Dudley Down for the Second Time and Appeal Process is over:DUDLEY APPEAL TO FULL BOARD IS DENIED

*****UPDATE:During the hearing this morning, it became clear that Dudley likely had violated the one-game-per-week rule at least one other time this season by allowing some players to dress out and/or play for both the junior varsity and varsity games. Further review found the rule was broken in at least four games.

Guilford County Schools (GCS) anticipates that the team will have to report these games to the NCHSAA as well, which would result in additional forfeitures, making the team ineligible for the playoffs.

“This is our error, and we need to own it,” said Jesse Pratt, Dudley High’s principal. “In GCS and at Dudley High, we want to play fair, and we play by the rules. We sincerely apologize to our students, staff and community, and deeply appreciate all the support they have shown throughout this process.”*****

DUDLEY APPEAL TO FULL BOARD IS DENIED

CHAPEL HILL—The full Board of Directors of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association voted Thursday morning to uphold the previous decision of the Executive Committee and denied the appeal by Dudley High School.

The Dudley contingent admitted to the full Board that there had been a violation of NCHSAA rules but asked that the penalty not include elimination of the playoffs, asking for mercy from the Board.

Ineligible players in Dudley’s final regular season game against Southeast Guilford were reported, and Dudley thus had to forfeit that contest. Players may play in only one football game a week, unless the “eight-quarter rule” applies and documentation is available. The school then filed notice of an appeal earlier this week.

The rule governing the situation in terms of the playoff brackets is 3.2.3 (a) in the current edition of the NCHSAA Handbook, which states that “the team shall not participate in playoffs if, after the brackets have been finalized, forfeited contests cause an adjustment in its record and seed.”

The Board discussion indicated that the rules in the NCHSAA Handbook had been appropriately applied in this particular case.

In the process of the appeal Thursday and questions to Dudley officials about the situation, additional information was revealed indicating there could be other violations which occurred during the season. Additional follow up will occur between the NCHSAA and Dudley.

President Bill Miller of the NCHSAA commended Dudley for its professionalism and candor as its officials shared information with the Board.

38 thoughts on “Dudley Down for the Second Time and Appeal Process is over:DUDLEY APPEAL TO FULL BOARD IS DENIED

  1. “In the process of the appeal Thursday and questions to Dudley officials about the situation, additional information was revealed indicating there could be other violations which occurred during the season. Additional follow up will occur between the NCHSAA and Dudley.”

    Dudley will have to forfeit more games!!!

    Where’s the Dudley support now?

  2. The most condemning statement above was “…there could be other violations which occurred during the season.” If this had been a true one time incident because [we understood] the JV season was over, would the decision had been different? The above statement shows a consistent, systemic issue that may have been going on for a few games; and only “self-reported” because the school was pressed into it. SO SAD for the Varsity players (especially the Seniors) – in my opinion someone should lose their job for this – particularly if the problem proves to have been repeated during the season.

  3. @told you so. Dudley support still and always will be here! Congrats on a great season panthers! Nobody could beat you on the field or in your hearts!

  4. From other publications around the state including the Winston-Salem Journal and the Fayetteville Observer:

    NCHSAA says appeal process revealed Dudley may have had violations earlier in season. That will continue to be investigated.

  5. If you took a poll, do most agree that Dudley would still be the #1 team in that Guilford County poll?

    Seems like even with all that has happened, Dudley is still the top team in the County….

  6. Wow this is really hard on the players !!!! However I respect there decision ,as we all need to do!!! Coach made a mistake and none-the-less i think i speak for everyone when i say, “we love u coach Davis”!!!!! You give these kids a place to go all summer instead of them running around and getting in trouble. You take our kids and show them how to be good respectful young men!!! Your a excellent coach, and a better role model. We forgive you and stand beside you.
    I will say this Dudley will have another good season next year and im sure they will be going after that title again.

  7. Now is the time for the Dudley adults (ie coaches) to be leaders. Stand up in front of your team and:

    – take responsibility for what happened,
    – apologize for making the mistake, and
    – show them how to handle true disappointment in their life.

    As hard as this is, teaching them that sometimes life sucks, but blaming others is not the answer. Taking responsibility for mistakes, doing whate we you can to fix it and then moving on with your life is how to handle disappointments.

  8. I’m gettting tweets and calls from all over the state in support of the Blue and Gold Dudley Panthers. If you investigate all schools in Guilford County you will find a rule that have been broken. Give me a break. Yes Dudley is still the #1 team in Guilford County. I guess since the cry babies can’t beat them on the field they have to find other ways to get back at them.

  9. RS I do think the Dudley coaches will do just that(Accountability) and as for the Dudley Parent, she or he said it well…Dudley Parent, I think you speak for a whole lot of parents in the Dudley community….

  10. You guys act as if Dudley had a competitive advantage. Dressing these kids helped them win I guess. Lol. It is ok. Dudley will be back. They’re returning 17 starters with an added motivation. It’s always going to be an uphill battle for Dudley. We all know who the best team in the state is. The ring should have an asterisk on it.

  11. Davis & Godette MUST GO! If there have been more violations this season then that means these type of things may have been going on for years. They have hurt our community and tarnished our great reputation.

    Dudley needs a fresh start, it is time for us to stand up and take back our schools. We need to stop letting athletics run our classrooms and instill in our kids what they are at that school to do.

    It’s amazing how we can be number one on the fields and courts but dead last in the one place that it counts (THE CLASSROOM). Stand up black people and stop letting your kids be exploited for the gains of those who only care about winning. I challenge each of you to go sit in the classroom with your kids just half as much as you go to their ball games. Athletics is not the only way out. The change begins with US!

  12. Dudley alum knows nothing about the program. Coach Davis has done a tremendous job as the head coach. He has saved a lot of lives with football. There was no violation of deceit, it was only negligence of the rules and not knowing them entirely. Nothing that was done gave them an advantage on the field. Next year schools will be ridiculous bc starters will continue to play when the game is clearly out of hand. That’s what you get I guess for showing class.

  13. From the Northern camp, we all feel for the Dudley boys and the families. Having been there, (not to this degree of course), we feel and share your pain. Your boys worked hard and have the utmost confidence and respect of the whole county and state. Having said that, when the “life is not fair” incident happened to our team last year, our coaches introduced us to Darrell and Denya Haymore to teach us that life is more then just football. Darrell, who passed away from ALS this September helped our boys know that with all his trails with ALS he never gave up on hope or his faith and how to persevere when the odds are against you. Leadership to cope with this issue is now the strategy you must develop as parents, coaches and an administration. If they learn how to cope now, they will be so much more fitted to the world once they are launched as adults. As an employer also, it is those workers who know how to cope that have the best work ethic, not the “life is not fair” crowd. Hold on to your dignity and self respect and know that the Dboyz and the team are in our hearts and prayers.

  14. OK, first of all, DON”T BE FOOLED. DUDLEY ALUM DID NOT GO TO DUDLEY. Now that it is official. It is time for the DUDLEY AD and coaching staff to brush up on the rule book and clean up things in the off season.

    Folks, you know you are doing something right and have had an impact on the community when every news outlet in the state is concerned at the out come of this situation.

  15. Don’t fool yourself folks. A lot of the area locals are glad that Dudley is out of the post season. Never believe it when they tell you that they want all the local teams to do well in the playoffs to represent Guilford County.

  16. While I don’t believe the punishment fit the crime in this case, I do hope this hard lesson taught everyone involved to read the fine print. This could be a life lesson for us all that pays off.

  17. This is very sad for the players however NCHSAA really did not have a choice. And then having other violations, a bad situation just hot worse.

    Coach Davis is a very good coach but he knew these rules. And he knew he couldn’t do this throughout the year. He just hit caught. Some other issues have come up that I have personally witnessed, like having more than 21 players at a spring practice. (Another bad rule if you ask me but still a rule). Some of the comments about him needing to go are not warranted. He is good for Dudley and the community. They just bent the rules and got caught. And more than coach Davis should know these rules. The AD should know as well as the principal.

  18. This same thing happened last season with Northern.They had to forfeit a win over Burlington Williams.
    The difference being it was not the final regular season game and did not cost them a playoff appearance.
    Did the Dudley staff not pay attention to Northern’s issue last year? Also the NCHSAA requires rules clinic attendance in all sports. Did the Dudley staff fail to pay attention there as well?

  19. Hopefully Dudley practicing during the two dead periods will stop also. Actually witnessed this!

  20. Also, if this had happened to Dudley a week ago they would have still been in the playoffs.Instead of a forfeit to SE it would have been to Page and the Panthers would have entered the playoffs with a 10-1 record.

  21. The local media could have helped Greensboro on this one…

    Instead of jumping on the “Dudley’s getting the shaft” bandwagon, Greensboro Sports and the News and Record could have conducted some investigative reporting to help reveal more of the likely truth. Most of what we know about this situation that is INACCURATE has come from local media. It should be the opposite. Dudley supporters may be double betrayed if they find out that not only did they forfeit such a promising post-season, but they may be indicted for more violations that could make this event look like Christmas Day!

    I personally suspected all along that more problems were likely and that Dudley needed to quietly accept their punishment, but no, everyone started screaming “we’re behind you Dudley!!!” through the local media’s support, Dudley invited more questions…

  22. I guess Winston at Florida State is doing something right since every News/Media outlet is focused on him when he makes his mistakes. A lot of people will go to great lengths to win, it truthfully is very addicting. I still have to say that if a coach will go on the record and bash SEHS for bringing up the situation and saying that this is the only time he did it b/c he thought the JV season was over, then he has no credibility going forth with anything b/c he was lying the entire time. You might think he is telling the truth but now there will always be questions. Somebody said put an asterisk beside this years 4-A champion, might need to put an asterisk beside last years title team. It is sad for the kids, but I really think this will help a lot of schools out. I bet every coach is checking up on their players as we speak

  23. Oh well rules are rules. Lets move on from this subject. Dudley probably the best team in the State, hate what happened to them but its nobody fault but theirs.

  24. The lesson learned is beat the opponent into the ground with your 1st and 2nd units, don’t worry about how many points you ring up because the NCSHAA does not care about class. The NCSHAA only cares about the letter of law, so dominant programs should play only by the rule of the law. Do not dress jv kids at all so the only ones dressed are the ones who can do damage. We will see what changes come after enough teams get mollywopped.

  25. Facts, Dudley probably did not develop a competitive advantage this year. But getting kids experience for next year, maybe they did. I also want to believe this was just negligence and not intentional. But they probably knew and if not they should have, especially after what happened to their rival Northern last year. It’s sad this happened but hopefully it will motivate Dudley to evaluate their practices and clean it up. The sad part is these kids suffer the penalty.

    And Facts, please don’t try to tell is Dudley has an uphill battle. They have The Academy. Every school would love to have that recruiting tool.

  26. Maybe its time to put a mercy rule in for Football and Basketball, they have one in place already for baseball and soccer.

  27. After reading most of these comments, it appears that most of it appears to be Dudley bashing day, the penalty has come down and the kids were hurt in the end. I know we have freedom of speech, however if you have never stepped inside the doors of Dudley HS you haven’t a clue, please keep your negative comments to yourself. If you individuals want the same success as the Panthers,have had over the last 10 years, I suggest you get your teams in the weight room, and build your teams up. Success will always bring enemies. The negativity isn’t needed. “All” and I mean all schools within GUILFORD COUNTY violate some type player personnel codes when it comes to sports, it’s not just Dudley. The kids have suffered enough. The majority just want to make negative of the situation. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN YARD.

  28. Its hard to hear people say that the Juniors and illegal players did not have an impact on the games. What happens when an NFL team is getting destroyed or beating somebody very badly? They put in their backups so their starters are not at risk of getting hurt. What had Dudley done to most teams all year? Destroyed them. Then in the 4th quarter here comes the Juniors to save their starters for a few more plays and avoid injury. When teams do it the right way they put in their true subs and their players that are true backups not their studs that are Juniors on JV that can still hold their against other teams seniors and Juniors that play varsity like they are supposed to. They will do anything to still beat teams by 30 and 40 points even if its with illegal players.

  29. Guilford county did have an effect on the mercy rule this year. 2A Andrews pounded 4A southwest Guilford 66-0 in 2013 and what happened next? a mercy rule for 2014. So lets see how Dudley effects this JV rule.

  30. Grimsley has the IB program.
    Smith has the IB program.
    Page has a similar program.

    Let it go! the punishment was delivered, the season is over move on. What’s the point in kicking a school, program, kids while their down? Now the conversation becomes Dudley always cheats. Not trying to be funny but who really cheats for a dynamic JV program?

    I assume most of the comments are from adults and this is about high school football. HIGH SCHOOL….these are kids for christ’s sake! There are bigger issues than high school football playoffs.

    Dudley community, this too shall pass. The same way people forgot Northern’s infractions people will hopefully (probably less likely to forgive) forget your infractions.

    Doubt the extra infractions gave an advantage but that’s neither here no there.

    MOVE ON PEOPLE!!

  31. @I see – I have 2 issues with your post. First, you start your comment by saying if other commenters haven’t been in Dudley’s building that they don’t have a clue and should keep any negativity to themselves. Then you say that EVERY school in the GCS system is cheating. Isn’t that a little contradictory? How do you know that EVERY school is violating rules regarding player eligibility? Have you been in every high school coaching staff meeting to know this? Is Northwest doing it? Is Southern? How about Southwest? Second, once again it is falling into the ‘well everyone else is doing it so I shouldn’t be punished’ line. As the saying goes, “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?” Man up, own up to your issues and move forward. You were caught slipping and I’m sure Coach will use this as motivation to make sure everything is legit going forward. Dudley doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Many other coaches and admin have friends and family that are directly effected by this outcome and hurt for the kids as well. Don’t try to throw someone else under the bus to deflect attention. How can you teach these kids to be men when you in turn try to place the blame elsewhere?

  32. I don’t think we see a change in the JV rule. That is only in place for teams that have lack of depth. By the spirit of the rule larger teams should not even use it. However, I can see a delay on finalizing the brackets as a possible change.

  33. Thank you Concerned ADULT, like I meantioned, success brings out the worst in people. Now Dudley is being labeled as cheaters, again a mistake was made and acknowledged, but for every good thing there will be some negative comment made. Those individuals that are finger pointers could care less about the children of the Dudley Panther community, this is why those individuals continue to bash the Dudley Football program. It’s quite simple you crave for something you’ve never had, just work harder. Jealousy comes in many forms. And they call themselves adults, they can’t move on when you are lifeless.
    PANTHER PRIDE

  34. There are some good quality kids over at Dudley and they will battle back from this and they have good leaders too, it is just time to get the total house in order and we need to give them a chance to do that…

    Not the best of days to throwing it at somebody while they are down, so now would be a good time for us to give it a rest for a few hours and then come and re-visit the topic…

    Break time and a good time to catch up on some other chores…

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