CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Eleven Walsh-Jesuit student-athletes unknowingly received prohibited athletic scholarships, according to the OHSAA.
The school self-reported a recruiting violation and said students within its athletic department received scholarships and donations based on athletic participation, which is against OHSAA rules.
According to the OHSAA, the school has fired its varsity girls soccer coach, suspended their wrestling coach, will retrain all of their coaches in recruiting, and banned the donors who made the donations to students.
The school is requiring the 11 student-athletes to relinquish the donations from the donors and pay the full school year tuition.
If a student transfers to another school, they will be ineligible for a period to play their sport, according to the OHSAA.
Walsh Jesuit has been placed on probation for the remainder of 2021 and was fined $500.
Walsh Jesuit High School President Karl Ertle released the following statement:
Walsh Jesuit owes it to our partner schools in the OHSAA to be transparent and as soon as we became aware of the issues, we engaged an independent third party firm to lead the investigation and then self-reported to the OHSAA. We will make the necessary corrections and have protocols to ensure Walsh Jesuit will continue to be true to our mission through all of our programming. It is important to note that we were commended by the OHSAA for the way we handled the matter and that our students had no part in the violations of the Bylaws.
