Use of ineligible player at Marist causes team to forfeit entire schedule
What began with so much promise for Marist, with thoughts of possible NJSIAA Parochial B state championships – led by what was perceived to be the most potent backcourt in the state with Tony Tate and Rashid Dunbar – came to a crashing thud on Wednesday afternoon.
The NJSIAA ruled that the Marist boys basketball team must forfeit all 20 of its games this season for using an ineligible player – a student who transferred to Marist this season from Connecticut, but used a fraudulent address in South Orange as his home residence.
According to NJSIAA associate director Jim Loper, the state will inform Marist officially by letter that the NJSIAA is awarding forfeit victories to all 20 of Marist’s opponents this season. The ruling automatically makes the Royal Knights immediately ineligible to participate in the upcoming NJSIAA Parochial B North playoffs and also disqualifies the team from the HCIAA playoffs, which are set to begin Monday.
“At this point, Marist’s record now stands at 0-20,” Loper said. “Further review will take place by Marist [as to] how the situation developed. We have instructed them to report back to us with the findings of their investigation. This situation may be referred to the controversies committee depending upon the final review of the school.”
Marist officials tried to come clean of the entire situation by informing the NJSIAA Tuesday that the basketball team had been using an ineligible player, 6-3 sophomore forward John Winchester, who had transferred to Marist in the fall from West Hill High School in Stamford, Conn.
The school learned recently that Winchester improperly enrolled at the school with a South Orange woman who was thought to be his mother. The school believed at the time that Winchester’s family had moved from Stamford to South Orange.
Because the school believed Winchester had officially changed his address, he was not required to sit out the first 30 days of the basketball season due to the NJSIAA’s transfer waiver rule.
However, that was not the case. Winchester apparently never resided at the South Orange address he provided at the time of his registration.
According to a former Marist assistant coach who requested anonymity, Marist head coach Chris Chevannes became aware of Winchester during the summer and invited the youngster to play with Marist’s AAU team at the Charles Weber Tournament in Maryland.
“At the time, Winchester was someone that the coaching staff was looking at,” the source said. “A lot of times, we would get a phone call, how a player was looking to go elsewhere, so we had to check him out. That’s how we got Robert Reed [the former Marist center who hails from England and now plays for Rider]. And when a foreign player was involved, Chris was the one who arranged for guardianship.”
Winchester impressed the coaching staff during the tournament and was invited to transfer to Marist, where he has played all season, averaging 14.8 points per game.
Last weekend, Marist principal Brother Stephen Schlitte, who began his tenure at the school in the fall, attended a family dinner in Connecticut when someone approached him and asked him where he was. When Schlitte told the person that he was the principal at Marist in Bayonne, the person said to Schlitte, “That’s the school that stole our best player.”
Schlitte asked the person for the player’s name. It was John Winchester – the same John Winchester that had transferred into the school.
Schlitte came back and brought the student into his office for questioning. When he asked Winchester for his home phone number, he presented a Connecticut number. When that number was called, a woman answered the phone and said she was Winchester’s mother. The woman at the South Orange residence admitted that she was not Winchester’s mother, nor his legal guardian.
Winchester has been suspended from the basketball team until the investigation surrounding his transfer is completed.
Chevannes first told Schlitte that he had no idea that Winchester was not living in South Orange.
“We have to take our coach on his word,” Marist athletic director Vin Czachorowski said. “If he tells us that he had no knowledge, then we have to believe him. But we have an ongoing investigation in this matter and we hope to have all the facts before us before we make any moves.”
Another strange scenario that still plagues the Marist program is the scenario surrounding the transfer of former All-State guard Tate from St. Anthony to Marist last fall. Tate was first personally brought to Marist and Chevannes by former St. Anthony assistant coach Dave Lipman last May, when Tate began playing with the Marist AAU team. He then subsequently officially transferred to the school when school started in September. Tate, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the season, now lists a Bayonne residence – ironically owned by Lipman, who currently serves as an assistant for Chevannes at Marist.
Because he officially moved from a downtrodden area of Jersey City known as Bergen-Lafayette, to the more affluent area of Bayonne, Tate also did not have to sit out the 30-day waiver period.
“They followed the rules every step of the way there,” Czachorowski said.
The Tate transfer was the reason why the assistant coach decided to leave the Marist program.
“I didn’t like the way we were going,” the coach said. “I felt something wasn’t right. Things were not what I had anticipated them to be. We had philosophical differences. In general, I just things got out of control. Not just at Marist. The whole system is out of whack. It’s become a big business and that’s sad.”
Czachorowski would not comment on the fate of Chevannes, but he was obviously not pleased with the situation.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that the players who have worked the hardest are the ones who are getting punished,” Czachorowski said. “Because of the poor judgment of one so-called adult, a lot of student-athletes suffer.”
Schlitte did not return phone calls. Both Chevannes’ home phone and his cellular phone numbers have been disconnected.
Czachorowski had first hoped that the NJSIAA would only force Marist to forfeit the six games that Winchester played in during the 30-day waiver period.
“We understand the consequences of the severe sanction,” Czachorowski said. “And we are willing to accept our punishment. The circumstances came up against us and we have to suffer the punishment.”
Loper said that the ball is basically in Marist’s court now.
“The school self-reported the violation and took immediate and decisive action relative to the situation,” Loper said. “But there may be other issues involved, besides the violation of the transfer rule. That is what the school is reviewing.”
No timetable has been set by the NJSIAA when Marist has to officially report matters to the state.
However, there is a dark cloud hovering over the entire boys’ basketball program.