By InsideHoops.com

LeBron James, the top senior high school basketball player in the country, has been declared ineligible to play the rest of the season. His days as a high school player are over.

James allegedly received two free throwback-style jerseys, one of former Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers and the other of former Washington Bullets center Wes Unseld, as gifts from a local Ohio clothing store. The combined worth was around $850. The Ohio High School Athletic Association found this out, investigated, and has ruled LeBron James ineligible.

Thursday night, at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, while being honored as the state's top high school athlete, LeBron James said: "I'd like to thank my teammates for helping me through all this,'' he said. "It will be in the paper, but remember, I'm on the honor roll with a 3.5 grade-point average.''

There had been recent controversy over the car, a Hummer, that LeBron James' mother bought him for his 18th birthday. It was found that the money for the came from a bank loan, and was not illegal, nor did it break any high school sports rules.

James' school, Saint Vincent-Saint Mary of Akron, Ohio, forfeits their last game as a result.

OHSAA rules state that athletes can't receive any sort of apparel worth more than $100.

InsideHoops.com feels that this really doesn't hurt LeBron James at all. He just gets an early vacation from the basketball season. He can still declare for the 2003 NBA Draft, and is definitely still expected to be the first player taken.


InsideHoops.com is the online leader in professional basketball coverage.