The story of the Nathan Hale High School boys basketball team should be the feel-good story of the year.
It’s a story of a team that went 3-18 last season, hires a former NBA star as coach and becomes a state-title contender.
But the more you learn about the Seattle school’s basketball team, the less good it feels.
In June, Nathan Hale hired former Trail Blazer Brandon Roy as its head coach.
The very next day, it was reported that a trio of brothers from Missouri would be attending Nathan Hale in the fall — Michael Porter Jr., a 6-9 senior rated as No. 2 prep recruit in the country, Jontay Porter, a 6-9 junior rated as a four-star recruit and Coban Porter, a 6-3 freshman.
The Porter’s father is Michael Porter Sr., who was hired last spring as an assistant coach for the University of Washington men’s basketball team.
By August, three more players enrolled at Nathan Hale who played last year at Garfield, Edmonds-Woodway and Bishop Blanchet, plus a freshman who arrived from Yakima.
This season, Nathan Hale become the top-ranked boys basketball team in the nation by both MaxPreps.com and USA Today.
Over in Oregon, the West Linn boys are aiming for a fifth straight 6A state title with a first-year coach, four players who played last season at other high schools plus four freshmen who did not attend middle schools that feed into West Linn High School.
Both of these stories have caused outrage, people calling for investigations into all of this player movement.
But there is one thing you need to remember about both these stories — it is possible that in all this player movement that no rule was ever violated.
Some people have a hard time embracing that, but it’s true.
That’s because rules pertaining to player’s eligibility are very lax and ripe for abuse.
First, let’s talk about the word “transfer.” To most folks, that simply means a student who moved from one high school to another.
But technically a transfer pertains only to a student who changes schools without changing his or her permanent residence. A student who changes schools by moving is said to have “relocated.”
It’s an important distinction because if you relocate, you are generally eligible to play for your new school right away.
Another thing to remember is every parent chooses where their children attend school when they choose where to live.
I don’t know about you, but before I moved into my home, the first thing I checked out was where the schools my kids would attend.
But some parents check out a school’s test scores, while others check a school’s RPI ranking.
There have been proposals to tighten up the rules pertaining to students who change schools. Most recently two years ago, when a proposal was made that would require a student to sit out half the season if he or she moved to a school within 50 miles of their previous school.
It was voted down, probably because some people thought it was too harsh.
Do we want to penalize a student who had to change schools because his family was evicted from their home? Do we want to penalize a student who wants to become a doctor and School A has a better STEM program than School B?
No, but something needs to be done, because the stories at Nathan Hale and West Linn are not isolated.
I remember reading about teams at the 4A and 3A state basketball tournaments last year, and just about every team that took a title had a player who started high school someplace else.
Player movement in high schools sports is becoming more rampant, and it’s only going to get worse unless something is done.
High school sports already has a problem with economic imbalance. Schools from more affluent areas tend to have more success than schools from poorer areas. That’s undeniable.
And when you consider that it’s easier for a family with means to relocate than a family with fewer resources, the disparity only gets worse.
If the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is committed to one of its stated goals to “design all activities to provide fair and equal opportunities for all participants,” the WIAA member schools must find solutions to the free migration of high school athletes.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
