Supreme Court rules on Mayo basketball suspension
November 14, 2008 ·
High school athletes are now on notice. If you are ejected from a game for bad behavior and ordered to sit out for any following games, you may not take your complaint to a court of law.
High school athletes are now on notice. If you are ejected from a game for bad behavior and ordered to sit out for any following games, you may not take your complaint to a court of law.
The state Supreme Court voted unanimously to reinstate two rules by the Secondary Schools Activities Commission dealing with game suspensions.
Attorney Bill Wooton, representating the SSAC, says the commission is relieved.
The case involved O.J. Mayo. A former basketball star from Huntington High School, now playing for the NBA.
Mayo was ejected from a game in January 2007 for knocking down a referee. He was eventually suspended for three games.
His attorney Matthew Woelful took the decision to penalize Mayo to court, citing a lack of due process.
A circuit court judge in Huntington agreed. The SSAC appealed to the Supreme Court.
Wooton says on the court or field of play, the referee is judge and jury.
Woeful says the court’s ruling sends a message to high school athletes that they do not have a constitutional right to due process. But Woelful acknowledges that the threat of suspension does have a positive effect on student athletes.