After basketball team is forced to end season, more eligibility issues surface at Lake Norman
On Tuesday, the Lake Norman High boys’ basketball team was forced to end its season because of an eligibility issue with one of its players.
On Friday, Iredell-Statesville Schools public information officer Jada Jones told The Charlotte Observer that the school has reported additional eligibility violations to the N.C. High School Athletic Association regarding some of Lake Norman’s spring sports teams.
Jones said that the NCHSAA has not determined any official consequences yet. But she said that the violations “have been remedied to allow the teams to continue.” Jones did not name the affected teams.
Normal NCHSAA policy would mean any games an ineligible player dressed to participate in would be forfeited. But the team can continue to play once the ineligible player is removed.
Two sources close to the situation told The Observer that there were two spring sports teams at Lake Norman affected, but a records check revealed no records changes for those two teams, or for any other spring sports teams at Lake Norman as of Friday afternoon.
Jones, the Iredell County spokesperson, said that Lake Norman athletic director Jay Keener has been reassigned to another position within the district, and that Shawn Cioffi is the school’s interim AD.
On Tuesday, Keener told The Observer that he discovered the ineligible basketball player while checking spring sports eligibility. Jones told The Observer that it was not an age violation or a residency issue.
“The eligibility issue arose and was missed when we transitioned from the first semester to the second semester,” she wrote in an email.
The discovery in basketball meant that Lake Norman had to end its season before Tuesday’s scheduled third-round playoff game with Myers Park. The Wildcats were 27-1 and the favorite to win the N.C. 4A title.
Myers Park was scheduled to host Chambers High in a state quarterfinal Friday.
“I tried to talk to the team first,” Keener said of the eligibility discovery. “I worked with my administration and staff all day, but it just couldn’t be resolved. The ones it affects are the guys working the hardest. In 21 years as a public educator, as a teacher, a coach, athletics director, today was probably the hardest day that I’ve had just from my seat.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM.
