Kennedy Charter School has been playing basketball for a few years now, but the team has never been a factor or anywhere close to one of the state's elite teams .

That's changed now.

The Eagles are 4-0 and winning by an average of 53 points per game. At least four of them will play Division I college basketball at a high level, and Monday, Kennedy Charter will get even better when former Olympic star B.J. Gladden enrolls in the public charter school.

On Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools ruled Gladden ineligible due to residency. The school didn't have to forfeit any games he played in, but losing Gladden hurt the Trojans (4-0), who beat Myers Park Friday without him.

Gladden, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, is ranked among the top 10 players in the state in his class by several publications. According to national recruiting website scout.com, Gladden has 11 Division I college offers. At Olympic, he was the Trojans' No. 4 scorer (8.7 points), No. 2 rebounder (5.0) and first in steals (1.7). Olympic is No. 2 in the Observer's Sweet 16.

At Kennedy Charter, Gladden joins an already deep team that has five double-figure scorers: Donte Clark (24.3 points per game), J.J. Douglas (21.3), Jalen White (18.3), Julius Hamilton (11.3) and Che Bob (11.0).

Kennedy Charter first-year coach Ed Addie said Gladden's father filled out the school's application and would be submitting it Monday morning. He expected approval the same day as his school, which has no attendance boundaries and has open seats.

Addie said Gladden was living in Olympic's district when school started, but after some family and housing changes, he was not when basketball season began.

"They were not aware he couldn't play basketball there anymore because of it," Addie said. "They weren't trying to sneak anything in."

Addie said Gladden will immediately make his team better.

"Bringing in a Division I player, he's going to make an immediate impact," Addie said. "B.J. Gladden is a tremendous talent to go along with several other Division I players currently on our roster. He definitely puts us into the upper echelon of teams in North Carolina."

Tuesday night, area basketball fans can get a treat. At Northside Christian, the Knights will host High Point Wesleyan. Northside is ranked No. 3 in the Observer's Sweet 16 and reached the N.C. Independent Schools 2A state finals last season.

Wesleyan features 6-foot-5 sophomore wing Theo Pinson, who is ranked the No. 1 or No. 2 sophomore in the nation, depending on which recruiting service you trust. Pinson won a gold medal on a USA Basketball team last summer. His mother, Barbara, played basketball at Charlotte. He has an uncle who played basketball at Alabama A&M and another who played at Alabama.

Pinson already has scholarship offers from Duke, N.C. State, Georgetown, Kentucky and Connecticut.

I was surprised that Harding upset No. 1 West Charlotte Friday. It was a big night for the Lions, who were celebrating their 2010 state championship win. I read where Lions coach Baronton Terry wasn't happy with his team's performance in what sounded like an easy season-opening win over West Mecklenburg last week.

But maybe he saw something. Maybe he saw his team not playing with the passion and emotion it had last season en route to winning its final 14 games. I couldn't reach Terry for comment Saturday, but my guess is that's true and it may serve as a wakeup call to the Lions. They'll be getting everybody's best shot this season, and unless they can match their opponents' emotion, it could be a long season for the champs.