crenshaw to forfeit games

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SoCalHoops High School News

Derrick Clark Out At Crenshaw;
Forfeit Losses Coming--(Feb. 15, 2002)

We reported two days ago that Crenshaw and the LA City Section were investigating allegations that a player (or players) on the current Crenshaw team had exhausted his eligibility, which might require the Cougars to forfeit games in which the player participated.

This morning the Los Angeles Times confirmed the report, and identified the ineligible player as Derrick Clark (6'-1" PG) who transferred from Luezinger to Crenshaw in or around December of this year. Clark has played in all of Crenshaw's games since at least January, 2002.

According to the LA Times' report, which quoted Crenshaw assistant coach Kelly Williams (who is also the father of Crenshaw junior point guard Marcus Williams) "The City Section has declared Crenshaw senior guard Derrick Clark ineligible for the boys' basketball playoffs because his eligibility has expired."

The Times also spoke with Barbara Fiege, the LA City Section Commissioner, who said that Crenshaw "may have to forfeit an undisclosed number of regular-season games."

Clark re-enrolled in the fall at Leuzinger after attempting to transfer to a high school in Las Vegas. He told SoCalHoops in the fall that he didn't make the transfer to Las Vegas because Nevada has a policy that out-of-state transfers must sit out a year before becoming eligible at the varsity level. He played the past two years with the Paladins travel team, coached by Eric Hardin, a team which from time to time featured players such as DeAngelo Collins, Marcus Williams, Doug Collins (now at a prep school), Ray Reed, Terrence Jones, Seth Davis, Darius Sanders, and others.

Clark had been in the starting rotation since joining Crenshaw, and was averaging 15 ppg. He played almost the entire game at the Nike Extravaganza, a game which the Cougars lost to Villa Park.