Top HS Basketball Team Forced for Forfeit Games After Review Finds Two "Super Seniors"

"Super Seniors" is the term we've heard for a number of years to refer to those kids who need an extra year (or two) to graduate from high school. Mind you, we applaud their efforts to get an education . . . no matter how long it takes . . . but even these kids should know that no matter how long you're in school, you only get four years of eligibility to play sports. Oops. Not one, but two, players from the T.C. Williams team (CT) were ruled ineligible this week after authorities were tipped off that the pair had transferred from out-of-state schools where they had repeated the 9th grade. The real question is: who at the school should have known or asked about this?

The T.C. Williams boys basketball program’s five-year path of perfection through the Patriot District was soiled not by the on-court performance of an opponent, but by the review of a transcript.  Titan seniors Billy Rowland and Darrius Porter were deemed ineligible after a review of their transcripts revealed they were both fifth-year students. Virginia High School League rules allow an athlete four years of eligibility. T.C. Williams, which started the season 12-3, will forfeit its victories and continue as an 0-15 team without Rowland and Porter.

Head coach Julian King first announced the findings on Monday and Director of Student Activities Bob McKeag confirmed on Tuesday.  McKeag learned of a potential problem from Lake Braddock DSA Mark Martino, who contacted McKeag after receiving a tip that Rowland, the team’s leading scorer at 17 points per game, might be ineligible, McKeag said. The T.C. Williams DSA reviewed Rowland’s transcript and found he was a fifth-year student. A subsequent review of the other Titans’ transcripts revealed Porter was also a fifth-year student.

Rowland and Porter are each transfer students. Rowland attended Surrattsville High School in Maryland for two years before transferring to Bishop Ireton, a private school in Alexandria, where he repeated the 10th grade, according to King and McKeag. Rowland transferred to T.C. Williams in 2008 as a fourth-year junior. Porter transferred to T.C. Williams from North Carolina in 2007. Porter repeated the ninth grade in North Carolina, McKeag said.  "Those kids slipped through the cracks," King said Monday. "The ball was just dropped. … I’m [angry] that these kids slid through the cracks and no one caught this. It’s ridiculous. I had no idea. There’s no way I would jeopardize these kids’ season for these [ineligible] kids to play."

T.C. to Forfeit Games Due to Ineligible Players

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