Vashon High School Says It's Guilty

Officials from Vashon High School reported today that five ineligible students played for its championship boys’ basketball team between the years 2002 and 2006.

Two violations resulted from improper recruiting; the other three students were ineligible because of residency violations.

The findings were presented in a closed session to the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s Board of Directors this afternoon during the board’s quarterly meeting at the Tan-Tar-A resort at Lake of the Ozarks.

MSHSAA would not disclose the students’ identities because of federal privacy laws. (More on that later.)

According to a MSHSAA statement, a sixth student could also be found ineligible. Vashon is taking more time to investigate.

Vashon today also asked the MSHSAA board to act on these violations at its next association meeting, in June. The high-school waived its rights to any appeals. That means that state championship titles could be removed.

Here’s our 2006 “Basketball By the Book” cover story, which launched this MSHSAA investigation beginning in January 2007. And here’s a cheat sheet to the alleged cheaters.

-Kristen Hinman