Goose Creek Officials: Options Exhausted, Season Over

Goose Creek High officials conceded Tuesday that their options have been exhausted in the week-long appeal of a 4A playoff disqualification.

The defending state champions went undefeated this season, but learned last week that the Gators may have had an ineligible player on the team — a special needs student who played 17 out of the more than 1,600 plays.

Principal Jimmy Huskey quickly alerted the South Carolina High School League. He'd expected support for an exception in the case. The school was refused three times: in a staff-level decision and two hearings by the SCHSL executive committee.

"At this time we have no other recourse left to us in the legal system," said Huskey. "We feel that its in the best interest of our students and our community to move forward without any other action from the district or the school." 

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The SCHSL committee initially refused an appeal Wednesday. The team received a last-minute reprieve in circuit court on Friday morning, letting the Gators play Friday night. But it was only temporary, with the committee instructed to rehear the school's plea.

Coach Reedy approved the student to participate in September, believing the he had only used three years of eligibility. The school would learn last Monday that the student's transcript had since been updated to account for a fourth year in an Upstate children's home.

Goose Creek argued Monday that the student had no access to the Upstate school's sports program while restricted to the home, but SCHSL unanimously ruled the student had exhausted his eligibility and, in a 12-2 vote, declined the school's plea for a hardship that would have let the Gators finish the playoffs.

Daily Coverage

• District Goes to Court to Save Postseason
• Gators Lose Appeal In Front of SCHSL Committee
• Goose Creek Gators Disqualified

More Coverage

• State 4A Division II Tournament Bracket
• Goose Creek Disqualification Timeline
• Gator Nation Celebrates Playoff Reprieve
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• Chuck Reedy's Appeal to SCHSL Executive Committee
• Players and Students React to News
• List of S.C. High School League committee members

District Statements

• District's Statement on Second Failed Appeal
• District Statement on Court Decision
• District's Release on Legal Challenge to Disqualification
• District's Response to Lost Appeal
• District Statement and Details of Appeal