Former Kenwood basketball coach Mike Irvin and members of his teaching employees conspired to fraudulently enroll a minimum of 17 college students to play on the faculty, in accordance with the CPS Workplace of the Inspector Common’s annual report launched Wednesday.
Investigators discovered that a minimum of half of the varsity’s varsity gamers over three years had been fraudulently enrolled. Two of the basketball gamers are nonetheless enrolled at Kenwood after they offered CPS with correct residency documentation in late 2024.
Irvin, who resigned in November, has been positioned on the district’s do-not-hire record. He was 90-26 in 4 seasons and led Kenwood to supersectional appearances in 2022 and 2023. Kenwood misplaced within the metropolis title recreation in 2023 and 2024. In response to the report, all these victories could have been with ineligible gamers.
The inspector normal started the investigation after receiving a number of complaints from the varsity group and a recruiting criticism from one other CPS highschool.
The enrollment scheme concerned offering households false addresses in Kenwood’s attendance space and offering or serving to households create false paperwork, together with faux leases and utility payments.
Some mother and father admitted to the inspector normal that they used false addresses. One household lived in Lynwood, and one was in Richton Park. Some households submitted doctored ComEd payments as proof of residency, and a few of the faux addresses had been utilized by a number of gamers in the identical 12 months.
“I’m not responding to a subjective report by an opinionated individual,” Irvin advised the Solar-Instances on Tuesday. “It’s a witch hunt, particularly when 5 completely different variations of the story have already been advised. To offer a good account, it is very important study the variety of instances Kenwood has been featured within the media relating to fraudulent enrollment [for non-basketball related issues].”
The brand new revelations carry up questions. Will CPS or the Illinois Excessive Faculty Affiliation levy further punishments towards Kenwood? Will the IHSA proceed to permit CPS to police itself?
An IHSA spokesperson advised the Solar-Instances on Tuesday that the group would reserve remark till reviewing the total report.
“That is completely above my pay grade,” Irvin mentioned. “I’m only a basketball coach. My accountability is to teach a program that has a varsity, sophomore and freshman group. That’s over 180 gamers deemed eligible by our athletic administrators and the Workplace of Sports activities Administration. My focus has at all times been making certain my student-athletes succeed academically and athletically, and I’m happy with the outcomes. My group’s cumulative GPA was 3.5, and I labored exhausting to ship Black boys to school. That’s my contribution, and I stand happy with it.”
Membership basketball connection
Most of the fraudulently enrolled gamers lived within the suburbs and a few in Chicago, however outdoors of Kenwood’s attendance space. Almost all had been on Irvin’s membership group, the Mac Irvin Hearth, in accordance with the report.
The overlap between the Mac Irvin Hearth and Kenwood ranged from 4 to 10 gamers through the years investigated. In three seasons, greater than half of Kenwood’s group performed for the Mac Irvin Hearth. That’s towards IHSA guidelines.
In response to the report, Irvin “repeatedly lied and gave evasive, inconsistent and unimaginable solutions” when interviewed by the inspector normal.
Irvin claimed he met his gamers once they enrolled at Kenwood, although they’d already performed for the Mac Irvin Hearth. He additionally denied he was the Hearth’s CEO or ran the membership group, although his resume lists him as CEO.
CPS failures in oversight
Irvin and his coaches “blatantly violated myriad CPS and IHSA guidelines, and it ought to have been caught by the CPS Workplace of Sports activities Administration and the varsity’s administration,” the report mentioned.
An IHSA bylaw permits CPS to manipulate its colleges. In response to the report, Kenwood and CPS Sports activities Administration failed to offer any significant oversight.
Most of the Kenwood participant recordsdata had been lacking residency paperwork. One pupil’s file contained faux paperwork dated after the scholar’s enrollment date. One other had paperwork itemizing a suburban handle.
There was no proof that dwelling visits had been accomplished for any of the gamers. One member of Kenwood’s employees mentioned the varsity had by no means seen a basketball participant’s enrollment supplies.
Kenwood principal Karen Calloway was a member of the IHSA Board of Administrators and CPS Sports activities Administration’s advisory council. The investigation’s proof confirmed that Calloway “had ample motive to be suspicious in regards to the fraudulent enrollment of basketball gamers on the faculty but did not take motion or report it.”
Calloway “reacted in several methods when confronted with points relating to her faculty’s basketball group relying on her viewers. To the IHSA and complainants, she was a zealous defender of her student-athletes, however to the [CPS Inspector General] she was a indifferent administrator seemingly fighting enrollment points.”
When reached Tuesday, Calloway advised the Solar-Instances she must undergo CPS to make any feedback.
Whereas Kenwood ignored Irvin’s fraud, CPS Sports activities Administration was “unable and unwilling to meet its oversight tasks,” in accordance with the report.
In interviews with the inspector normal, CPS sports activities employees mentioned they might solely conduct investigations in the event that they acquired complaints. However CPS coverage authorizes proactive investigations.
Final season’s penalties
The inspector normal first offered proof of 5 ineligible gamers to CPS and the IHSA on Jan. 25, 2024. Nothing was completed by CPS, and Kenwood was allowed to play within the metropolis match and superior to the championship recreation Feb. 10.
CPS sports activities director David Rosengard declined to touch upon the scenario on the time and was fired in September.
On the primary day of the 2024 state match, the IHSA took motion and kicked Kenwood out of the playoffs. Kenwood appealed to the IHSA board, which dominated that it may play within the state match with out 5 ineligible gamers, two assistant coaches and Irvin.
Kenwood responded by requesting a brief restraining order in Cook dinner County Circuit courtroom, and Choose Caroline Moreland dominated in favor of the IHSA.
The influence
Kenwood’s ineligible groups superior to 2 supersectionals and two metropolis championships, knocking out dozens of groups alongside the best way.
Since a lot of Kenwood’s ineligible gamers lived within the suburbs, they took spots from college students who lived within the neighborhood and wished to attend Kenwood, which is likely one of the greatest neighborhood colleges within the metropolis.
Fraudulent enrollment has been a problem at Kenwood because it opened within the Sixties. CPS requires mother and father to offer two paperwork proving their present handle.
Kenwood is probably going not the one high Public League basketball group with residency points over the previous a number of a long time. Many former Public League stars went to suburban junior highs. It’s clear from the inspector normal’s Kenwood investigation that CPS Sports activities Administration by no means had the correct oversight in place.
The report says that CPS “should essentially reform the way it oversees and regulates highschool sports activities,” and it ought to create a brand new place chargeable for implementing compliance with CPS and IHSA guidelines.
In November, CPS mentioned it’s auditing its highschool student-athlete enrollment processes.
