Coast Christian Star Earl Rhodes Thrown for Loss by Ineligibility

Coast Christian running back Earl Rhodes, the two-time CIF Eight-Man Small Division Player of the Year, is ineligible this season because he has already completed eight semesters of high school, the school’s athletic director said Wednesday.

Randy Robinson said Rhodes attended Pasadena High School as a freshman in the 1984-85 academic year. That makes this the fifth year of high school for the 18-year-old Rhodes, considered one of the top college football prospects in the South Bay.

“He took some bad advice,” Robinson said. “Someone should have explained the consequences to him.”

Rhodes was listed as a junior last year when he led Coast Christian of Redondo Beach to its second consecutive Southern Section Eight-Man Small Division title. In terms of eligibility, though, he was a senior.

Without the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Rhodes, Coast Christian had its 24-game winning streak snapped Saturday in a season opener against Victor Valley Christian, 50-0.

Robinson said he discovered that Rhodes was ineligible after receiving an anonymous phone call last week. He checked the tip with Pasadena High, which confirmed that Rhodes had attended the school as a ninth-grader but did not participate in football.

Robinson said when Rhodes transferred to Coast Christian the following year in 1985, he was listed as a freshman instead of a sophomore. The fact Rhodes repeated the ninth grade came as a surprise to Coast Christian officials.

“Our records showed he had attended Pasadena Junior High before coming here,” Robinson said.

Dan Pride, who coached Rhodes the last three seasons at Coast Christian and drove the student to school from his home in Pasadena, said he was shocked by the news.

“Coming into Coast I thought he was a freshman,” said Pride, now the football coach at Webb in Claremont. “I don’t know if he wanted to forget (his year at Pasadena High) or what. I don’t think he knew about the rule.”

Rhodes could not be reached for comment.

Southern Section administrator Bill Clark said the only way Rhodes might have been eligible to play this season would be if he had been physically unable to play football during his freshman year at Pasadena High.

“He doesn’t have much ground for an appeal,” Clark said. “From what I understand, when he was at Pasadena he had the opportunity to play. We’re not in the business of red-shirting people.”

Robinson said Rhodes is attending classes at Coast Christian and hopes to play college football next year.

“We’re still going to try and get him a scholarship,” Robinson said. “He wants to pick up his (grade-point average) and be able to play football again next year. In spite of this setback, he wants to go on.”

Rhodes dominated his division, the lowest in the Southern Section, each of the last two seasons, rushing for 3,829 yards.