Charity basketball game canceled after Kentucky high school stars ruled ineligible: Report

An all-star basketball game featuring some of the country's most high-profile college recruits to raise money for victims of last month's deadly flooding in Eastern Kentucky has reportedly been canceled.

The Midwest Charity Classic, which was scheduled for Aug. 27 at Lexington's Fredrick Douglass High School, has been called off, according to a report Thursday from WLEX-18. The Lexington TV station says it confirmed the cancelation with former Kentucky basketball star Jeff Sheppard, the father of North Laurel High School star and 2023 UK commit Reed Sheppard, who was originally scheduled to play in the game.

The decision to cancel the game came one day after the KHSAA announced on Twitter that Sheppard and Travis Perry, a 2024 UK target who's been playing for Lyon County since the seventh grade, are not eligible to participate due to a long-standing bylaw prohibiting Kentucky high school basketball players from certain preseason activities if they have already represented a school on the court.

In a statement to WLEX, event organizers said the game was canceled "due to the circumstances surrounding" the bylaw and that refunds had been issued to those who purchased a ticket.

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A spokesperson for Fayette County Public Schools, Lisa Deffendall, told the Courier Journal that the organizers of the Midwest Charity Classic did not follow the district's "clear processes for facility usage requests."

"While we fully support any effort to assist the victims of flooding in Eastern Kentucky, this event would put participating players in violation of KHSAA bylaw 9, and we cannot support that," Deffendall said in a statement.

According to the bylaw, Kentucky students who after enrolling in the ninth grade or higher participate in a basketball game for a school and have eligibility remaining are forbidden from suiting up with non-school sponsored teams and/or playing in all-star games after the first day of classes and before the end of their respective seasons.

Those restrictions and others outlined in the bylaw expire after schools' seasons come to an end. The measure still allows student-athletes to participate in NCAA or NAIA camps attended by college coaches and/or one-day exposure events during a designated recruiting period that ends Oct. 14.

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KHSAA in its statement Wednesday said Commissioner Julian Tackett and the organization's Board of Control proposed an amendment to the bylaw that would have removed the preseason basketball restrictions during an annual meeting of member schools on Sept. 21, 2021. The amendment failed, however, when 145 of KHSAA's 204 delegates voted against the measure. Only 50 delegates voted "yes," and nine other delegates were present.

"For this reason, it is clear that the wish of the membership is to have that rule enforced and accordingly, no waivers will be given," the KHSAA said in its statement.

As of 2:45 p.m. Thursday, the Midwest Charity Classic's online landing page has been taken down. The website was active Thursday morning and into the early afternoon, but on Wednesday its link to purchase tickets to the event directed users to a mostly blank webpage that said only, "Check back later for more events!"

Tickets to the Midwest Charity Classic started at $25 apiece, and proceeds were to be donated to the American Red Cross' Kentucky flooding relief fund.

In addition to Sheppard and Perry, other players on the Midwest Charity Classic roster included nationally ranked 2023 prospects Kaleb Glenn (Louisville), Robert Dillingham (Kentucky), Gabe Cupps (Indiana), Xavier Booker (Michigan State) and Mookie Cook (Oregon).

Reach recruiting and trending sports reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Midwest Charity Classic canceled after players denied waivers: Report