News release submitted by the Ohio High School Athletic Association Executive Director Doug Ute

COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association has removed Toledo Central Catholic High School from the girls basketball tournament, OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute announced Wednesday evening, after it was learned that the girls basketball program has committed a third recruiting bylaw infraction that the OHSAA learned about this school year.

Toledo Central Catholic was 22-2 overall and the No. 1 seed in the Northwest Division II District 3 tournament.

Napoleon, the most recent team that Toledo Central Catholic defeated in the tournament, will take TCC’s spot in a district tournament semifinal game against Oak Harbor. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, hosted by Whitehouse Anthony Wayne High School.

Toledo Central Catholic administrators cooperated with the OHSAA investigation regarding the bylaw infractions and has accepted the decision to be removed from the tournament. In addition, Central Catholic administrators have agreed to cooperate with the OHSAA’s comprehensive investigation in the coming months.

The OHSAA noted that these recent discoveries are not viewed as a violation of the probation, but rather as additional violations, that if they had been discovered at the time of previous violations, would have resulted in much more severe penalties including removal from tournament participation.

Following their second recruiting infraction, the OHSAA issued the following sanctions to Toledo Central Catholic last week:

1) Toledo Central Catholic was publicly reprimanded for its second girls basketball program violation of this nature;

2) The assistant coach was prohibited from coaching during the 2023 OHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament;

3) Toledo Central Catholic was required to conduct a recruiting seminar, led by an OHSAA compliance staff member, for all head coaches and any other personnel deemed appropriate;

4) Toledo Central Catholic was fined $2,500 and;

5) Toledo Central Catholic’s girls basketball program was placed on probation through the 2024-25 school year.