SoCalHoops Recruiting News
SoCalHoops Recruiting News
Modesto Christian's Midgely &
Pratt
Ruled Ineligible By Court--(Dec. 19, 2001)
Well, even if Mater Dei were still in Division I (they're not, having dropped down to Division II this year), whoever winds up as the SoCal D-I representative in the State Tournament in Sacramento won't likely be having nightmares thinking of ways to stop Modesto Christian's talented duo of Richard Midgely and Marc Pratt. That's because a Superior Court judge did that yesterday when he ruled that their high school playing careers are over.
Those who have been following the story of Richard Midgeley (6'-1" Sr. PG) and Marc Pratt (6'-7" Sr. F), two players who came from England two years ago to enroll at Modesto Christian HS, are already familiar with the story, but for those who aren't, it bears repeating: Two players come over from a foreign country, wind up at a small school, and help lead the team to the D-I State finals. CIF Section begins to look into their eligibility and determines that they started high school a year earlier than represented, and rules them ineligible. Players appeal, CIF denies appeal. Players file lawsuit, seek injunction to compel CIF to allow them to play. Injunction denied. End of story.
Well, almost. We'll probably never really learn the whole story about how or why the two wound up in Modesto in the first place, but the sad reality is that even though these two will go on to have very nice college careers, Midgely at Cal and Pratt at Boise State, it's caused them both a lot of pain, and it's also put their teammates and fans in a position that is becoming all too familiar lately. Just ask the fans, faculty and players at Artesia. Or Clovis West. Or any of a dozen other schools who have found themselves in this same position in the last few years. The pain and embarrassment is enormous and it brings out the worst in everyone connected with it. And the real victims are the kids, all of them.
There were two stories on this subject which appeared in today's Modesto Bee. The first, by sportswriter Brian VanderBeek, is one in which the MC administration pretty much remains steadfast in their assertion that the school merely followed the rules and that it and the two players are victims. The second, an article (more of an opinion piece) by sportswriter Ron Agostini, recognizes that Midgley and Pratt probably didn't do anything wrong (well, that's debatable under the CIF Bylaws), but also recognizes that someone, somewhere put these kids in the position they found themselves. Anyway, here are the two stories, which can also be found at the paper by clicking on the links in the headlines.
Fans remain frustrated that MC stars can't play
December 19, 2001 Posted: 05:25:04 AM PST
By BRIAN VanderBEEK
BEE STAFF WRITER
Two of its brightest stars have been dimmed, but the Modesto Christian High School basketball team will Crusade on.Only after Tuesday's 84-62 victory over Fremont of Oakland did the players, coaches and fans begin to think about the Crusaders on the court without their standout duo of Richard Midgely and Marc Pratt.
The players' motion for a preliminary injunction against the California Interscholastic Federation was denied by Stanislaus Superior Court Judge David G. Vander Wall.
The CIF declared the two players ineligible, ruling they had exhausted their athletic eligibility.
"It's good to know that it's finally over," said senior Bobby Cole II. "I don't know if this ruins the season, but this definitely took a lot from the season we had planned."
By the time the players arrived for the game, they already had heard the news. The official word came from coach Gary Porter in the moments before tipoff. Yet MC looked anything but downtrodden, jumping out to a 29-12 first quarter lead.
"I told the team that I thought the ruling was unfair," Porter said. "But I'm glad we've had them here for a year and a half. I'm happy to have been able to coach them. They work hard, they practice hard, and through that they've taught all the other kids something."
For Porter, moving along will be made easier through the application of some bottom-line philosophy, through the knowledge that both players have college scholarships in hand.
"When they came here, they wanted an education and they wanted to go to college," Porter said. "We accomplished that. I have to look at the good in this."
The team is scheduled to leave this morning to play in the Powerade Holiday Classic in Las Vegas, one of the country's top high school basketball tournaments. That gives each player about eight hours to think about the rest of the season.
"There's not really anything good about this, but now we know that these are the guys we have to play with," center David Paris said. "All of us are kind of devastated.
"I still think we're a D-I team, but we're definitely not as good a team in D-I without them. We're still a contender, just maybe not a powerhouse."
But the decision hit even closer to home for James Noel, a senior from England whose enrollment at Modesto Christian was simultaneous with Midgley and Pratt.
"Yeah, that does make me feel a little strange," Noel said. "We're just going to go and work hard and keep the same intensity we had last year. Everyone has to work harder now to do what we can do."
In the stands, fans of the Crusaders were not so quick to let go of their anger toward the ruling that could cost the school a measure of hoop glory.
Dr. James Boozer, who serves as MC's athletic physician, conducted his own mock cross-examination.
"Have these kids graduated from high school yet? They have not," Boozer said. "Are they in high school right now? They are. Can they go to college right now? No, because they haven't completed the requirements.
"I cannot understand this ruling. It makes no practical sense to me. They looked for a legal excuse, found one, and used it. It was not based on any sense of fairness that anyone could come up with."
Paying price for their success?
MC athletic director Greg Pearce believes the legal action is a direct result of the Crusaders' success on the court. He's not alone.
"There's a great possibility this never would have come about had we not had the success," Pearce said. "It's my opinion, and I'm not speaking for the school, but it's a good possibility."
Bruce Jones, a semi-retired school teacher from Stockton, adopted MC as his favorite basketball program after watching it play in 1998. He sees this legal battle as nothing short of persecution.
"Modesto Christian hasn't done anything wrong except for being a Division V school playing Division I basketball," Jones said. "Their crime, their sin has been to have a good team, defeat Division I teams and anger the powers-that-be in the section.
"There is a malicious undercurrent among a few coaches and athletic directors and with a faction of the CIF that has gone out to make life miserable for Modesto Christian."
But the Crusade will continue, through the season and into the Division I playoffs. Assistant coach Howard Porter knows this ruling will put a brand on MC, but he chooses not to care.
"I'm not worried about a stigma," he said. "We did what we believed is right. We always will do what we believe is honest. We live by our principles and we will die by our principles."
And here's the counter-point opinion piece (sorta, kinda) from Ron Agostini, who regularly covers Modesto Christian:
RON AGOSTINI: Two players were wronged, and everybody played a part
December 19, 2001 Posted: 04:55:03 AM PST
By RON AGOSTINI
BEE SPORTS COLUMNIST
Richard Midgley and Marc Pratt can accept losses on the basketball court. As athletes, they endorse sport's beautiful clarity -- pure performance, nothing else, separates the winners from the losers.That's why the two Modesto Christian players probably don't understand what happened Tuesday in a Stanislaus County courtroom. They recognize the outcome -- their high school careers ended -- but not the reason behind it.
Their question: What exactly did we do wrong?
Our answer: Nothing.
It's difficult for them because they were full-court pressed in a courtroom, not a basketball court. Men in suits and dark robes turned out to be the toughest opponents they've faced in their young lives.
Midgley and Pratt transferred from England to the Unites States 21/2 years ago, their life-changing move supported by loved ones on both sides of the ocean. They were told they would play for the Crusaders for three seasons, which turned out to be only 1¼ seasons before it was ruled they had exhausted their athletic eligibility.
Is their fate just? Only if you enjoy watching a system trifle with teen-aged basketball players.
Midgley and Pratt (how unfair they're joined at the hip by everything from courtroom documents to newspapers) have been wronged. They've been victimized by a system thoroughly unprepared to deal with the vagaries of eligibility regarding foreign transfer students.
Here's the strange thing: Through it all, they may still accomplish all their goals. Both have agreed to attend universities on basketball scholarships -- Midgley at Cal, Pratt at Boise State. In spite of the mess, they're still on pace to move forward.
Our special concern lies in what they will leave behind. Will such bodies as the California Interscholastic Federation, the Sac-Joaquin Section and Modesto Christian learn from their errors? Or will future student-athletes twist in the wind, helpless against the forces swirling around them?
The CIF, like many state associations in the country, only now is beginning to tackle this issue. International students flock into America, and all they seek is a place to study, a venue to play and a launching pad for their future.
Nothing wrong in that, except when their needs conflict with other players or with existing rules. And when there are no clear-cut rules to enforce or precedents to follow, you end up in a court of law.
To her credit, new CIF Executive Director Marie Ishida recognizes the problem. In future gray-area issues similar to MC's, count on both the state and the section to act decisively, rather than stall and grope.
It didn't help that some section administrators reacted to Modesto Christian's basketball success with equal parts envy and vindictiveness. In their eyes, Modesto Christian was too small to be so good, therefore something must be wrong, as though MC was the first private school to dominate in athletics. Chasing the Crusaders almost became a sport unto itself.
That said, Modesto Christian itself must take part of the fall.
Unlike other cases involving such things as fraudulent birth certificates or tweaked transcripts, there was no attempt to deceive by MC. To this moment, school officials felt they acted in the best interests of Midgley and Pratt.
The school's mistake was allowing the issue to drag on without resolution. They knew as early as January 2000 that storm clouds loomed regarding the pair's eligibility in 2002. During last season's playoffs, section commissioner Pete Saco made no secret his intent to revisit the topic.
Still, MC thought it could ride out the wave, perhaps underestimating their foes' resolve. It was a costly mistake.
Right or wrong, Modesto Christian continues to be haunted by the perception it's fudging rules. Its critics remind anyone within earshot MC boasts five additional foreign transfer students, besides the two in question, in its basketball program.
Modesto Christian knows it must absorb the heat, the price it pays for its basketball ambition. It behooves the school, however, to properly represent their students. Future questions regarding such fundamental matters as eligibility must be answered. Immediately.
And to think Midgley and Pratt believed their toughest loss took place in last season's CIF State Division I title game.
How sad they were asked, via a flawed system, to grow up far too soon.
