Players and coaches from
Northern Guilford (Greensboro, N.C.) won a short-lived state basketball title on the court, but they couldn't do the same in court yet again.
Northern Guilford won the 3A state title in 2009, but the title was vacated by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association after it was determined the Nighthawks used at least two ineligible players during the championship run. The players did not meet the school's residency requirements.
Several former players and coaches sued the NCHSAA in July of 2010 in hopes of having the title restored, but Tuesday the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court ruling that the group did not have legal standing to mount the court challenge.
"Plaintiffs are not the proper party to bring this
action as they were not members of defendant's association and therefore
have no legally protected interest in the State Championship title," Judge Ann Marie Calabria wrote for the court.
"Without a legally protected interest or right, plaintiffs have no
standing to bring this action. In addition, plaintiffs have failed to
allege any particularized actual loss …"
In the unanimous
ruling, the three-court panel said Northern Guilford did have standing to challenge the NCHSAA decision as an association member, since the championship was awarded to the school. Calabria wrote, "… when the Championship was revoked, it was the school that sustained the loss, not the players."
The school did not appeal the governing body's initial ruling.
Before the title was vacated — with subsequent forfeits — Northern Guilford went 30-3 during the 2008-09 season.