Court grants injunction for No. 1-ranked Dr. Krop basketball

The boys basketball team at state-ranked Dr. Krop (Miami) has a 20-3 record, but its most important victory so far this season was registered Wednesday in a Miami-Dade County courtroom, not on the basketball court.

It's been an emotional roller-coaster ride for Krop players the past couple of days, but there was jubilation when Circuit Court Judge Spencer Eig granted a temporary injunction Wednesday that overrides a controversial ruling only 24 hours earlier by the Florida High School Athletics Association that stripped the Lightning of 19 wins because of a snafu involving paperwork.

Judge Eig's ruling reinstates Krop, the No. 1-ranked team in the state's Class 6A state poll, for the district playoffs this weekend, keeping alive the Lightning's hopes of winning a state title.

Read national basketball editor Jason Hickman's story

At the center of the controversy is Krop's best player, Bahamian national Bryan Delancy, who is a student at Krop on a student visa. The FHSAA, the state's governing body of interscholastic sports, ruled at a hearing Tuesday that the school did not submit the paperwork required of international students after Delancy transferred to Krop for his senior year.

FHSAA rules state that foreign-exchange students and students who come to the United States on a student visa must file paperwork to be eligible to play sports. The FHSAA asks its members to self-police themselves and self-report any possible violations. Officials at Krop received a call from another school last month questioning Delancy's eligibility, and the school administration informed the FHSAA immediately.

"I think it would be fundamentally unfair not to let these kids play basketball," Eig said before announcing his ruling Wednesday.

The Miami Herald reported that Delancy, 19, was "too nervous" to sit in the courtroom during the hearing. The Herald reported that attorneys for Delancy and Krop argued that state law, as well as the school's policy, prevents school staff from asking students about their immigration status and that FHSAA basically overreacted to what amounts to a "technicality."

Three years ago, Delancy applied for a student visa and came to Miami to live with an aunt and uncle, according to the Herald. He played at Choice Academy in Miami last year but transferred to Krop for his senior year and averaged about 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. However, he never completed the required paperwork upon transferring to Krop, a violation of an FHSAA rule that was upheld at a hearing Tuesday.

Wednesday's court ruling reinstates Krop into the playoffs, but there's still a possibility that the FHSAA could continue to investigate the issue and possibly file an appeal of Eig's ruling. For now, though, Krop's dream of a state title has been revived.