Interview with East Principal Dr. Pamela McKinley

September 24, 2024 - It was a week and a half into Dr. Pamela McKinley's third year as prinicipal of East High School when The East High Alumni Page had the opportunity to conduct an hour long interview with her. Some of her answers were surprising, many enlightening. Read the transcript on our latest release of the "Mustang Roundup - Alumni Edition."

"2023" ACT Scores Released by State
East Ranked 20th In Statewide Public School Average ACT Composite Scores

June 26, 2024 (updated June 26, 2024 9:05pm to explain the optional nature of East High) - The East High Alumni Page continues to believe the best overall measurement of academic achievement is the ACT score. It took the Tennessee Department of Education many months more than usual to release these scores -- in late March rather than October. Tennessee reports ACT scores for the previous graduating year, so these are for those in the 2022 graduating cohort. It should also be noted that in 1989 the ACT changed its scoring but provided a concordance so pre and post 1989 scores can be compared. For further evaluation, some of scores from the top public high schools in Shelby County are also provided.

As one examines these numbers, it is important to remember that East High School is not your typical school. It is what the local school district calls an optional school. Other school systems often call these magnet schools. East does not have an attendance zone. Admission is by application. If you were a student who lived across the street from East High, you would not automatically be assigned to attend it. Depending on which side of the East High campus you lived on, you would be assigned to Melrose, Douglass, or White Station High School. Admission is by application and there are entrance requirements. Initial selection reserves 50% of the seats for "qualified students who live within their designated zone through February 13, 2024," which apparently means students who live within what would be an East High attendance zone if it had one.

The highest scoring composite ACT among public schools in Shelby County is Houston High School, a Germantown Municipal School District school, with a full point greater than East High's composite. Collierville High, also in its own separate school district, is next highest, with East High taking the third position. In statewide public school composite ACT scores, Houston High ranked 17th, Collierville 18th, and East 20th. The statewide average composite ACT score was 19.1.

School	Avg. English	Avg. Math	Avg. Reading	Avg. Science	Avg. Composite
East High	22.8	21.4	24.2	22.7	22.9
White Station	22.4	21.3	23.9	22	22.6
Collierville	23.7	22.8	24.7	23.3	23.8
Houston High	24	22.3	25	23.6	23.9
Central High	16.4	16.8	18.3	17.8	17.5
All Shelby County Public Schools	13.4	14.9	14.2	15.6	14.7
Statewide (Tennessee) Public Schools	18.3	18.5	19.7	19.2	19.1

Starting with the 2015-16 data files, schools’ and districts’ average ACT scores and percentages are calculated using the highest scores students earn in the three years preceding their graduation only for those students who are counted as graduates for a given school or district, depending on the file. Please note that in prior years the data reflected the most recent scores for students who were expected to graduate in a given year whether they graduated that year or not.
[Editor's note: after repeated visits to the Department of Education web site and discussing the delayed 2023 Tennessee Report Card with Memphis Shelby County Schools staff, eventually our frequency of checks for the information decreased. That is why there was a nearly two month delay from the 2023 Report Card's release and the posting of information here.]

East High School graduates 162 in the Class of 2024

East High Gets Grade of "A" From the State Department of Education

December 21, 2021 - “Only nine of MSCS’ nearly 200 schools received A grades in Tennessee’s rollout of school letter grades. East High School was one of the nine... Out of the district’s 198 schools, nine received an A (4.5% of schools), 30 received a B (15.2%), 72 received a C (36.4%), 44 received a D (22.2%) and 43 received an F (21.7%). (The Daily Memphian, Dec. 21, 2023)

“Similar to how classroom letter grades provide a snapshot of student learning, school letter grades allow families and communities an opportunity to see how well their schools are serving all students.” (Tennessee Department of Education).

The state letter grades are based on “student achievement, student academic growth, growth of the highest need students and college and career readiness”

The other Shelby County School District schools receiving the “A” grade this year are Medical District High School, Middle College High School, Richland Elementary School, White Station High School, University High School, University Middle School, Campus School, and
Winridge Elementary School.

There are several aspects of academic achievement and growth that are measured with different weights given to each. East received a 5, the highest score in most of these and the lowest East received was a 4. Overall, East’s score was a 5. See the results for East High's scoring on the Department of Education’s web site or a pdf of the page giving East's score here.

East High Graduates 98.3%

November 21, 2023 - The Tennessee Department of Education yesterday released the 2023graduation rates for Tennessee high schools and East High School's rate was 98.3% for its 119 student cohort. That's the third highest among all the Memphis Shelby County School District high schools. The two schools district schools with higher rates achieved a 100% graduation rate. They were City University School of Independence and Hollis F. Price.Traditional academic competitors in the district Central High had a 98.2% rate among its 290 student cohort and White Station High's 458 pupils had a 89.8% graduation rate. The graduation rate for all Memphis Shelby County District schools was 81.5% for the same period. Top academic schools in the county, based on ACT data in recent years, Collierville and Germantown's Houston High graduated 94.2% and  89.4% respectively, both with hundreds more students in their cohort. These rates are based on the federal graduation rate guideline, which counts only graduates who completed the required courses in 4 years of high school (including summers). The state also has a slightly different rate which provides some dispensation for students with disabilities.
Note: in the above photo of the 2023 graduation ceremony the students are not facing the camera because the seating arrangement had them facing the stage with their backs to the audience.

State Report Card on East High Indicates High Scores

November 28, 2022 - The Tennessee Department of Education today released the school report card for the 2021-2022 school year. Here is the summary for East High School where the score of 0 is poor and the score of 4 is best. (Also, for an important measure, see the ACT scores.)

Achievement 2022	Growth 2022	Cronically Absent 2022	Graduation Rate 2021	Ready Graduate 2021
4	4	2.8	4	4

In the above assessment, the achievement score is assessed based on the percent of students who met or exceeded grade-level expectations (i.e., success rate) on state math and ELA assessments. The Growth indicator looks closely at the progress students are making within a school compared to the average progress of all students across the state. In the 2021-22 school year, ELA and Math state assessments were used to measure growth in grades 3-12 using TVAAS. Cronically absent is defined as the percent of students who missed at least 10% of the instructional days that they were enrolled for during the school year. The Graduation Rate indicator looks at the percentage of students who are successfully finishing high school with a regular high school diploma or an alternate academic diploma (AAD) in four years plus a summer. The graduation rate reported reflects the prior year's graduating class (i.e., the Class of 2021). The Ready Graduate rate represents the percent of students who are ready for postsecondary education and/or career before high school graduation. The Ready Graduate rate data used for school accountability lag for one year; hence, the data reported in the 2021-22 report card came from the 2021 graduating cohort.

Below are some further details. The East High Alumni Page would have liked to, and tried to, use the same maxtrix as last year to display the information but as is typical, it appears the Tennessee Department of Education is presenting the data in a different way. Despite considerable time reviewing this year's report card, as in the past, it seems difficult to determine the actual academic results of the students and certainly difficult to compare year to year and school to school. Perhaps a statistician could evaluate the numbers and provide comperable data. If you are such a statistician, your help would be welcome.

Subject	Below Expectations	Approaching Expectations	Met Expectations	Exceeded Expectations	Met or Exceeded Expectations
English	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	68.4%
Math	26.5%	35%	31.9%	6.6%	38.4%
U.S. History	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	76.4%
Biology	7.6%	39.8%	43.6%	9%	52.6%
Geometry	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30.7%

The East High Alumni Page continues to believe the best overall measurement of academic achievement is the ACT score. Tennessee reports ACT scores for the previous graduating year, so these are for those in the 2021 graduating cohort. It should also be noted that in 1989 the ACT changed its scoring but provided a concordance so pre and post 1989 scores can be compared. For further evaluation, some of scores from the top public high schools in Shelby County are also provided.

School	Avg. English	Avg. Math	Avg. Reading	Avg. Science	Avg. Composit
East High	20.5	18.6	22.1	20.6	20.6
White Station	22.6	21.4	23.5	22.1	22.5
Collierville	23.3	22.2	24.3	22.8	23.3
Houston High	24.8	22.7	25.4	23.9	24.3
All Shelby County Public Schools	15.7	16.4	16.9	17	16.6
Statewide (Tennessee) Public Schools					19.1

Starting with the 2015-16 data files, schools’ and districts’ average ACT scores and percentages are calculated using the highest scores students earn in the three years preceding their graduation only for those students who are counted as graduates for a given school or district, depending on the file. Please note that in prior years the data reflected the most recent scores for students who were expected to graduate in a given year whether they graduated that year or not.

East High Designated a “Reward School”

East High Shows Double Expected
Academic Growth for 2021-2022

August 19, 2022 - The Tennessee Department of Education this week released the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) results for 2022, which measures the growth of academic accomplishment compared to what is expected over a year’s period.

East High earned a composite TVAAS score of 5, the highest level. Level five means that students academic growth was twice, or more, than was expected over the 2021-2022 school year. Quite a few Memphis-Shelby County Schools (the county school system) earned a level 5 score, as the school district did as a whole.

It is important to note that TVAAS does not measure academic achievement. Academic growth measured by TVAAS can be extraordinary yet the level of academic knowledge of the subject matter could be far below that which is desired. On the other hand, high performing students who excel in learning the subject matter could possibly not have as much TVAAS growth but, obviously, are gaining a lot of knowledge of the subject matter.

Here is the breakdown by subject matter for the East High students in 2022.

Subject	TVAAS Level
Composite	5
Algebra I	5
Algebra II	5
Biology I	2
English I	5
English II	5
Geometry	3
U.S. History	5
English	3
Math	3
Reading	5
Science/Reasoning	4

The  state has changed what each of those levels mean, or  at least how it describes what they mean. This article is going to use a previously provided description from past years which used plain language This writer believes these descriptions generally still provide a good idea of the academic growth but may be too general for educational statisticians. See the Editor's note below.  Here's how it used to be explained:
Level 5 = much greater than expected academic growth in one year
Level 4 = greater than expected academic growth in one year
Level 3 = met the expected academic growth in one year
Level 2 = less than expected academic growth in one year
Level 1 = much less than expected academic growth in one year

[Editor’s note: the Tennessee academic reporting system is, at least for this writer, difficult to understand. Furthermore, if one is able to understand the methodology, the state will change is in a year or two. This editor wonders if that’s intentional to keep the public from holding educational institutions accountable. Even if not intentional, it must be a secondary result of changing the measurement and reporting criteria and methods. Having said that, you are welcome to read the state’s 2021-22 Accountability Protocol at the Tennessee Department of Education's web site.
If you understand the protocol as it relates to this article on The East High Alumni Page and have any enlightenment or corrections, that would be welcome. Contact editor@EastHigh.org.]

Downgraded Academic Reporting Standard
Approved By Board of Education

June 28, 2022 - The administration of the Memphis-Shelby County School district has adopted a downgraded grading reporting standard to what is generally called a 10 point system. The eight members of the Board of Education in attendance at the time of the vote all agreed with the proposal. The new scale is:
A = 90 to 100;
B = 80 to 89;
C = 70 to 79;
D = 60 to 69;
F = 0 to 59.
Prior to this vote, the scale for many years had been:
A = 93 to 100;
B = 85 to 92;
C = 75 to 84;
D = 70 to 74;
F = 0 to 69.
The administration claims the reasons for the proposed change are to match the scale used by some Memphis area suburban school districts grading policies and to better align with a Tennessee state grading scale. The state scale, however, is for state financial aid reporting and by law permits local school districts to set their own scale for other purposes.

May 24, 2022 - Tonight 95 East High students joined the ranks of thousands of East High Alumni. The 72nd commencement exercise of East High was held at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Memphis. The Cannon Center stand on the ground of the old Ellis Auditorium, where quite a few East High graduations were held decades ago. It was announced that the Class members have received $11-million in scholarship offers.
Members of the Class of 2022 are invited to participate on The East High Alumni Page on the Class of 2022 page.

April 28 2022 - Pamela McKinley has been named the new incoming principal of East High School. McKinley will be replacing Newman Robertson.
   McKinley is currently assistant principal at Overton High School. She is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, has earned a master degree Alabama A&M University, and a doctorate from Walden University. McKinley says she will officially take the reins of East High July 1.

A closer look at the data released by the state suggests the district as a whole is not performing as well as would be desirable. Some of those statistics for East High School are below. Editor's note: some additional data was added (ACT scores, Ready Graduate percentages, and graduation rate) later the same day as the original posting.

Students performing on-track academically or categorized as having mastery of the class subject matter:

Overall	37%
Economically Disadvantaged	27.6%
English Language Learner	Not enough students
Students with Disabilities	Not enough students
Combined	30.5%
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	30.2%

   
Students performing on-track academically or categorized as having mastery compared to district & state:

School (East High)	37%
Memphis-Shelby County School District	11%
State of Tennessee Public Schools	27.8%

Students performing on-track academically or categorized as having mastery in English Language Arts:

ELA Achievement  Overall   57.7%
Achievement (ELA) By Race
American Indian/Alaska Native	Not enough students
Asian	Greater than 95%
Black/African American	51.1%
Hispanic	42.1%
White	76.4%
Achievement (ELA) By Group
Economically Disadvantaged	44.6%
English Language Learner	Not enough students
Students with Disabilities	Not enough students
Combined	50.8%
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	50.8%
Achievement (ELA) By Level
Below	Less than 5%
Approaching	N/A
On Track	N/A
Mastered	N/A

Students performing on-track academically or categorized as having mastery in Math:

Math Achievement Overall 18.3%
Math Achievement By Race
American Indian/Alaska Native	Not enough students
Asian	50%
Black/African American	13%
Hispanic	15.4%
White	37.9%
Achievement (ELA) By Group
Economically Disadvantaged	13.7%
English Language Learner	27.3%
Students with Disabilities	Not enough students
Combined	13.8%
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	13.2%
Achievement (Math) By Level
Below	N/A
Approaching	N/A
On Track	N/A
Mastered	Less than 5%

   
Students performing on-track academically or categorized as having mastery in Social Studies:

Overall (Social Studies) 47.2%
Achievement (Social Studies) By Race
American Indian/Alaska Native	Not enough students
Asian	Not enough students
Black/African American	38.6%
Hispanic	Not enough students
White	Not enough students
Achievement (Social Studies) By Group
Economically Disadvantaged	31%
English Language Learner	Not enough students
Students with Disabilities	Not enough students
Combined	42.2%
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	42.2%
Achievement (Social Studies) By Level
Below	18.1%
Approaching	34.7%
On Track	33.3%
Mastered	13.9%

Students performing on-track academically or categorized as having mastery in Science:

Science Achievement Overall  63.3%
Achievement (Science) By Race
Asian	Not enough students
Black/African American	55.3%
Hispanic	Not enough students
White	91.4%
Achievement (Science) By Group
Economically Disadvantaged	46.4%
English Language Learner	Not enough students
Students with Disabilities	Not enough students
Combined	56.3%
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	55.8%
Achievement (Science) By Level
Below	7.8%
Approaching	28.9%
On Track	52.8%
Mastered	10.6%

      
Another measurement the state makes is in student growth. This is called the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). It measures how much academic advancement an individual student makes during one year. It is very important to distinguish between advancement and achievement. TVAAS is advancement (also called growth), not achievement. For example, a student could make more than a year's worth of academic advancement during a school year yet still be below the "on track" designation. The scoring is one to five, with Level 5 being the highest. Level 3 is generally described as making the expected year's worth of advancement in a year's time. Here are the aggregated, meaning the school as a whole, student growth figures for East High for the 2020-2021 school year.

Student Growth  (TVAAS) Overall  3
Economically Disadvantaged	4
English Language Learner	Data not available or suppressed for privacy
Students with Disabilities	Data not available or suppressed for privacy
Combined	3
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	4
Student Growth  (TVAAS) by Subject
ELA Growth (English Language Arts)	5
Math Growth	1

 
The state reports for the 2020-2021 school year East High had 44 teachers for an overall student to teacher ratio of 12:1. The school retained 87.5% of its teachers in 2020-2021 from the previous year.

The state reported East High had 545 students for the 2020-2021 school year. The demographics are below.

Number of Students Enrolled	545
American Indian/Alaska Native	Less than 5%
Asian	Less than 5%
Black/African American	73.4%
Hispanic	5.3%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Not enough students
White	18.5%
Student Demographics by Group
Economically Disadvantaged	29.5%
English Language Learner	Less than 5%
Students with Disabilities	Less than 5%
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	79.3%
Foster	Less than 5%
Homeless	Not enough students
Migrant	Not enough students
Military Family	Not enough students

As previously reported here, the Class of 2020 ACT aggregate composite score was 16.2. The state reports the ACT score from the previous year at the end of a graduating class's year. Therefore, the 2020 score is the most recent reported by the state.

Average ACT composite score by subject  (2020) Overall:  16.2
Math	15.7
Reading	16.4
English	15.4
Science	16.7

 In 1989, the ACT revised its testing and scoring. The 16.2 score for East High equates to about a 12 on the pre-1989 ACT test.
 
Similarly, the state reports the "ready graduate" percentage for the previous year's graduating class. So the following represents the Class of 2020 evaluation. This rate represents the percentage of students who demonstrate readiness for college and careers after high school.

Class of 2020 overall who were ready graduates	12.5%
Ready graduate rate by student group
Economically Disadvantaged	8.1%
English Language Learner	Not enough students
Students with Disabilities	Less than 5%
Combined	12.5%
Black/Hispanic/ Native American	12.4%

The graduation rate as reported by the state is also for the year 2020 and stood at 84.1% but also reported by the state earlier
was the 2021 graduation rate, previously reported here, was 96.1%.

Source: Tennessee Department of Education

It should be noted that the Class of 2021 was the first in which all students were admitted to the STEM optional (magnet) program and there were no "traditional curriculum" students enrolled. So the 2020 ACT scores, ready graduate, and graduation rate apply also apply to traditional students who attended East High mostly based on their residence within the East attendance zone. Also, the classes of 2020 and 2021 education methods were affected by the pandemic.

Composite ACT Scores

  *Excluding charter schools and the virtual school

East High Fined and  Ordered
to Forfeit 2017-18 and 2018-19
Boys Basketball Games

September 3, 2022 - The organization ruling state athletics has sent a letter to East High School calling on the school to pay a $15,000 fine and to forfeit all games that James Wiseman ['19] played in during the 2017-18 and 2018-2019 basketball seasons.
  "The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association has erased most of the James Wiseman and Penny Hardaway eras at Memphis East after ordering the school to vacate all wins and championship hardware from Wiseman's two seasons with the Mustangs for violation of the TSSAA's recruiting rule..." The Commercial Appeal
  The ruling by the TSSAA can be appealed. When the TSSAA originally took action against East High the Shelby County Board of Education filed a lawsuit against the TSSAA on behalf of East in November, 2017. The case took several turns but eventually was ruled moot by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in 2021.
   The TSSAA is a voluntary membership organization but has been designated by the state as the ruling body over high school athletics for those schools that join. Most high schools with athletic programs are members, including East High.

Front page of the Memphis newspaper: "University of Memphis charged with multiple Level I violations as part of NCAA's investigation
    "It alleges  coach Penny Hardaway [East High Coaching Staff 2015-2018] "failed to demonstrate that he promoted an atmosphere of compliance within the men's basketball program."
    "... appears to extend beyond simply how the men's basketball program handled former player James Wiseman's [East High '19] eligibility status...
    "The university – in its response to the IARP – either categorically denied the allegations entirely or contended the allegations did not merit Level I designation."
The Commercial Appeal, March 26/27, 2022.

Appeal Court Rules but Wiseman, Boyce Case Not Over

March 1, 2021 - After more than three years in the courts, it appears the controversy whether James Wiseman ('19) (pictured at left) and Ryan Boyce ('18) violated the state basketball governing association’s rules and were ineligible to play basketball at East High for the 2017-2018 season is “still not concluded.”

The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled on February 26, 2021, that the appeal was moot because by the time the “trial court entered its final order in January 2020, the Students had already
participated on the East boys’ basketball team for the 2017-2018 season, and the Students
had graduated from the high school.”

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association declared the students ineligible to play at East High because at that time Penny Hardaway was East's coach and they had played summer basketball for "Team Penny." The TSSAA said playing for Hardaway at East violated its "prior link" coaching rule.  The Shelby County Board of Education, on behalf of East High, sued and a court allowed Wiseman and Boyce to play the entire season at East.

The case went back and forth. The chancellor in the trial court initially said that the TSSAA’s rules were arbitrary and therefore invalid, but that was in preliminary proceedings. The TSSAA appealed but because the trial court’s ruling had not be finalized, the appeals court sent it back. After modifying its final order, among other things the Memphis court found that TSSAA violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act when it adopted the “athletic coaching link”
rule; and also when the TSSAA Board of Control determined that the students were ineligible to play basketball for East for the 2017-2018 season. The Chancellor ruled that the “athletic coaching link” rule and TSSAA’s decision to rule Wiseman and Boyce ineligibility were void.

Both sides appealed.

Now the Court of Appeals says the case was already moot when the trial court made its final decision, that is, the case had no practical significance because the students had long since played that season for East and had finished high school. So the Appeals Court vacated the trial court’s final order and sent the case back to Chancery court for any further proceedings.

An official with the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, which deemed the students ineligible to play at East that year, declined comment to The East High Alumni Page saying that it was a legal matter that was “still not concluded.”

Hardaway went on to become the University of Memphis basketball coach and Wiseman enrolled there after graduating from East. The NCAA, however, ruled Wiseman ineligible his freshman season for reasons related to his move to Memphis and enrollment at East High. Wiseman then decided to forgo college, entered the draft for the National Basketball Association and now is playing his first professional year for the Golden State Warriors. Boyce is playing college basketball at Georgia State University.

Swimming Teams Impressive in 2020 Championships

January, 2020 - The East High Boys Team won the Shelby County Interscholastic Athletic Association Swimming Championship. The girls' team placed third place overall.

East Girls Soccer Team Watches Rhodes College Women Win

September 27, 2019 - The East High Girls Soccer Team (pictured at left) visited the campus of Rhodes College today to watch the Rhodes Women (7 wins, 2 losses) defeat Millsaps 3-0. East has two more matches (see schedule below) before the season ends.
In addition to girls soccer, at least three other fall sports are underway for East High students: football, girls volleyball and coed bowling. Schedules for those are below also.

Wiseman, Boyce high school basketball
2018 eligibility saga continues

January 18, 2020 - "A Shelby County Chancery Court judge has found that the TSSAA's decision to rule former East High basketball players James Wiseman ['19] and Ryan Boyce ['18] ineligible was "void and of no effect," according to a document obtained by the USA Today Sports Network. Attorney Richard Colbert said that the TSSAA filed a notice of appeal on Thursday." The Commercial Appeal, Jan. 17/18.
Both Boyce and Wiseman enrolled at the University of Memphis after high school and were playing for the team in the 2019-2020 basketball season. Associated events during their high school years lead the NCAA to declare Wiseman ineligible for a number of games. Rather than returning to the University of Memphis team, Wiseman engaged an agent and is spending the time preparing for this year's NBA draft. Boyce transferred to Georgia State.

Trial delayed in dispute over eligibility of two
East High boys basketball players

March 4, 2019 - The case involving to East High boys basketball players Ryan Boyce and James Wiseman eligibility for the 2017-2018 season  which was scheduled for trial March 4, 2019, was delayed. The next entry on the docket for the case is a hearing on a motion for summary judgment scheduled for June 24, 2019. The TSSAA had ruled them ineligible but the Shelby County Board of Education, on behalf of East High, appealed that ruling to Chancery Court. You can read more about the case in stories below.

Trial set for dispute over eligibility of two East High boys basketball players

February 4, 2019 - A trial is set in Shelby County Chancery Court to take up the issue of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) ruling two East High boys basketball players, Ryan Boyce and James Wiseman, ineligible for the 2017-2018 season. The students  continued to play with the team while the court fight went on. The Board of Education, on behalf of East High, appealed the TSSAA ruling. Chancellor Kyle first ruled against the TSSAA issuing a restraining order against it, which allowed the continued play by Boyce and Wiseman. At this point, a trial is set in Kyle's court one month from today:  10 a.m.  March 4, 2019. See additional stories below.

Long after basketball season is over and East won another state championship, lawsuit over eligibility of two players continues

July 14, 2018 - The lawsuit in which the Shelby County Board of Education for East High School challenged the Tennessee Secondary Athletic Association's declaration that two of its boys basketball team members were ineligible for the 2017-18 season continues in the courts.
   As noted below, the Shelby County Chancery Court issued an order restraining the TSSAA from excluding the boys, Ryan Boyce and James Wiseman, and they continued to play for East High throughout the season. East won its third straight state championship at the end of the season. The coach, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway (Coaching Staff 2015-2018) was then hired away from East to become the head basketball coach of the University of Memphis mens basketball team.
   The TSSAA appealed the chancery court ruling. The Tennessee Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal saying that despite the chancery court's ruling saying it was final, it did not meet the rules actually making it a final ruling and that only final rulings can be appealed. The case went back to the Chancellor Jim Kyle of the Shelby County Chancery Court.
   As of late June, 2018, the parties to the lawsuit were still filing exhibits with the court.
   See additional stories below.

As expected, East High head boys basketball coach and former National Basketball Association player Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway (Coaching Staff 2015-2018) was named coach of the University of Memphis mens basketball team Tuesday, Mar. 20. The Commercial Appeal, Mar. 20/21