Denied – at least for now.
That’s what CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens has told Nazareth and coach Apache Paschall about high-profile transfers Brianna Butler, Sadie Edwards and Destini Fagan until the school can provide further proof of parental change of address, The Post has learned.
Sources said a letter was sent to the school this week informing the administration of the league’s decision. Brooklyn/Queens girls president Denise Hillig confirmed that with The Post on Friday night.
“There are some kids who have been ruled in ineligible, [we’re] waiting for further documentation,” Hillig said. “They provided documentation, but not satisfactory documentation.”
Butler, guard ranked No. 13 overall in the Class of 2012, transferred into Nazareth from Penn Charter near Philadelphia and Edwards, a highly touted junior guard, is from Our Lady of Mercy in Milford, Conn. Fagan is a senior guard from Ben Davis (Ind.). All three play travel ball with Paschall’s Exodus organization.
Hillig said there is no deadline for the correct paper work and if it comes in, the players will be cleared to compete. With Butler and Edwards on the roster, Nazareth was expected to be ranked in the top five in the country and compete for a national title.
Paschall declined comment on the matter, though he said in a previous interview that he believed the league would clear the two star players. Sources told The Post that Paschall is being advised not to talk to about the situation by a lawyer, who the coach has retained in the event the Butler and Edwards aren’t allowed to play this season.
Nazareth won Brooklyn/Queens Division I in Paschall’s first year at the school and then took home the New York State Federation Class AA title. Naz and Paschall was under investigation by the league for alleged recruiting violations for almost the whole season until a late winter meeting determined that the subject would be put on hold for a later date.
Paschall, who was recently diagnosed with a form of skin cancer, first came under scrutiny when he brought almost the entire roster with him from closed St. Michael Academy to Nazareth last year.