H-F allowed to play in postseason

The Illinois High School Association announced Tuesday that Homewood-Flossmoor’s boys basketball team can compete in the state playoffs.

The investigation was a result of H-F self-reporting violations pertaining to the IHSA’s Athletic Season Limitation Bylaw. The Vikings organized conditioning programs during the offseason, which isn’t compliant with IHSA Bylaw 2.090.

H-F’s girls basketball program was recently found in violation of these bylaws, which resulted in the IHSA ruling it ineligible for the state playoffs, the forfeiture of its 21 victories and coach Tony Smith being suspended indefinitely. The Vikings were the Sun-Times’ No. 1 team.

“The violations by the [H-F] girls’ program were far more extensive than the boys’ program,” IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman said. “The school has been forthright in admitting the violations and working with the IHSA to correct them. Both of those pieces were critical in the ruling.”

As a result of the investigation, H-F will be placed on probation for a year and required to submit a comprehensive plan to ensure future compliance with IHSA rules. H-F released this statement: “After submitting the findings of our internal investigation of the girls’ basketball team, we were made aware that the interpretation and implementation of our preseason athletic programs were in violation of IHSA bylaws. Specifically, our violation involved sport-, gender- and level-specific preseason activities.

“We look forward to working with the IHSA as we move forward to correct these issues.’’

The Vikings open the Class 4A playoffs March 5.