Oakwood Player Wins Eligibility Petition

The Southern Section has granted a fifth year of athletic eligibility to an Oakwood School basketball player who entered the private school in North Hollywood as a 12-year-old ninth grader.

Telly Roberts, a 6-foot-5 forward who will turn 17 in December, petitioned last month for the rare exemption from Southern Section rules and will be allowed to play in his senior season. State and Southern Section rules limit students to eight consecutive semesters of eligibility.

Roberts based his appeal on social rather than athletic grounds, according to his mother, Shirley, who declined to have her son interviewed. Roberts entered school as a 3-year-old and requested to repeat the 10th grade because the age difference between him and his classmates began to bother him, his mother said.

“In some cases, he was three years younger than his classmates,” she said. “Some kids were talking about dating and he was still playing with robots. Emotionally, he felt the difference.

“It was his choice to repeat 10th grade so he could be with kids closer to his age.”

Roberts played no sports in his freshman year at Oakwood and played on the junior varsity basketball team as a sophomore. In his second year as a sophomore, he made the varsity and was a starter last season.

“Athletics were not a consideration,” Shirley Roberts said. “He didn’t play basketball or any sports growing up. He first got interested in basketball in the 10th grade. He was a precocious child, but now I think it was a mistake (to start him early in school). I didn’t realize the importance of his emotional development.”

Those circumstances prompted Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas to grant Roberts a waiver. He received the request on June 15 and ruled three days later.

“We don’t give away too many 202s,” he said of the eight-semester rule. “People that are redshirting, that’s always a no. But a 12-year-old in the ninth grade, that’s probably a hardship. This poor kid didn’t have the chance to compete.

“And it’s not like he’s going to be so old that he’ll dominate. He could be playing against 18- and 19-year-olds.”

Roberts averaged 12 points and 14 rebounds last season for the Gorillas, who compete in the 1-A Division. Oakwood placed fourth last season in the Liberty League with a 6-6 record. Oakwood Coach Roz Goldenberg, who is a finalist for the job as coach of Long Beach City College women’s team, characterizes Roberts as a late bloomer who has always been a student first. He has scored more than 1,200 on his Scholastic Aptitude Test.

“He’s a long way from being a dominant player,” she said. “He’s just a 16-year-old kid, but he’s improving every second. He’s just growing into his body and he’s getting more confident.

“One college coach said he’ll probably be a Division I player if he continues to improve.”