New Rule Shocks Spring Sports
MHSAA institutes new minimum GPA of 2.8,
Most Rice Seniors are currently ineligible
By Wolin Spots
Chieftain Staff
We hear it all the time, from teachers,
counselors, parents, and many more:
During the second semester of Senior
year, it is very diffi cult to fi nd the moti-
vation to do well in school.
All second-semester Seniors can attest
to that. Grinding for the Honor Roll is
getting to us.
So this breaking news from the
MHSAA should not be a surprise: After
much debate and many meetings and
conferences, the state’s governing body
for athletics has decided to raise the
minimum GPA to a 2.8, up from a 1.8,
effective immediately.
This is a huge deal for Brother Rice
and our upcoming sports season, as all
of our 2019 Spring sports teams will be
dramatically affected. Going forward,
the spring sports teams will need their
Senior Academic All-Stars to become,
simply, All-Stars.
For example, the Lacrosse team, in its
search to regain a State Championship,
has changed its preseason posters to
feature Seniors Jacob Hannawa, Dom-
inic Dadabbo, and James Donaldson.
Likewise, the Baseball team will lean on
Tyler Sarkisian and Jacob Montrose.
While some may think Brother Rice
can make its own rules as a private high
school, that is incorrect. The MHSAA
oversees athletics for all Michigan high
schools, public and private, and it has
made this a state-wide, mandatory rule.
So the big questions going forward
are, fi rst, when will grades be re-checked
and, then, when will students be reeval-
uated?
According to an offi cial statement
from the school, “Student-athletes will
have grades checked randomly through-
out the rest of the school year. If a
student on probation maintains overall
grades above the 2.8 cut-off, he can ap-
ply for reinstatement.”
This leads to an obvious next ques-
tion: Has Senioritis set in to the point
where it won’t matter? That remains to
B ROTHE R R I C E H I G H S C H OO L C H I E F TA I N
be seen.
We’ve all heard the speech many
times: “Don’t come to Brother Rice just
to play sports. ... Come to get an elite
education and prepare for life outside
of school. ... Students must work hard
in the classroom to play sports. ... Sports
are a privilege.”
Fans of Brother Rice athletics can
only hope that our Seniors can re-fo-
cus to give our Spring teams their best
chance to win.
Only Perfect Bracket is at Rice
After the fi rst weekend of “March Madness,” the ever-popular
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, it was widely reported that
only one perfect bracket remained in the entire world.
After further investigation, the Chieftain has learned that the
lone perfecto belongs to a Brother Rice student. His bracket is be-
low, but he chose to remain anonymous to avoid a jinx.
P AGE 7
A P R I L 1, 2019