Tulsa World: North Carolina home, academic issues led to Jenks athlete's ineligibility

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North Carolina home, academic issues led to Jenks athlete's ineligibility

Jenks running back Jarrett Lake. Tulsa World file

By LYNN JACOBSEN AND JAMES ROYAL World Sports Writers
Published: 8/6/2009 2:55 PM
Last Modified: 8/7/2009 4:05 PM

Documents: View a PDF of the documents relating to Jarrett Lake's eligibility, including the e-mail that sparked the investigation.

Documents obtained by the Tulsa World on Thursday detail the findings of Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association regarding the eligibility of student-athlete Jarrett Lake.

In the documents, released by Jenks Public Schools through the Open Records Act, the OSSAA found that Lake was ineligible because his aunt, identified as Claire Williams in OSSAA documents, maintained permanent residence in North Carolina while leasing property in Jenks. Lake was also ruled academically ineligible because he was ineligible at his previous school due to unpaid fees.

Because of the violations, the OSSAA ruled Jenks would forfeit nine games from the 2008 football season and the football and boys track teams would be placed on one-year warning. If the teams violate more rules, they will face additional penalties, including probation. Jenks plans to appeal the ruling at the OSSAA board of directors meeting Tuesday.

Lake’s name and other identifying information were redacted in the documents, but the World has learned from several sources that he is the player in question. Lake played football and ran track for the Trojans during the 2008-09 academic year, and he has committed to play football at the University of Oklahoma.

A July 30 letter

from OSSAA Executive Director Ed Sheakley to Jenks athletic director Tony Dillingham and Jenks High School principal Mike Means laid out the organization’s findings. They were:

Lake’s aunt served as his guardian but never provided the school district with legal documentation of her status.

Williams maintained a residence in North Carolina while Lake was enrolled at Jenks, which would require a waiver to prevent a violation of dual residency rules. The OSSAA claims Williams abandoned that lease in December and returned to her home in Durham, N.C., for at least part of the holiday break. She went back to North Carolina in January for several months because of health issues.

When Lake enrolled at Jenks, he was not in good standing academically at his previous school (Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia) due to unpaid fees.

Williams could not be reached for comment.

The letter stated Williams provided Jenks with a lease agreement for the upcoming school year when Lake enrolled before the 2008-09 academic year. When Williams returned to North Caroline in January 2009, Lake began living with Tyrone and Ronda Lynn, the parents of former Trojan Gabe Lynn, a former teammate of Lake who will be a freshman at OU this season. The OSSAA stated this “could be deemed an economic incentive provided to encourage a student to remain at the School, in violation of OSSAA Rule 9.” Rule 9 deals with regulations relating to recruitment or influencing student athletes for athletic purposes.

Williams’ house in Durham has been for sale since July 2007, according to a letter from the Williams’ real estate agent provided to the OSSAA. Maintaining this residence was an issue for the organization, Sheakley said in the July 30 letter.

“Acquiring a new residence within the particular school district, while still retaining the previous residence, is not sufficient to establish eligibility,” he said.

In letters to OSSAA staff member David Jackson on April 28 and May 27, Dillingham said he felt Lake was eligible to participate in athletics. In the May 27 letter, he said he reviewed Lake’s residency status with Williams when Lake enrolled. Dillingham went on apologize for his “oversight in not having them complete the dual residency paperwork.”

Jenks director of communications Tara Thompson said the district would not comment on the the OSSAA's findings.

"It would be inappropriate for the Jenks School District to comment on the specifics of this issue before the OSSAA has reached a final decision," said Tara Thompson, director of communications for the district. "The appeal is scheduled for August 11th, and the district will respect the appeal process as outlined by the OSSAA."

According to the July 30 letter, Lake wasn’t in good standing at Hargrave because he “had not received credit from the last semester due to unpaid fees.”

“Under OSSAA rules, a student who would not be eligible at (his) previous school remains ineligible until the eligibility issue at the previous school has been resolved,” the letter states.

The OSSAA’s letter also states a review of Lake’s unofficial transcript indicated he would be “starting (his) fifth year of high school in the coming school year.” Without filing for a hardship waiver, he would not be eligible for the 2009-10 academic year.

The investigation was sparked by an anonymous e-mail sent April 10 by a person who claimed their son had been “screwed out of playing time” by Lake. The e-mail was sent from the address badad2011@aol.com. An e-mail sent to the address Thursday was returned with a message stating it was undeliverable.

“I am now advising you for the last time before I sue each of you individually,” the April 10 e-mail said. “… I dare each of you to ignore this e-mail. I have already retained an attorney who advised me to send you one last e-mail before we take action.”

Sheakley said the OSSAA’s investigation was a result of standing policies and not because of threat of legal action.

“Any time we get information about a rules violation, it is our protocol to investigate with the school,” Sheakley said.

By LYNN JACOBSEN AND JAMES ROYAL World Sports Writers

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COMMENTS

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "OSSAA rules Jenks must forfeit 9 games," which was published on 8/7/2009. So far, 138 comments have been made.

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