Judge Denies Injunction Bid in Holcomb Eligibility Case

A Ventura County Superior Court judge on Friday rejected a Westlake Village man’s request for a preliminary injunction on behalf of 3 Westlake High freshmen seeking athletic eligibility.

Buzz Holcomb, who sparked a controversy over eligibility requirements when he assumed legal guardianship of a group of young athletes from Pacoima, sought the injunction for his son Erik, Brian Brison and Mukasa Crowe, all of whom were denied eligibility for 1 semester on academic grounds. The boys repeated the eighth grade last year at a private school in Thousand Oaks, but Holcomb withdrew them in February and sent them to a private tutor.

California Interscholastic Federation rules state that a student must have passed at least 20 hours of course work in the last regular grading period in order to secure eligibility. Judge Edwin Osborne upheld that regulation.

The boys may secure eligibility by the start of the second semester in January if they complete 20 units with at least a 2.0 grade-point average.

“This is a tough one to swallow and everyone’s disappointed, but we’ll go on from here,” Holcomb said. Last fall, Holcomb assumed legal guardianship of Brison and Crowe, who played on the same youth football and track teams with Erik Holcomb.

The move prompted recruiting charges against Holcomb from opposing coaches, but he was exonerated of wrongdoing by the Southern Section in August.