Lynwood Pair Left District : Basketball Players’ Status Unclear After Forfeiture

The status of two basketball players who left their residences in Lynwood to attend an Orange County high school only to be declared ineligible at season’s end is still uncertain.

The two, Ricky Butler and Derek Hazely, were instrumental in leading Ocean View High School of Huntington Beach to a 24-4 record, the Sunset League title and into the Southern Section 5A title game. Butler, a sophomore, was named the league’s Player of the Year.

But following the conclusion of the season, an investigation by Ocean View Principal John Myers and Huntington Beach Union High School District Athletic Director Bill Boswell concluded that Hazely and Butler should be declared ineligible. Myers also forfeited all games and titles won by the team and said that Coach Jim Harris would not be rehired.

Butler, a 6-6, 225-pound center, and Hazely, a 6-5, 215-pound sophomore forward, have lived with Harris at his El Toro home for the past seven months. Although El Toro is not within the boundaries of the Huntington Beach district, the players obtained a waiver from the district to play for Ocean View after their original plan to live with a guardian in Huntington Beach fell through.

Lynwood Version Told

Lynwood Co-Coaches Bill Notley, a Huntington Beach resident, and Chick Peterson said they would gladly take the pair back.

Lynwood school officials have said that the guardian recruited the pair and took them to Orange County with plans of having them play with his son at Ocean View, then moved out of the district. The officials said that repeated contact with the Southern Section office and Myers at Ocean View failed to produce a response.

CIF officials this week refused to comment on the case.

A school district official in Huntington Beach has said that the district will not accept a waiver from the Saddleback Unified School District (which has jurisdiction over the El Toro area) if the players intend to play at Ocean View and remain with Harris.