‘We fought the law and we won!’: Judge rules Glencoe basketball players eligible to play amid ongoing OSSAA legal battle

STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) — A Payne County judge ruled Friday that five Glencoe High School basketball players and their coach will not be barred from playing this season, handing the students a major win in their fight against the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA).

“We fought the law and we won,” Glencoe basketball player Kent Rossander said. “Probably the biggest moment of my life. I mean, it feels great.”

The ruling came after OSSAA said the students violated a rule banning students from having any links to a coach for a full year prior to transferring, and denied eligibility to play on Glencoe’s varsity team this year.

“I was really confused about what we did wrong,” player Hollis Garfield said.

“I was just scared we weren’t going to be able to play together,” player Maddox Schubert said.

“Not being able to play varsity [would be] a huge factor in my life, because I live to play varsity,” Rossander said.

Their parents sued, challenging the legality of the OSSAA rule in question.

Their attorney asked a Payne County judge to issue a preliminary injunction to pause their eligibility ban while the lawsuit plays out—arguing continuing to ban the boys from playing would cause “irreparable harm.”

The arguments in court on Friday really all came down to the fact that some of the boys attended a team camp at Glencoe High School back in May.

OSSAA and its attorneys pointed to their official rules, which say a student can’t attend a team camp unless they’re enrolled or pre-enrolled to attend the school holding the camp.

They argued the five Glencoe boys were not enrolled or pre-enrolled at the time of the camp, thus attending the camp hosted by Glencoe’s coach was considered a “link” to coach, and they would not be eligible to play for him for another year.

The students’ parents and attorneys said the boys were pre-enrolled to attend Glencoe Schools by the time they attended the camp.

Glencoe Public Schools’ superintendent testified that the boys were pre-enrolled prior to the camp in May.

But OSSAA Executive Director David Jackson testified that OSSAA doesn’t consider students pre-enrolled unless they send OSSAA some sort of written documentation of it — and that he still considered the boys unenrolled despite the Glencoe superintendent’s testimony.

Despite Jackson’s testimony, OSSAA’s rules do not actually mention anything about written documentation of enrollment or pre-enrollment being required for a student athlete to attend a team camp.

The students’ lawyers made that fact clear to the judge.

The judge agreed and said the boys’ parents’ lawsuit would have a ‘likely chance’ of succeeding in court.

Because of that likelihood, the judge ruled that denying the kids a chance to play on the varsity team while the lawsuit proceeds would cause the “irreparable harm,” also saying the kids did nothing wrong.

“At the end of the day, all we want to do is play basketball,” Rossander said. “So for him to rule in our favor was very, very relieving.”

The judge also commended their coach, Garrett Schubert, saying he had gone “above the call of duty” as both a mentor and coach.

“That made me feel a lot better,” Schubert said. “After getting slammed by the media and people on social media, it was great to hear the judge mention that I have done nothing wrong. At the end of the day, it’s about these kids. These kids and families have done nothing but the right thing, what they were told to do. And I just appreciate all the support.”

OSSAA Executive Director David Jackson declined to comment to News 4, responding only with “No comment” before closing his car door.

For the players, the ruling means they can now focus on their season.

“It’s a comeback story, I guess you could say,” Rossander said.

While the boys will be able to play this year, their lawsuit challenging the OSSAA rule is ongoing. The next hearing is scheduled for November.