S.C. high school league smooths appeals process

At the annual Legislative Assembly meeting of the S.C. High School League, delegates from the S.C. Athletic Administrators Association elected to amend the League’s constitution and by-laws in order to add another level to the appeals process.

The current appeals process — featuring an appellate panel that has the authority to overturn or uphold the rulings of the League’s Executive Committee — was written into the constitution in 2013.

This year, the delegates chose to add a more preliminary appeal level for schools and students that wish to appeal on the basis of hardship. The newly approved hardship appeals committee will have five Executive Committee members, and will hear cases involving students who enroll after the deadline.

“Basically, this will provide another level of assistance to students and schools without them having to wait until the regularly scheduled executive committee meeting, which may not occur until the sport season the student is attempt to participate in has ended,” said league commissioner Jerome Singleton.

“During the upcoming school year, we predict a decrease in full executive committee level appeals which deal with some of the ever-changing dynamics of zoning restrictions among our schools, as well as deadlines that conflict with enrollment issues,” Singleton said.

Two other key measures and rule changes approved during this year’s meeting allowed for the inclusion of charter and private school representatives on the executive committee by adding an additional, at-large seat on the committee, and allowing school districts the ability to assign athletic eligibility to students within their districts who attend schools that do not offer sports.

That measure is intended to allow for more local control of student eligibility.

The changes will be in effect for the 2015-16 school year, beginning July 1.

Area players star in Carolinas ClassicThe Carolinas Classic all-star basketball event on March 27-28 saw some big performances from area players. Though South Carolina’s boys and girls teams both lost, two Midlands boys earned distinction at the event.

Spring Valley’s Malik Dunbar won the intrastate showcase’s slam dunk contest at Myrtle Beach, notching two perfect scores in the final round to claim the victory.

And in the boys’ North Carolina vs. South Carolina game, Dreher’s Tevin Mack posted a game-high 27 points on 10-of-22 shooting and was named the team’s most valuable player.

Mack, the Class 3A All-State player of the year, tied the game record for 3-point shooting, with four triples. Dunbar notched 18 points and 10 rebounds in the game, which South Carolina lost 106-93.

This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 11:49 PM with the headline "S.C. high school league smooths appeals process."