, left at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Coach John Keyes was driving the team bus and had reached Sweetwater, west of Abilene, when he heard the news.
"I got out of the bus and walked around to get the blood flowing back through my legs and got back on and turned it around," he said.
The Carrollton Christian players were declared ineligible Jan. 25 after TAPPS said the school violated an inducement rule prohibiting the arrangement of tuition payment for student-athletes.
The program was placed on probation through the 2008-09 season. Carrollton Christian filed an appeal, and parents of the players called on the Irving branch of the NAACP for assistance. Following TAPPS' denial of the appeal last Monday, the parents contacted attorneys Michael Sorrell and Will Marsaw. They secured a temporary restraining order Wednesday that ruled the players could participate in the playoffs.
Marsaw said that TAPPS' decision was "reprehensible."
"There are 15 schools, and presumably, we have a minimum of 180 girls involved and 180 sets of parents involved," Marsaw said. "To not take everyone else into consideration and to make an 11th-hour decision like this, it strikes at the heart of what's in the best interest of the child."
01:16 AM CST on Saturday, February 11, 2006
By DAMON L. SAYLES / The Dallas Morning News
The TAPPS 4A girls basketball state playoffs, which were scheduled to begin Friday, have been postponed until a court rules on the eligibility of four suspended Carrollton Christian players.
TAPPS director Edd Burleson announced the decision hours after a Denton County judge set a hearing date of Feb. 24 to determine whether a temporary injunction should be granted in the case and a trial date set.
Fifteen schools across the state – including Carrollton Christian and five other area schools – qualified for the 4A playoffs. The 4A championship game had been scheduled for Feb. 25 in Tyler.
In a news release, TAPPS said it postponed the playoffs because its board does not feel "that the playoffs should begin if there is a possibility that the results could be overturned by court action."
Burleson refused to elaborate.
"Several schools that play [Friday] or [Saturday] will have to cancel hotel reservations and will lose money. Referees still have to be paid," said Chris Covington, athletic director for Carrollton Christian, which was to host Tyler All Saints on Monday. "Everybody's upset. A lot of schools are affected. For TAPPS to do this last-minute, they're not thinking about everybody involved."
Bill Stetzer, father of Arlington Pantego starting guard Alex Stetzer, said he is angry with TAPPS and Carrollton Christian. Pantego was to play Ovilla Christian at 7 p.m. Friday in Red Oak.
"TAPPS should get their heads out of you know what and let's play," Stetzer said. "In essence, we're being punished for what one team did – Carrollton Christian."
Garland Christian, scheduled to play at defending champion Lubbock Trinity Christian today, left at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Coach John Keyes was driving the team bus and had reached Sweetwater, west of Abilene, when he heard the news.
"I got out of the bus and walked around to get the blood flowing back through my legs and got back on and turned it around," he said.
The Carrollton Christian players were declared ineligible Jan. 25 after TAPPS said the school violated an inducement rule prohibiting the arrangement of tuition payment for student-athletes.
The program was placed on probation through the 2008-09 season. Carrollton Christian filed an appeal, and parents of the players called on the Irving branch of the NAACP for assistance. Following TAPPS' denial of the appeal last Monday, the parents contacted attorneys Michael Sorrell and Will Marsaw. They secured a temporary restraining order Wednesday that ruled the players could participate in the playoffs.
Marsaw said that TAPPS' decision was "reprehensible."
"There are 15 schools, and presumably, we have a minimum of 180 girls involved and 180 sets of parents involved," Marsaw said. "To not take everyone else into consideration and to make an 11th-hour decision like this, it strikes at the heart of what's in the best interest of the child."