HIGH SCHOOL

Marvin Bagley III appeal to play denied by CIF Southern Section

Richard Obert
azcentral sports
Hillcrest Prep's Marvin Bagley III dunks during an exhibition game against Phoenix Community College at Phoenix Community College in Phoenix, AZ  on October 8, 2015.

Marvin Bagley III, who a year ago was getting ready to lead Tempe Corona del Sol to its fourth consecutive state basketball championship, won't have a sophomore season after his appeal with the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section was denied.

The state's appeals committee on Thursday night upheld CIF-Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod's decision in January to deny Bagley's eligibility at Chatsworth Sierra Canyon because it was athletically motivated.

Thom Simmons, spokesman for the Southern Section, said in an e-mail "we won't have any other comment."

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Bagley, a 6-foot-11 sophomore, is rated by ESPN as the No. 1 2018 prospect in the country.

Bagley's father hired an attorney to appeal the ruling, citing that they had come to Sierra Canyon for academic reasons. Sierra Canyon gave Corona del Sol its only loss last season in the Hoophall West.

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Marvin Jr., became associate coach at startup national prep academy Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix last summer, and his sons, Marvin III and Marcus, an eighth grader, followed him.

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The elder Bagley pulled them out in November, telling azcentral sports that he felt misled and didn't like that the program didn't meet USA TODAY's requirements to be nationally ranked. He also complained that ESPN wasn't going to show Hillcrest on national TV, that the Hoophall Classic was changing its game against 7-1 Thon Maker's Athlete Institute Academy in Springfield, Mass., and that it wouldn't be allowed to play for a national championship in the Dick's Sporting Goods tournament in April.

In a statement Thursday night, attorney Kevin Boyle said: "The CIF relied solely on public statements made by Marvin's dad, and disregarded the decision the family ultimately ended up making, which was to put its three children in a strong academic school. It is beyond unfair that Marvin III can't play the sport he loves because of the CIF."

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A text was sent to Marvin Bagley Jr., asking for comment.

Bagley III was azcentral sports' Player of the Year last season when he was a freshman.

He left Corona to follow his father at Hillcrest, where the dad had been given the job as associate head coach. Marcus Bagley, an eighth grader, also was on the Hillcrest team. After the elder Bagley left, he pulled both his sons from there. Marvin III had been home-schooled and was taking courses through Arizona Connections while at Hillcrest. They moved to California in January, when Marvin III was enrolled at Sierra Canyon, the defending Southern Section champion.

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Reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-460-1710. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.