Report: James Wiseman's High School in Danger of Forfeiting 2017-18 State Title

Memphis East High School is in danger of forfeiting its 2017-18 state championship because James Wiseman and Ryan Boyce were ineligible.   

Mark Schlabach of ESPN reported that Shelby County Chancery Court Judge Jim Kyle upheld the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's ruling that Wiseman and Boyce were ineligible because of their previous relationship with then-head coach Penny Hardaway. 

The players were ruled ineligible in November 2017 but continued to play while the case was under appeal, winning a state championship.

Kyle said his court did not have jurisdiction to overturn the case because the TSSAA is a voluntary organization. Memphis East would be forced to forfeit all games in which Wiseman and Boyce played, surrendering their state title.

"There's still pending litigation, but if the decision comes out that our rules will be enforced as they initially were, games won while using an ineligible player would be forfeited," TSSAA assistant executive director Matthew Gillespie said. "Therefore, with a championship game being one of them, a state title game would be forfeited and they'd no longer be crowned state champions."

The case is currently in an appeals process.

Wiseman is now in an eerily similar situation at Memphis, where he has been deemed likely to be ruled ineligible by the NCAA but has continued to play. Memphis filed an appeal for a temporary stay of the suspension, which is not technically enforceable. NCAA eligibility rules are suggestions that schools, by and large, comply with, and the final determination is made by school presidents.

While Memphis could have to forfeit games in which Wiseman plays once a final determination is made, he is free to continue playing for now—potentially for the remainder of the season. The NCAA ruled Wiseman ineligible because of a $11,500 loan his family took from Hardaway, who is now the Memphis coach.