WIAA makes quick decision on suspended Stadium High basketball players. Here’s the ruling

The suspensions of three Stadium High School boys basketball players have been lifted. An emergency hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), but the hearing was canceled and the players were reinstated.

Stadium’s Ne’Quan Brown, Baaroc Rivers and Kellen O’Halloran will be eligible to play in Stadium’s state tournament regional play-in game against Shorecrest on Tuesday.

The players were suspended following an incident at a district basketball game on Saturday against Todd Beamer at Stadium. The incident occurred near the end of the game with Stadium leading by double digits and closing in on the win. In a video, a Todd Beamer player is seen arguing with a fan on the sideline, before another fan intervenes and shoving breaks out.

Minutes earlier, the three Stadium players who were suspended — Brown, Rivers and O’Halloran — were subbed out of the game and were sitting on the Stadium bench at the time of the incident, across the court from where it took place.

When the shoving began, Stadium head coach Dominic Batten can be seen signaling to his players on the bench to remain where they are. Several Stadium players stood up from their seats but stayed in the area of the bench. Batten then motions to the Stadium players who were in the game to come back to the bench.

The penalties were imposed by the West Central District Games Committee, which was acting on behalf of the WIAA, a spokesperson for the WIAA confirmed to The News Tribune on Monday. WIAA member schools abide by rules put in place by the National Federation of High Schools.

The particular rule violation in this incident is 10-5 (Article 5) which pertains to leaving the bench area during a fight or when a fight may occur. The rule states the bench personnel, including the head coach, shall not leave the confines of the bench during a fight or when a fight may occur. There is an exception made for coaches, who may enter the court in a situation where a fight may broke out — or has broken out — to prevent the situation from escalating.

While a strict and literal interpretation of the rule would say the players were technically on the floor, they were still in the general vicinity of the bench and nowhere near the fight. Stadium coaches, administrators and parents were outraged at the initial suspension decision. Stadium athletic director Bridgette Lopez wrote a lengthy email to the WIAA, imploring the organization to lift the suspensions.

The WIAA released a statement on Tuesday morning.

“The WIAA has reviewed the materials related to the fight that occurred near the end of the February 17, 2023 District 3/4 3A boys basketball playoff game between Todd Beamer High School and Stadium High School,” it states. “The WIAA reviewed the video submitted by Stadium at the time of the incident and agrees with the Games Committee that the Stadium players 0, 1 and 11 clearly violated NFHS Rule 10-5 Art. 5, Bench Technical by leaving the team bench during a fight. As such, the one-game suspension was the proper penalty to be assessed under the rules.

“However, after an internal legal review of the WIAA rules governing the Games Committee which was conducted over the course of the holiday weekend and concluded Tuesday morning, the WIAA concludes that the Games Committee does not currently have the authority to assess penalties against Stadium players under these precise circumstances. The intent of the schools in promulgating the WIAA rules was to include such authority to ensure penalties are fairly assessed against all players. However, as currently written, the Games Committee does not have that authority. As such, the Stadium players 0, 1, and 11 are reinstated and will not be assessed a one-game suspension.”