Forfeits cost Fleming Island basketball team 9 wins, Fortegra title

Golden Eagles drop from 21-1 to 12-10 for using ineligible players

The Fleming Island boys basketball team is ranked No. 2 in the News4JAX Super 6. (News4JAX)

Fleming Island was fined and placed on administrative probation for violations in its boys basketball program on Monday and must forfeit nine victories — including its Fortegra High School 9:12 Basketball Invitational title — for use of ineligible players.

The Golden Eagles dropped from 21-1 to 12-10 after the forfeits were officially added to their record on Monday. The Florida High School Athletic Association confirmed the decision, saying that two players were ruled ineligible during the process.

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The school was also fined $4,000 for the 16 combined games that the ineligible players took part in, according to a person familiar with the ruling. The school has not returned a request seeking comment.

Fleming Island, which won the Fortegra High School 9:12 Invitational, has to forfeit its three victories from that tournament.

The ineligible players — one on the varsity, one on junior varsity — lived in Duval County and used an address that they didn’t live at to gain enrollment at the school. The school appealed the initial findings during a sectional appeal earlier this month, but that was denied.

Fleming Island was placed on administrative probation — the first of three stages of probation — for the violations.


About the Author

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.

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