Alabama controversy is familiar
The case of an Alabama girls basketball player being ruled ineligible this season has become a national story. The funny thing is, you could say a precedent was set in a similar case right here in the WPIAL 26 years ago.
But a ruling was much different. The player involved in 1993 was Shaler’s Dan Fortson, who would go on to play in the NBA. Unlike the Alabama High School Athletic Association, the WPIAL was lenient and made Fortson eligible to play.
To understand the connection between the two cases, first the facts of the Alabama case. Last summer, Maori Davenport of Charles Henderson High (Ala.) played for the USA Basketball national team that won the FIBA Americas U18 championship. The team also had college players on it. USA Basketball, as it regularly does, gave a stipend of $857 to the players. That’s OK for college players. But not for some high school players in some states.
USA Basketball never checked with the Alabama high school association if the stipend was allowed. Months later, Davenport’s parents found out it might affect Davenport’s amateur status. They returned the money. Still, the AHSAA ruled Davenport ineligible for her entire senior season. The association stuck to its ruling after an appeal hearing.
The case grabbed national attention. Well-known college basketball television analyst Jay Bilas harshly criticized the AHSAA for the ruling. NBA players tweeted about it. Last Friday, a judge in Alabama made an emergency ruling, allowing Davenport to play last Friday, but her status for the rest of the season is up in the air.
Now back to the Fortson case in 1993 that is somewhat similar to Davenport’s. Fortson was one of 40 players around the country invited to attend the Nike Fabulous 40 Weekend at Nike headquarters in Portland, Ore. The players competed in what was essentially two all-star games in front of college coaches. They also were given a $100 gift certificate for Nike gear that could be used at Nike headquarters.
Two rules were broken, according to the WPIAL and PIAA. Players are not permitted to participate in invitational all-star games until after their senior seasons, or they will be ineligible for a year. Also, Fortson violated amateur status by accepting the gift certificate, which was given based solely on his talent.
Fortson had no idea he violated rules. When the WPIAL found out through a Post-Gazette story, they brought in Fortson for a hearing with the board of directors. Fortson returned his merchandise, much the same way as Davenport returned her stipend.
Fortson had already missed all but two games of his junior year because the WPIAL and PIAA ruled him ineligible, claiming he was recruited from Altoona to Shaler by J.O. Stright, whose son played for Shaler. Now Fortson was facing ineligibility again. He said he played in the all-star games and used the certificate because Nike told him it was OK. Because Fortson returned the merchandise, the WPIAL went easy on Fortson and made him eligible for his senior year.
However, some of the other 40 players at the Nike event in 1993 were suspended for some games. Ron Mercer and Lorenzen Wright, high school players in Tennessee
who both went on to play in the NBA, were originally ruled ineligible for the entire season. But their suspensions were later reduced to seven games.
The bottom line is the Alabama association went way overboard in the suspension of Davenport, considering she returned the money. Yes, Davenport and her parents should’ve known better. The Alabama association could’ve slapped her with some other penalty to make a point. Maybe something like a three-game suspension.
By the way, I wonder what these state associations would do if they knew what some of these big-time AAU programs in other parts of the country give to some players and their families?
Anyway, back in 1993, when Fortson was asked if he learned anything from the ordeal, he gave a great answer: “What did I learn? I learned Nike doesn’t take care of its homework.”
Neither does USA Basketball.
$40 just to watch LaMelo
Would you pay $40 or $100 to watch 17-year-old LaMelo Ball play in a high school game in a relatively small gym?
Well, that’s what about 400 people did last weekend when LaMelo Ball and the circus act that sometimes follows him came to an event in Buffalo. Ball, younger brother of Los Angeles Laker Lonzo Ball, plays this season for Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Spire was supposed to play Saturday in an event at Farrell High School that was run by Allen Deep, director of the Roundball Classic in Western Pa.
But Spire pulled out late and played instead in the Corey Graham Can-Am Prep Basketball Showcase in Buffalo, N.Y. The event was played at Villa Maria College. And get this: General admission tickets were $40 and 25 courtside seats were $100. And according to the Buffalo News, the place was pretty much filled to capacity of 400 people.
And if seeing the 17-yearold LaMelo didn’t excite you enough, you could also have had the wonderful experience of meeting his father, LaVar, who signed autographs before the game in the lobby and sold his Big Baller Brand shoes at a discounted price of $200.
Wow! What a bargain! What a terrific experience that must have been for fans! Me? I’d rather watch a grocery truck unload than be a part of that circus.
By the way, it only cost $10 to get into the event at Farrell. But hey, no one was signing autographs or selling shoes in the lobby.
The 20-something game
There was no slowdown. Yes, they played four quarters. And Hempfield coach Bill Swan said it wasn’t an example of high school basketball needing a shot clock. It was just a game.
A bad game. Connellsville beat Hempfield, 27-24, in a WPIAL boys game last Friday. These were two Class 6A teams that weren’t holding the ball. Connellsville and Hempfield certainly aren’t juggernauts, but 51 total points in a Class 6A game? Hey, sometimes it happens.
“No one held the ball,” said Swan. “We made four of our first nine shots and finished 8 of 43. We were 2 of 29 from the arc. That says enough.”