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Judge reinstates former Page football player's eligibility

Saturday, August 29, 2009
(Updated 12:44 pm)
By Robert Bell
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO — Former Page High football player Gabe King won a court battle Friday, but his athletic future remains in doubt.

A Guilford County district court judge granted King’s request for a temporary restraining order, reinstating the eligibility stripped by the N.C. High School Athletic Association last spring.

“I think it’s wonderful news,” said Patricia Hughes, King’s mother. “It’s been a long struggle for everyone, especially Gabe, to get to this point. But we also know it’s not over.”

Far from it. Judge Angela Foster’s ruling allows King to practice and work out with Northern High — King transferred there in April — but little else.

State athletics association rules require football players to practice with their team for nine days before they can play in a regular-season game.

Foster scheduled a second hearing for Sept. 9 to hear from the athletics association, which was not present at Friday’s hearing.

If a judge sides with King and upholds the injunction, King could play in the Nighthawks’ Sept. 11 game against Northwest Guilford.

If the request is rejected, King, a senior defensive end, would be ineligible to compete in any athletics programs at the school.

Lawyers for the athletics association did not return phone calls Friday. Que Tucker, its deputy executive director, could not be reached.

Foster’s ruling comes five days after a pair of Northern Guilford basketball players failed in their bid to have their eligibility restored. On Monday, Superior Court Judge Shannon Joseph ruled that the parents of Asad Lamot and J.R. Gant had not exhausted all of the administrative remedies afforded by the school system to appeal their children’s reassignments.

Guilford County Schools attorney Jill Wilson said Foster’s ruling would not affect the 12 students at Northern who have been ruled ineligible this year for providing false addresses. She declined to elaborate.
 

The state high school athletics association last spring banned King from playing sports for his senior year after Page officials turned him in. According to court documents, King and his parents lived within Page’s district until June 2008 when his parents moved to Winston-Salem.

Instead of moving with his parents, King moved in with his older sister in a Pisgah Place apartment in the Page district.
According to court documents, King and his mother told Page coach Kevin Gillespie and assistant coach Norman Weeks he was living with his sister. Court records also claim various unnamed Page football coaches gave King rides to his sister’s apartment after practices last summer.

Documents also allege that on July 29, 2008, King filled out an athletics participation form for Guilford County Schools, and that Gillespie and Weeks told King to put down the address where he was living.

King’s lawyer, Chris Justice, said Friday the association’s eligibility rules are confusing, particularly when it comes to defining “legal guardian.”

“The wording is sloppy,” he said. “They certainly don’t artfully address what the rules are.”

Court documents contend Page officials reported King’s possible ineligibility to the NCHSAA on March 12 after Internet sites began questioning King’s eligibility.

The suit also alleged that Tucker alone ruled King was ineligible, a violation of the state association’s regulations requiring the executive committee to determine eligibility.

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com
 

Accompanying Photos

File photo (News & Record)

Photo Caption: Former Page High School defensive end Gabriel King.

Comments

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DaveW

August 29, 2009 - 5:44 am EDT

This could not be good if his eligibilty is restored.The NCHSAA would lose all credibility to enforce its regulations and the court system would deal with similar cases that in the past would never have been brought before a judge.
King should attend a private school this year and play. His family can get a loan for private school tuition for one year and then he can later attend college on a football scholarship.It would still be a deal,pay for the senior year of high school and get 4-5 years of college free. Also his family could apply the money spent now on legal fees toward private school tuition.

Panacea

August 29, 2009 - 10:49 am EDT

This is outrageous. This guy is getting a pass on a technicality. These parents knew the rules. This is the same mother who doesn't think cheating is wrong, and made no bones about it!

I hope when the judge hears the NCAA side, he tells her to pack sand.

TOTHE POINT

August 29, 2009 - 11:56 am EDT

DaveW - you and Panacea are right! It does not look good for the home team if the judge overturns the NCHigh Assoc ruling. Not good at all. Panacea I hope the judges rules against that mom as I understand your frustration with this. It is always a technicality that causes things like this to survive when they are wrong.

dcolin

August 29, 2009 - 1:29 pm EDT

Is he a Northern Student.

Where does he now live?
What district?

I'm confused?

"This could not be good if his eligibility is restored."

"then he can later attend college on a football scholarship.It would still be a deal,pay for the senior year of high school and get 4-5 years of college free."

Tis is not about education, it's about sports scholarships.

First: "could not be good." Thats why we have judges.
Second This kid seems different to me.

He had already started at Page.
Did not Xfer in.
Parents moved. He did not want to be up rooted From Greensboro ( senior year ) Not unusual.
Moved in with sister. The page coach knew.
He ( the kid ) did not try to hide anything.

Unless my assessment is wrong I agree with is mother.

He may not meet the details of the rules but certainly meets the spirit.

The Northern ( basketball) kids simply lied.

No?

Look the school athletic system is made up of hypocrites
.

All coaches must be faculty.
Sign Honor Codes.

Now NW, Manny Bloom, NW basketball
" Coaches to be faculty "
Faculty. There is not a course at NW he is qualified to teach.
None. He has a K-6 license.
He is,In School Suspension Teacher.
There is a Euphemism.

In fact he does not meet the job description.
There is one. Behavioral Teacher High School
Read it.

He lied to get the job but we will take his signature on a Honor Code.

Just the type of guy to put over troubled kids.

It's a joke.

Don't worry The school PR dept ( Nora Carr ) will handle it.
You know. It is time to "reestablish community values"

Sounds good.

dcolin

August 29, 2009 - 2:15 pm EDT

Have a look at Mr. Blooms job description.

http://www.gcsnc.com/HR/job_descrip/Teacher_behavior_improvement%20_high...

turkey

August 29, 2009 - 3:15 pm EDT

The coaches didn't know. Also there was never a coach that took him home. He transfered to Northern b/c he wasn't babied at Page which is why he was kicked off the team. Page reported the issue when it was made aware to them that he wasn't in district. Then through their own investigation found it to be true turned it in to the state asap way before march and before they found out he was transfering to Northern. Good riddance to the cancer that comes along with so called top teir athletes. As I have said in the past unless he changes then he will never make it in the college ranks, or his parents change for that matter. The apple never falls far from the tree.

DaveW

August 29, 2009 - 3:49 pm EDT

turkey
Just read your post. I had forgotten he was dismissed from the Page team. I do remember he enroled at Northern around Spring Break which was April.You must know the kid and you may be right, he might not last on the next level. Some coach will sign him on potential and try and teach him a work ethic and if he does not develop one he will not make it.Due to his talent and potential he will have an opportunity. Maybe he will understand some of it as he matures.

dcolin

August 29, 2009 - 4:47 pm EDT

I'm more confused.

He started at page. He parents moved. He tried to stay at Page.
Page turned him in, Is this correct so far. Yes or no?

The coaches didn't know. Also there was never a coach that took him home. He transfered to Northern b/c he wasn't babied at Page which is why he was kicked off the team.

The court claims say different. We will see.
When did Page make an issue and put him off the team?
When did they report the residence issue

Panacea

August 29, 2009 - 6:19 pm EDT

He started at Page, but then his parents moved to Winston-Salem and he should have gone to school there. Instead, he moved in with a sister who lived in the district, but who was not his legal guardian, so he would not have to transfer out of GCS to a new school system. Then he transfered to Northern, but before then he'd already been kicked off Page's team and reported by the folks at Page.

Supposedly the coaches at Page did not know. The mother is essentially blaming the Page coaches for King being ineligible--that the coaches told the mother to submit false information. That's the point under contention.

Either way, King was not living with his parents and was out of his district. Makes me wonder where the parents are living now--is he eligible for Northern?

dcolin

August 29, 2009 - 10:39 pm EDT

Pretty much as I said:
You see it as an infraction of the rules.
I don'tr see it that way
As I stated:

"He had already started at Page.
Did not Xfer in.
Parents moved. He did not want to be up rooted From Greensboro ( senior year ) Not unusual.
Moved in with sister. The page coach knew.
He ( the kid ) did not try to hide anything.

Unless my assessment is wrong I agree with is mother.

He may not meet the details of the rules but certainly meets the spirit.

The Northern ( basketball) kids simply lied.

No"?

Page had an issue/got scared? When Northern started to get investigated Page sacrificed this kid.

Come on this kids clean.

turkey

August 30, 2009 - 10:59 am EDT

He was in a sideline fight at RJ reynolds I believe the second game of the year which led to a two game suspension. During that suspension and and the game he came back he was missing practice or coming late w/o anyone knowing. The first game back he fught with other players in the locker room after the game. He was then removed from the team. Page found out from someone else he had falsified his address at the beginning of Nov. They did their own investigation and typed up a 25 page report and sent it to the state at the beginning of JAN. The transferring to Northern happened at least two months after the report was given to the state. The coaches never told hi to falsify his address. "Even if they did, which they didn't, shouldn't the parents also know better than to break rules"

dcolin

August 30, 2009 - 12:36 pm EDT

"he came back he was missing practice or coming late w/o anyone knowing. The first game back he fught with other players in the locker room after the game. He was then removed from the team. Page found out from someone else he had falsified his address at the beginning of Nov. They did their own investigation and typed up a 25 page report and sent it to the state at the beginning of JAN"

"missing practice or coming late w/o anyone knowing"
This makes no sense. You know?

Besides this is all commentary.

The kids attitude is irrelevant. If he had declared his sisters address and had started at Page,
putting him off the team ( bad conduct ) is one issue. Reporting him for ineligibility after the fact,if he told the truth
concerning where he lived is certainly not in the spirit of the rules

As I have said look at the NW basketball coach ( Bloom ).
Honor codes and such be damned.
They will take this guys signiture on an honor code.
The school system speaks out of both sides of their mouth.
As I said earlier they actually have the chutzpah to call this guy faculty.
However last time I looked at NW, WEB pages he was not listed as faculty. He is simply listed as coach in the Basketball Boosters WEB site. That says it all.
He certainly does not meet the Job description he is hired to.
These people have no credibility or ethics.

"Sports builds character". Actually parents build character.Teachers should help by example.
What example does Bloom send.

turkey

August 30, 2009 - 7:22 pm EDT

missing practice or coming late w/o telling anyone or having a legitimate excuse is what I mean

DaveW

August 29, 2009 - 3:40 pm EDT

He is not at Page anymore. He is now at Northern.The kid is a very highly rated football recruit. I was making a suggestion that his family pay for his senior year in high school so he could play somewhere and get his collegiate opportunity. Some school will give him the opportunity to attend for free. Anyone that follows college football knows this. I do not know this kid personally. I have read about him on several football sites. I have no idea what kind of a student he is.If he can qualify academically for admission to a D1 school he should go for it. If not he can go to a junior college or to a post graduate high school program like Hargrave Military Academy. I made an intelligent suggestion for him to follow based on the information I know. You, dcolin seem to be putting me into a category of being "only concerned with the sports scholarship and not about education". You are so wrong about what I am about.My oldest child finished college in May and become a high school science teacher.Her degree was financed by BOTH academic and athletic scholarship money.Any parent with a talented child in any area that helps pay for higher education should persue it. I know you are not against sports, but you seem to stereotype me into being one that does not care about academics.You are so wrong. I think you just see what opinion I take and go the other way just to be obnoxious.You trash the GCS system at every post. They are not perfect but they are taking steps to improve in many areas and have a plan to do so. ( My 2 kids have learned what they need to know from it).You go on and on about the EOC test scores.You also believe those with education degrees do not know how to run the schools. Did it ever occur to you that the same people with the education degrees(that in your mind are mental midgets) also design the EOC and EOG tests?Make a run for school board and put all of your bright ideas out in the open for the electorate to choose to agree or disagree.

dcolin

August 29, 2009 - 5:23 pm EDT

EOC test scores.You also believe those with education degrees do not know how to run the schools. Did it ever occur to you that the same people with the education degrees(that in your mind are mental midgets) also design the EOC and EOG tests

Actually many people believe degrees in education are severely lacking.
in core material. I'm not the only one.

Many educators believe that EOC/EOG exams are important.
Not the exam itself but knowing the material.

Most kids don't pass the exams. Thats a fact.

You may be a great coach however PE majors have no business teaching biology.
Thats an opinion on my part. People with limited math background have no business teaching math.
Again my opinion

You should not be allowed to teach calculus unless you have exposure above differential equations.

Now
"Some coach will sign him on potential and try and teach him a work ethic"

Some guy you don't know says the kids lazy and you run with it. By your own admission.

I heard the story different. They ( Page ) used him until someone complained then they dropped the kid.

Now I don't know but lets wait.

Best I can tell he has not lied.

I'm tired of hearing about work ethic from coaches.

Sports are recreation, play, recess for most of us.
"It's only a game"

Actually I don't care if there are no GPA requirements to be allowed play.

My problem with the rules is finding ways around them
Weighted averages etc.
All coaches must be real faculty. Thats it.
Forget honor codes what ever.
If someone gets a slight advantage so what.
"It's only a game"

The honer code says turn in any one you suspect.
You can't really be for that. Are you?

This would allow for sports, put them in the correct prospective, save money

DaveW

August 30, 2009 - 10:57 am EDT

Coaches as well as all other types of educators can and do teach a work ethic. Work ethic is part of character education which all educators try to teach. If one develops a work ethic it goes a long way towards being competent in a given subject. At every level of athletics there are kids that skate by on natural ability. Coaches try and get them to understand that " HARD WORK can beat the talented, especially when the talented do not WORK HARD".You will never hear ANY coach worth anything fail to put a strong emphasis on WORK ETHIC.Sometimes coaches have been successful in bringing around a kid that was a natural ability athlete in middle school to a focused and hard working one later in high school.The higher the level of competition, the more work ethic separates individuals.

dcolin

August 30, 2009 - 12:52 pm EDT

You still don't get it.
For most of us sports is recess.

Many coaches think sports are important serious stuff.
It simply is not

This kid did not start out to deceive. He wanted to stay at his school.
Page simply sacrificed him. Thats how I feel.

I have no sympathy for the Northern Kids. However I would let them play in "their" district.
Revenge is not good especially when the individuals are kids.
You are only young once. School years are passed quickly. I don't see this must teach a lesson stuff as all that important.
Especially when the lesson teachers have their own faults

Coach K is a different issue..

turkey

August 30, 2009 - 11:05 am EDT

Please read my above comment. That is exactly the way it happened and no other. As far as poor work ethic it is true his is very poor. The sad thing is that the kid is very smart.

Jimmy Jones

August 31, 2009 - 11:43 am EDT

dcolin,

You must be a mental midget yourself...By your own admission you are stating that you heard a different scenario and at least to me you are admitting that the information you got is obviously biased and not correct...Trust me, if you want the correct information, then see the coaches themselves and ask them...Instead, you would rather listen to every Joe Schmo that has an axe to grind with Page...

Look, the Page coaches are okay with him leaving...There are no sour grapes with him leaving...I know why he was dismissed, because I seen first hand what he did, but I'm not going to sit here and bad mouth the kid anymore than he already has...IF HE DON'T CHANGE THEN HE WON'T MAKE IT...You can take that back to whomever you heard your side of the story from...I wish him well, but he made his bed and now he should lay on it...He forged his parents signature on an address form...Simple as that...All of these other bogus claims are just stuff he is just throwing out there...His own mother (Patricia Hughes) claimed that he was living with one of the coaches too, which was laughable as well...He had stayed one night along with another player with this one coach and never lived with another coach; however that was another claim...Does this not prove that she is out there and has no clue and will do anything to make someone else look bad...

One of the things that Page changed this sports season is that they had the parents attend a parent conference and made them sign the forms in the presence of coaches, so that forging signatures of parents and incorrect addresses will never be an issue again...

Look, there are some issues with this kid and its obvious you have only heard one side of the story, but when someone on here tries to give you a little information pertaining to the other side you call them liars...That my friend is a mental midget...

whatcanIsay

August 29, 2009 - 2:42 pm EDT

This lawyer is fooling himself. The rules for legal guardian is stated so clearly a 6 year old could understand it. I will very surprise if he is allowed to play.

Yoda

August 29, 2009 - 3:38 pm EDT

I hope he doesn't get to play, it would be wrong.

CoachKnow

August 29, 2009 - 5:14 pm EDT

It sounds like there is some intelligent decision makers in Greensboro.
This kid did not do anything wrong. He wanted to continue at the school were he started.

Way to go Judge

CoachKnow

August 29, 2009 - 5:36 pm EDT

It also appears that the NCHSAA do not want to team up with the Guilford County School System
anymore trying to villify students.

I am glad the NCHSAA do not appear to be in the business of determining which school your should attend.
Families situation changes. What school may be good for your kids may not be good for someone else's kids.

Newzerboy

August 29, 2009 - 5:36 pm EDT

Can someone please explain to me why he's allowed to play at Northern? If his parents moved to Winston and he lives with a sister in the Page district, why is he allowed to transfer to Northern?

ravencottage

August 29, 2009 - 5:39 pm EDT

Do we get to see his report cards?

eduguytoo

August 29, 2009 - 7:08 pm EDT

Back when Page "reported" this guy's ineligibility, it came to light that the player had "stayed" with an assistant (Page) coach over one or more weekends. However, Page administrators and coaches denied any knowledge of King's residency issues. I questioned at the time how this could possibly be true. Many moons ago I taught school and coached a few sports, and I knew both my students and athletes well enough to know their home situations...every one of them. It was my contention all along that it would have been virtually impossible for someone NOT to have known. I still feel that way. (As an aside, I heard a great quote the other day attributed to the HS football coach who was shot and killed last year by one of his former players. I believe this occurred in Iowa. A plaque has been erected in this coach's memory, and on it are these words: "If all I have taught you is how to block and tackle, then I have failed." By not adequately KNOWING their athletes and establishing the RIGHT PRIORITIES including HONESTY, INTEGRITY, FAIR PLAY and ELIGIBILITY...there are a lot of coaches who fail.)

The story now, as reported by the N&R, is that the parents informed the school that they were moving, and the school asserted that it was fine that King would live with his sister who had an apartment in the Page district. The parents moved to Winston. King stayed with sister and attended Page (and played football). At some point, apparently near the end of last season, Page kicked King off the team (for reasons not reported). Long after the season had concluded, Page reported King's athletic ineligibility based on residency. It was ruled by NCHSAA and the Guilford County School System that because Page had policed itself on this, there would be no penalties (at least I don't recall any)...not even a reprimand.

At some point, apparently King's parents moved into the Northern Guilford district (I guess they moved from Winston back to Guilford County). He enrolled at Northern Guilford as a student, not an athlete in the spring of 2009. King was declared athletically ineligible for a year, and since he is classified as a senior, that would basically mean that his high school football career had concluded. But note that his ineligibility was predicated upon the premise that his parents had intentionally duped Page into thinking that Gabe King's residency/domicile was within the Page district when the family, in fact, had moved to Winston-Salem.

The contention now, and presumably what the court ruling suggests, is that the parents explained the housing situation to Page coaches and they expressed to the Kings that it would be fine for Gabe to live with his sister, continue to attend page and continue to play football. PLEASE NOTE THAT I'M NOT SAYING THAT ANY OF THIS IS EITHER RIGHT OR WRONG. I'M ONLY TRYING TO CLARIFY THE STORY AS I'VE PIECED IT TOGETHER FROM PUBLISHED NEWS SOURCES.

So from indications, a potential difference with the Gabe King saga as opposed to the Northern Guilford ineligibility scandal is the contention that the King parents were not devious about their residency status...that they told Page coaches and/or administrators the deal, and Page was aware of it but kept quiet for quite a while. Northern parents, as revealed earlier this week in the court filings, were just downright deceitful. What is kind of a cruel joke in this Gabe King ordeal is that he "landed" at Northern Guilford. There are some that seem to think that is some sort of recruiting deal or another chapter in that school's athletic debacle. From what I understand, the kid could have ended up at Smith or Dudley or Southwest or anywhere the family happened to move. I'll bet that as a student at Northern Guilford, his residency/domicile status has been thoroughly examined.

That this is coming down to court rulings is unfortunate and, no doubt, a monetary drain. Should Gabe King be able to play? I don't know. I feel pretty confident that he won't because there will be hearings and counter-rulings that will likely go on beyond the high school football season. That's the nature of our judicial system.

I've said all along...over and over...that if Guilford County and the NCHSAA believes Northern Guilford is the only school in Guilford County that has had ineligible athletes, then also believe that I have some prime coastal real estate to sell for $12 an acre. Clearly NG was GUILTY of fielding ineligible athletes. There are similar situations all over this county, adjoining counties and the state. Subject any school to the same scrutiny and let's see the outcome.

dcolin

August 29, 2009 - 9:08 pm EDT

I think, Just a guess,
In the interest of GCS PR.
The King boy is getting screwed.

I see no dishonesty on his part.

Why Page would report him as ineligible is beyond me.

Bang201

August 30, 2009 - 10:15 am EDT

eduguytoo Under no cicumstances did this young man just land at Northern.

eduguytoo

August 30, 2009 - 11:47 am EDT

Bang201, if you are going to make that statement, then explain it. At the same time, maybe you could explain why it's relevant where he is now attending school period. Seems to me that NGHS does not have any sort of football history to explain why King or any other player for that matter would want to be there...certainly not to go to great lengths to get there. Is Johnny Roscoe, the football coach at NG another Stan who is luring young men to NG like a pied piper to a program that is top-notch and vying for a state title? Is that your suggestion? It would seem to me that if Gabe King wanted to "fly beneath the radar," he would have gone anywhere BUT Northern Guilford if it was truly his choice. The point, however, is absolutely MOOT if the parents and this kid live within the Northern district. Even if you and I might not like it, if a family decides to up and move somewhere, that's the prerogative of that family. It might come as a shock, but people move all the time to ensure that children can attend a school that is perceived to be superior. Even more shocking, there are some who move so their children have the opportunity to play sports at schools where the programs and coaches are perceived to be superior. The new rules put into place by GCS cannot stop this as it pertains to athletics, only require a year of non-participation as a point of contemplation. Thus, parents and their children/athletes who move will have to weigh not participating in sports for a year at the new school versus continuing at the old school and having uninterrupted participation. I'll only add this: heaven help us if we are coming to the day where the government tells us where we must live!

Bang201

August 30, 2009 - 11:50 pm EDT

It was on all the recruiting websites months before he transferred that he was going to NG.

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