Again with the High School Sports Team Recruiting?

 This time it appears that it's Roosevelt High School's football team who is going to the state championship and may have recruited players from around Puget Sound and other states to get there.

This has previously been an issue at Nathan Hale (2017 basketball), and Garfield (also football). The Garfield coach was cleared of wrongdoing in 2017. However, there was also the sexual assault case at Garfield High for a girl on the women's basketball team. That's still out there. 

From KUOW:

Roosevelt High School in Seattle is under investigation by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association for alleged football recruiting violations as the team heads to state playoffs for the first time in a decade.

About 20 Roosevelt varsity football players transferred this fall from other teams or school districts, online rosters show. Nearly all are highly-ranked players who played football last year across the Puget Sound region, including at least four from Spanaway and three from Federal Way schools.

Several new Roosevelt players were listed last year on high school football rosters in California, Hawaii, and Arizona.

WIAA bars schools from recruiting students for athletic reasons. Following complaints from other member schools, the WIAA executive board approved hiring an outside fact-finder “to delve deeply into the allegations of recruiting by the Roosevelt High School football program,” said Mick Hoffman, the agency’s executive director, in a statement.

“It is important to note that Roosevelt High School proactively conducted an investigation into the recruiting allegations involving the 2024 football program, which was reviewed and approved by the Metro League,” the 18-high school football conference that includes Seattle, said Sophia Charchuk, Seattle Public Schools spokesperson, by email. “The investigation found no rule violations.”

This might seem a bit confusing but the Metro League is the city league for all public and private high schools. The WIAA is the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association which is the state league. The latter are the ones investigating.

Roosevelt High School Principal Tami Brewer did not respond to a request for comment.

Roosevelt head football coach Sam Adams did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the recruiting allegations.

The agency is aiming to present its investigative findings to its executive board by mid-March, said Sean Bessette, WIAA spokesperson.

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