Villa Park Player Declared Ineligible

Australian Martin Iti, engaged in a months-long struggle to remain in Orange County and play basketball at Villa Park High, has been declared athletically ineligible for one calendar year.

The sanction is being imposed by Villa Park Principal Fran Roney because Iti, 17, provided Orange Unified School District officials with what “appears to be false information” regarding his academic status, according to a letter written by Frank Boehler, the district’s director of child welfare and attendance.

District officials obtained documents from Dulwich High in Australia, where Iti began high school, stating that Iti was in the 10th grade when he left in June 1998 to advance his basketball career in the United States. But Iti, who was classified as a sophomore last year, told district officials in an Aug. 3 meeting that he was in the ninth grade when he departed Australia.

The difference is significant because it would determine the number of semesters of Iti’s remaining eligibility.

The sanction is based on a Southern Section bylaw stating that providing “false information in regards to any aspect of eligibility status” can result in an athlete being declared ineligible for CIF competition for a year.

However, the letter also stated that a second document from Dulwich High “indicates there was some editing of Martin Iti’s school records which was not done by Dulwich High School and was possibly edited by the New South Wales Department of Education.”

Ronald E. Lais, an attorney representing Courtney Rosegreen, Iti’s guardian, said he intends to challenge the decision. Lais said he suspects Iti’s school records may have been tampered with to reduce Iti’s remaining eligibility.

“[The editing] suggests to me that someone is pressuring the school district to change the records so that Martin would be able to only have one semester of eligibility left,” Lais said.

Lais said he plans to travel with Rosegreen to Australia the second week of October to obtain Iti’s original academic records and set the record straight. School officials said they would be willing to consider new evidence on Iti’s behalf.

In the meantime, Iti will attend Villa Park and practice with the basketball team, Lais said.

“We don’t consider [the sanction] to be a big deal,” Lais said. “We know Martin didn’t lie about [his academic status]. I think when we reconstruct his school career, everything is going to fall into place.”

Iti said he believes he will be allowed to play once the season begins. “I feel strongly that’s going to happen,” he said.

The 6-foot-11 center averaged 12 points a game last season at Servite before transferring to Villa Park in April, his fourth transfer since arriving in the United States. He said he has recently had interest from UCLA and USC. He was an invited guest at last weekend’s USC-Colorado football game and has received letters from UCLA.

Iti’s mother, who learned of Iti’s transfer to Villa Park after the fact, demanded in June that her son return to Australia so she could reassess his future. That prompted Iti to file a petition for emancipation, which would allow him to make his own choices regarding where he goes to school, where he lives and with whom.

The petition is scheduled to be heard this morning in Orange County Superior Court, but Iti said his mother on Tuesday told him in a phone conversation that she won’t oppose the measure as long as he stays at Villa Park and completes his high school education there.

Iti added that his mother no longer opposes his relationship with Rosegreen, Iti’s guardian who lives in Orange. In June, Iti’s mother released a statement labeling Rosegreen as “very dangerous” and forbidding him to have any contact with her son.

Iti’s mother, Legine Lovinia Paraita, could not be reached for comment.