Canton Rep
Walker's appeal denied
BY TOM GROESCHEN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT--> North College Hill basketball star Bill Walker today had his eligibility appeal denied by the Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Control.
Walker was hoping to be reinstated to play his would-be senior season at NCH this school year. The OHSAA declared him ineligible July 10, after an offseason investigation found Walker has exhausted his eight semesters of varsity eligibility.
Walker was found to have played two ninth-grade semesters at Rose Hill Christian (Ashland, Ky.) in the 2002-03 school year, then three years at NCH (2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons).
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Richard Katz, Walker's attorney, said his research showed Walker had never actually completed eighth grade before coming to NCH in February 2003. Walker attended three schools in the 2002-03 school year in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
Katz said he is unsure if Walker's family might proceed with a lawsuit against the OHSAA, with the intent of having the courts declare Walker eligible to play. Walker could not immediately be reached for comment but said recently that he plans to finish school this year at NCH regardless.
"Naturally Bill and his family are disappointed," Katz said. "I think we presented sufficient evidence and documentation to warrant reinstatement, but OHSAA (Commissioner) Dan (Ross) just called me and said they denied the appeal."
The OHSAA Board of Control voted in private after today's hearing, then called Katz to let him know the verdict. There was no immediate statement from the OHSAA regarding the verdict, but OHSAA assistant commissioner Bob Goldring had said before the hearing that such appeals usually are denied.
Walker, a 6-foot-6 forward, is rated the nation's No. 6 would-be senior by Rivals.com. He averaged 21.7 points a game last season in helping lead NCH to its second consecutive Division III state championship. Walker's highly regarded NCH teammate, O.J. Mayo, is scheduled to return for his senior year at NCH this season.
Link
Walker attorney says eligibility appeal rejected
Thursday, August 17, 2006 CINCINNATI (AP) - The state's sanctioning body for high school sports has upheld its ruling that Bill Walker, one of the nation's top prep basketball stars, is out of eligibility, the player's attorney told The Cincinnati Enquirer for a story Thursday.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association didn't announce its decision after hearing Walker's appeal Wednesday in Columbus. Walker's attorney, Richard Katz, told the newspaper that OHSAA commissioner Dan Ross informed him of the ruling by phone.
Bob Goldring, an assistant commissioner, said the OHSAA was following its policy of trying to contact school administrators before announcing Walker's status. OHSAA appeals hearings are closed to the public.
Walker is widely considered second only to Cincinnati North College Hill teammate O.J. Mayo among the nation's best incoming seniors. The 6-foot-6 forward averaged 21.7 points and 10.1 rebounds last season as he and Mayo led their team to a second straight Division III state title.
The OHSAA ruled July 10 that Walker couldn't play basketball as a senior because he had exhausted his eligibility by playing at Rose Hill Christian School in Ashland, Ky., in the 2002-03 school year. Walker then played the next three seasons for North College Hill.
Katz said he did not know if Walker's family would sue the OHSAA to try to have the player's eligibility restored through the courts. He said he has advised the family not to comment.
After the OHSAA's first ruling, there had been speculation that Walker might transfer to a private prep school. Walker said then that wasn't in his plans.
"I'm a student at North College Hill first, and that's where I plan to be next year," he said after he was declared ineligible.
Enquirer
Walker's eligibility appeal denied
Lawyer says documents were altered
BY TOM GROESCHEN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT--> North College Hill basketball star Bill Walker had his eligibility appeal denied Wednesday by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, despite Walker's attorneys' presentation of what the attorneys said were doctored school records.
Richard Katz, one of Walker's attorneys, said he and co-counsel Carl Stich presented documents to the OHSAA Board of Control that showed Walker had not completed eighth grade before the 2002-03 school year. The OHSAA on July 10 declared Walker ineligible for his would-be senior season, after an offseason investigation determined Walker had exhausted his eight semesters of varsity eligibility (2002-03 season through 2005-06).
Katz said there were altered documents presented to the OHSAA regarding Walker's academic status. Katz said he did not know who altered the documents.
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"There was a document from Marva Collins prep school in Cincinnati, where Bill attended seventh grade, where the school president and CEO noted that Bill had been promoted to eighth grade," Katz said. "There are documents floating around now that show an 8 was written over a 7 ... meaning, it was altered to show he had supposedly completed eighth grade instead of seventh."
There was no statement from the OHSAA after Walker's hearing at the OHSAA office in Columbus on Wednesday. OHSAA assistant commissioner Bob Goldring said the association, per policy, was trying to contact school administrators before announcing results of the verdict.
Katz revealed the OHSAA's decision to The Enquirer, saying OHSAA commissioner Dan Ross had called him with the verdict.
Katz said he is unsure if Walker's family might proceed with a lawsuit against the OHSAA, with the intent of having the courts declare Walker eligible for his senior year (2006-07 season). Walker could not be reached for reaction Wednesday, and Katz said he has advised the family not to comment publicly.
The OHSAA determined Walker had been listed as a freshman for 16 varsity games at Rose Hill Christian in Ashland, Ky., for the 2002-03 season. There followed six semesters for Walker at North College Hill (2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons).
Walker, a 6-foot-6 forward, is rated the nation's No. 6 senior by Rivals.com. He averaged 21.7 points and 10.1 rebounds a game last season as NCH won its second consecutive Ohio Division III championship.
Walker started the 2002-03 school year listed as an eighth-grader at St. Joseph Central Catholic (Huntington, W.Va.). Walker transferred to Rose Hill Christian in Ashland, Ky., in October 2002 with the apparent belief that he still would be in eighth grade, but the private school had no seats available in eighth grade.
Walker thus was placed in the ninth grade at Rose Hill, and his family/advisers said they were told Walker would be put into the eighth grade once a seat became available. That did not happen, and then Walker transferred to NCH in February 2003. Walker was placed in eighth grade at NCH, which at the time did not have documentation that Walker had finished eighth grade.
Walker was listed as a freshman both in Rose Hill records and in Ashland newspaper accounts of the Rose Hill team in the 2002-03 season.
"The issue was whether or not he was registered in ninth grade at Rose Hill Academy," Katz said. "There was no record anywhere that Bill Walker completed eighth grade."
Katz and Stich contended that some documents might have been written over, after the fact, to show Walker had finished the eighth grade before he entered Rose Hill in fall 2002.
"We don't know who altered them, but someone did," Katz said. "The documents we presented were that somebody clearly had written over the documents ... and that they were not credible."
Katz also said he had a taped voice mail from an unnamed Rose Hill assistant coach to Dwaine Barnes - the AAU coach of Walker and fellow NCH star O.J. Mayo - that stated Walker had been wronged.
"The assistant coach told Dwaine that Rose Hill definitely made a mistake and Bill should not have been put in ninth grade, he should have been in eighth grade," Katz said.
The OHSAA relied on documentation from Rose Hill that showed Walker was a ninth-grader in 2002-03, Katz said.
Dr. Randy Douglas, superintendent at Rose Hill, told The Enquirer in June that Walker was listed as a freshman at Rose Hill in the 2002-03 school year. "He was a ninth-grader when he enrolled here and he was a ninth-grader when he left here," Douglas said.
Walker recently said he plans to finish the school year at NCH regardless of the OHSAA verdict, but rumors persist that he and Mayo might transfer. The two players have led NCH to consecutive Ohio Division III championships, and Mayo retains his senior year of eligibility.
There is also the possibility Walker could play at a fifth-year prep school.
E-mail tgroeschen@enquirer.com