Education

OSSAA embroiled in controversy & lawsuit … again

August 14, 2025

Ray Carter

In what has become a recurring pattern, the governing board of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) has been accused of interfering with student transfers despite state law allowing open transfer between public-school districts and the association’s own rules.

As in the past, the OSSAA’s actions have resulted in a lawsuit, and some lawmakers suggest state law may have to be changed to rein in alleged abuses at the association.

The OSSAA regulates state sporting events and academic competitions in the K-12 system for member groups. Nearly all schools are OSSAA members.

The OSSAA’s leadership, which consists of officials from schools around the state, has previously been accused of working to impede sports competition by stymying student access to new schools via transfer.

In the latest case, four teenage boys sought to transfer to Glencoe High School, saying they wanted to play basketball with their longtime friend, Maddox Schubert.

However, because Schubert’s father is Garrett Schubert, the basketball coach at Glencoe, the OSSAA barred the four boys from playing basketball, alleging Glencoe violated an OSSAA rule that loosely pertains to alleged recruiting of athletes by coaches.

Garrett Schubert, Glencoe school officials, and the four youths have all denied wrongdoing. Glencoe officials say the boys have been friends with Maddox Schubert and have known Garrett Schubert since early grade school.

On Aug. 13, the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association’s Board of Directors voted 12–0 to uphold the association’s ruling that the four boys will be ineligible to play basketball at Glencoe for the 2025 season.

The boys’ families filed a lawsuit on Aug. 14.

“We are deeply disappointed in OSSAA’s decision, but we will not stop fighting for these students,” said Hannah Whitten, attorney for Glencoe Public Schools and Coach Garrett Schubert. “This lawsuit is about holding OSSAA accountable to its own rules. The harm being done to these kids is real, immediate, and entirely avoidable.”

Glencoe Superintendent Jay Reeves said the ruling not only harms students but also undermines the very concept of school choice.

“Families are told they have the freedom to choose the best school for their kids—academically and athletically—but this decision sends the message that your choice can be taken away by an unelected body that changes the rules at will,” Reeves said. “That’s not school choice. That’s a barrier to opportunity. We played by their rules, followed their instructions, and still our kids are being punished. This isn’t just about basketball—it’s about trust in the system. And right now, OSSAA has shattered that trust.”

Coach Schubert, who is in his first year at Glencoe, said the ruling sends the wrong message to Oklahoma student-athletes.

“We tell kids to work hard, do the right thing, and follow the rules,” Schubert said. “These boys did exactly that, and they’re being sidelined for reasons OSSAA hasn’t been able to prove. It’s wrong, and it’s why we’re going to court.”

Parent Kip Racy, whose son is one of the affected players, said the decision has devastated his family.

“My son has been counting down the days to this season, and now we have to tell him that adults in power decided to take it away for no reason they can back up,” Racy said. “We’re standing with the other families because no kid should have to go through this.”

Parent Mendy Garfield expressed similar views.

“This is heartbreaking,” Garfield said. “We believed the rules meant something. Now we see they can change on a whim. We owe it to our kids—and every other student-athlete in Oklahoma—to challenge this.”

The lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Payne County, asks for immediate injunctive relief to reinstate the players’ eligibility and prevent further harm to their athletic and educational opportunities.

The plaintiffs’ petition alleges that OSSAA’s purported reasons for denying the four boys’ eligibility have shifted repeatedly over the course of the review process. At one point, the OSSAA claimed the boys were ineligible to play for Glencoe because they attended a sports camp where Coach Schubert was a leader.

But the petition notes that one of the students “didn’t even attend the team camps this summer,” and points out that Schubert “did not attend the team camps with Glencoe this summer.”

The OSSAA Board of Directors voted to deny the boys’ eligibility anyway.

The plaintiffs say OSSAA informed them the boys should not have attended the camp without “unenrolling” from their prior district first. But the petition notes that “there is no written rule which lays out the process to unenroll before June 1, 2025,” and states that the plaintiffs were also told that Glencoe “cannot enroll a student until school begins” in August.

“The grounds used by the Plaintiffs for their one-time transfer are proper and have nothing to do with recruiting or being ‘linked’ to a coach,” the petition states. “Each parent has submitted an affidavit under oath to the OSSAA to that effect.”

The affidavit submitted to OSSAA by Mendy Garfield indicated that her son’s transfer to Glencoe was prompted by the abusive behavior of a coach at his prior district, Perry.

“Hollis has been asking to transfer schools for some time due to the coaching style of (Perry) Coach (Sam) Davison,” Garfield wrote. “I have not been willing to transfer schools until the game on February 07, 2025, when I witnessed for myself Coach Davison yelling inches from Hollis’ face and grabbing him by the jersey. I told Hollis at this time we would look into a transfer for the next school year.”

The petition states that OSSAA’s refusal to “exercise its discretionary authority and allow the Minors eligibility constitutes action which is collusive, unreasonable, arbitrary and/or capricious.”

An OSSAA spokesman said the group does not comment on pending litigation.

The OSSAA’s “recruiting” rule has previously drawn a rebuke from the Oklahoma attorney general.

In 2024, Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent the OSSAA a “cease and desist” order, saying enforcement of the OSSAA rule “lends itself for arbitrary and capricious enforcement and to confused compliance.”

Drummond wrote that the OSSAA rule’s “heavy-handedness dissuades student-athletes from moving or transferring, fearing that they may be declared ineligible to participate in varsity sports. On review, this rule indefensibly contravenes the Legislature’s plain and unambiguous expressions and intent related to student rights to attend school and receive meaningful educational benefits.”

He also wrote that the rule “appears to solve a nonexistent problem with unreasonable and incongruous force. Its application will prevent otherwise eligible students from transferring schools as is their right under state law.”

The Glencoe case is similar to other controversies involving OSSAA’s oversight.

Star receiver Kayleb Barnett attended Broken Arrow when he lived with his mother, but when he moved to live with his father in the Jenks district, OSSAA tried to prevent Barnett from playing sports at Jenks. OSSAA relented after Barnett’s family sued on Aug. 30, 2024.

The lawsuit noted that Barnett and his father had clearly established residency in the Jenks district after having been subjected to three at-home visits, two scheduled and one unscheduled, by officials.

The petition stated that the OSSAA denied Barnett eligibility based on a complaint claiming the father of a Jenks student had “coached Barnett in 7-on-7 offseason football” and that the coach’s son and Barnett were friends.

“The OSSAA has a long history of making unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious decisions affecting high school students’ participation in athletics, which is a matter of public import and concern,” Barnett’s petition stated.

In 2007, the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a lower-court ruling that found the OSSAA is “a state actor” because of the “persuasive entwinement of public institutions and public officials in its composition and workings.” The court noted that OSSAA’s directors were all public-school employees, and that the state of Oklahoma authorized OSSAA to determine athletic eligibility and hold play-off games.

The Glencoe situation has prompted two lawmakers to publicly suggest that OSSAA could face increased state oversight in the future.

“This is yet another example of OSSAA weaponizing vague rules to hurt kids instead of serving them,” said state Rep. Chris Kannady, R-Oklahoma City. “When a quasi-state agency can ignore its own guidance without evidence, every parent in Oklahoma should be concerned.”

State Sen. Avery Frix, R-Muskogee, said the ruling underscores the need for legislative oversight.

“Oklahomans believe in fairness and opportunity,” Frix said. “OSSAA’s decision here undermines both, and it’s why the Legislature must look closely at reforming how these decisions are made.”

Gov. Kevin Stitt also weighed in.

“When I fought for open transfer, it was to ensure that every student in Oklahoma had equal opportunity to succeed,” Stitt said. “For many students, athletics are an essential part of a well-rounded education,” Stitt said. “It is disappointing that OSSA would continue to perpetuate a system that bars students from the opportunity to compete—especially when many students rely on the opportunity athletics provides to pursue higher education. I urge the OSSA to reconsider their position and let all eligible students compete.”

NOTE: This story has been updated since initial publication to include comment from Gov. Kevin Stitt.