CURIE MAY HAVE WON TITLE WITH INELIGIBLE PLAYERS
City champs may have used ineligible players in title game vs. Young
A Chicago Public Schools representative confirmed Sunday that Curie is being investigated for possibly using ineligible players in the city championship game Friday at Chicago State.
According to Curie coach Mike Oliver, the CPS was aware of the possible infraction before the game but allowed the Condors to play. Curie beat Young 69-66 in four overtimes.
“It’s an embarrassment if they try and take this back,” Oliver said. “It makes the city of Chicago and Young look like sore losers. [At 3 p.m.] they are asking about eligibility. But if they cancel the game, they have to give back almost $60,000. So they let us play the game, get the money and then make us forfeit? That isn’t right.”
Oliver and his team arrived at Chicago State several hours late. They were waiting at Curie, unable to board the bus. Phillip Perry, Curie’s principal, told Oliver that the team had to wait because the CPS law department had asked for Curie’s roster. Perry said someone had called the CPS, claiming Curie had ineligible players.
“The kids kept asking, ‘ Why haven’t we left?’ Oliver said. “They wanted to get there and see the sophomore title game [at 4:30]. At five o’clock, the team started getting pretty worried. They knew we didn’t have enough time to get to the game, get dressed and warmed up. This was the city title game. There is a lot going on. At 5:30, [Perry] came in and said, ‘ Go to the game. We will deal with this on Monday.’ ”
At 6:50, before Curie had arrived at Chicago State, Young coach Tyrone Slaughter was told to have his team take the court.
“I didn’t know what was going on exactly, what the particulars of the investigation were,” Slaughter said. “We knew it was something more than just them being late.” The game started 30 minutes late. Oliver said Young principal Joyce Kenner approached him after the game and told him Young had nothing to do with the investigation.
“We’re just trying to be happy right now,” Oliver said. “We are going to school tomorrow as the city champs. We can’t control if they want to take it away.”