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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools confirmed Friday afternoon that student-athletes Anthony Stitt, James Harvin and Trendell Lynch have been punished for eligibility violations during the 2007-08 school year. DeShaun White also broke an eligibility rule, but has graduated from Butler High.
Stitt, Harvin and Lynch must sit out one game for every game they played in last season, should they decide to play at an N.C. public school this school year.
Stitt, a 6-foot, 160-pound rising sophomore point guard, is one of the county's most promising basketball players. He played at Butler High last season, and was invited to the Carolinas Challenge, an all-star game for top N.C. underclassmen, in March.
Harvin and Lynch played on the East Mecklenburg High football team last fall. East Meck had to forfeit that season, two coaches were suspended and its athletics director was stripped of that title when CMS recently uncovered false addresses used by at least one player. The penalties were announced this month. The Observer had not been able to confirm the names of the players involved until Friday.
Sources close to the East Mecklenburg program told the Observer that Lynch used a phony address that a volunteer coach and team booster had roles in arranging. Lynch, a 5-8, 156-pound sophomore, played tailback and cornerback. Sources said he lived in the Independence High district.
The reason for Harvin's sanction is unclear. The 6-1, 175-pound junior quarterback played in at least five games last season and started at least one game as a freshman in 2006. He has enrolled at Victory Christian Center School, according to his profile on a recruiting Web site.
White also used a phony address. He was a 6-foot-2, 260-pound senior offensive lineman for Butler last fall.
CMS announced Stitt and White's ineligibility Wednesday, along with the suspension of a player on the Independence football team for using a phony address. That player also must sit one game for every game he played in 2007. The Observer could not confirm the identity of the Independence player.
Neither Independence nor Butler has to forfeit its 2007 football season, CMS says, because it determined school officials could not have prevented the ineligibilities using reasonable scrutiny.
CMS also confirmed Friday that East Meck football player Ronnie Bishop was sanctioned for an eligibility violation, which was reported on CharlotteObserver.com Friday afternoon. But Friday night Bishop's father Dino said CMS has reinstated his son. The Bishops have lived in the East Meck zone since 1994, according to Dino Bishop and public records.
“There was never any question of where Ronnie lived,” Dino Bishop said.
“I can't even tell you what (CMS) thought.”
Ronnie Bishop missed the first two weeks of practice but expects to return to his team Monday, his father said.
A CMS spokesperson could not be reached Friday night.
