Buddy Holly
09-14-2006, 12:14 AM
League drops Cornerstone Christian High School
Web Posted: 09/13/2006 11:52 PM CDT
Dan McCarney and Burt Henry
Express-News Staff Writers
When Walter Webb first arrived at Cornerstone Christian High School last year, he made no attempt to hide his objective for the tiny North Side campus.
"I want us to have the No. 1 basketball program in the country," Webb said.
If Webb is to realize that lofty aim, he'll have to do so outside the parameters of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
TAPPS, of which Cornerstone was a member, has announced that the school was not offered a membership contract for the 2006-07 school year, a move that effectively expels Cornerstone from the organization.
Cornerstone Superintendent Alan Hulme and Webb declined interview requests Wednesday, instead deferring to a short news release.
The release stated that Cornerstone will seek membership in the University Interscholastic League, the governing body for Texas public schools.
TAPPS director Edd Burleson said the decision to dismiss Cornerstone related to the number of transfers enrolling to play for Webb.
"They are bringing in athletes from other parts of the country and other countries," Burleson said. "It's a great mission, but it doesn't fit in with the guidelines of TAPPS. (TAPPS and Cornerstone are) going in two different directions on this."
It marked the second time in 11 years that Cornerstone's aggressive pursuit of basketball prominence has landed it in trouble.
Cornerstone was ruled to have recruited five Mexican players, including future NBA forward Eduardo Najera, to play at the school for the 1994-95 season, leading to a split from TAPPS. Cornerstone sued for reinstatement before Najera left to play at the University of Oklahoma.
Private schools can apply for UIL membership if they meet certain eligibility requirements. One states that schools cannot join if they have been suspended or had their participation "revoked for violating rules or codes by another league similar to the UIL," according to the UIL constitution.
Burleson and Cornerstone officials, through the news release, said the school has not been sanctioned.
Not recently, at least.
In January, TAPPS ruled that 11 of Webb's players, including nine on the varsity squad, were ineligible because of receiving improper arrangements regarding room and board. The Warriors, who were 25-5 at the time, were forced to forfeit all games in which the players participated.
Cornerstone also was placed on three years' probation and given a public reprimand. The penalties came just a few months after TAPPS ruled the school ineligible for postseason play for another violation. The ban was eventually dropped.
UIL spokeswoman Kim Rogers said schools that do not meet the UIL's criteria for eligibility can request a rule change that would have to be approved by the organization's Legislative Council.
The number of transfers at Cornerstone would almost certainly be a major roadblock with the UIL, which prohibits recruiting.
If granted membership, Cornerstone would have to compete in Class 5A, which features schools with enrollments as large as 5,000 students. According to the TAPPS Web site, Cornerstone has 209 students.
The UIL has just two private school members, Dallas Jesuit and Houston Strake Jesuit. Those schools, both of which have roughly 2,000 students, sued to join the UIL after TAPPS instituted an enrollment cap that forced them to leave. The two joined the UIL in 2004.
Though Cornerstone's boys basketball team is scheduled for a slate of games throughout the country, the rest of the school's sports, which rely almost exclusively on local competition, might be in limbo.
Cornerstone's district opponents could honor the remaining schedules, all of which already have been set, and treat them as nondistrict games. They could also cancel the games.
Frank Vavala, athletic director and football coach for district opponent St. Anthony, said his school would make that decision over the next several days.
Web Posted: 09/13/2006 11:52 PM CDT
Dan McCarney and Burt Henry
Express-News Staff Writers
When Walter Webb first arrived at Cornerstone Christian High School last year, he made no attempt to hide his objective for the tiny North Side campus.
"I want us to have the No. 1 basketball program in the country," Webb said.
If Webb is to realize that lofty aim, he'll have to do so outside the parameters of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
TAPPS, of which Cornerstone was a member, has announced that the school was not offered a membership contract for the 2006-07 school year, a move that effectively expels Cornerstone from the organization.
Cornerstone Superintendent Alan Hulme and Webb declined interview requests Wednesday, instead deferring to a short news release.
The release stated that Cornerstone will seek membership in the University Interscholastic League, the governing body for Texas public schools.
TAPPS director Edd Burleson said the decision to dismiss Cornerstone related to the number of transfers enrolling to play for Webb.
"They are bringing in athletes from other parts of the country and other countries," Burleson said. "It's a great mission, but it doesn't fit in with the guidelines of TAPPS. (TAPPS and Cornerstone are) going in two different directions on this."
It marked the second time in 11 years that Cornerstone's aggressive pursuit of basketball prominence has landed it in trouble.
Cornerstone was ruled to have recruited five Mexican players, including future NBA forward Eduardo Najera, to play at the school for the 1994-95 season, leading to a split from TAPPS. Cornerstone sued for reinstatement before Najera left to play at the University of Oklahoma.
Private schools can apply for UIL membership if they meet certain eligibility requirements. One states that schools cannot join if they have been suspended or had their participation "revoked for violating rules or codes by another league similar to the UIL," according to the UIL constitution.
Burleson and Cornerstone officials, through the news release, said the school has not been sanctioned.
Not recently, at least.
In January, TAPPS ruled that 11 of Webb's players, including nine on the varsity squad, were ineligible because of receiving improper arrangements regarding room and board. The Warriors, who were 25-5 at the time, were forced to forfeit all games in which the players participated.
Cornerstone also was placed on three years' probation and given a public reprimand. The penalties came just a few months after TAPPS ruled the school ineligible for postseason play for another violation. The ban was eventually dropped.
UIL spokeswoman Kim Rogers said schools that do not meet the UIL's criteria for eligibility can request a rule change that would have to be approved by the organization's Legislative Council.
The number of transfers at Cornerstone would almost certainly be a major roadblock with the UIL, which prohibits recruiting.
If granted membership, Cornerstone would have to compete in Class 5A, which features schools with enrollments as large as 5,000 students. According to the TAPPS Web site, Cornerstone has 209 students.
The UIL has just two private school members, Dallas Jesuit and Houston Strake Jesuit. Those schools, both of which have roughly 2,000 students, sued to join the UIL after TAPPS instituted an enrollment cap that forced them to leave. The two joined the UIL in 2004.
Though Cornerstone's boys basketball team is scheduled for a slate of games throughout the country, the rest of the school's sports, which rely almost exclusively on local competition, might be in limbo.
Cornerstone's district opponents could honor the remaining schedules, all of which already have been set, and treat them as nondistrict games. They could also cancel the games.
Frank Vavala, athletic director and football coach for district opponent St. Anthony, said his school would make that decision over the next several days.