Notre Dame said they faxed in what called an "at large entry" to the CIF Southern Section on Thursday to be included in the CIF playoffs, but the CIF Southern Section says they did not receive that fax, and as a result they were left out of the playoff brackets that were announced on Sunday.
Notre Dames athletic director Kevin Rooney said he was told that only a portion of the fax was received, and he admitted that the school should have followed up.
The Nights finished the season 14 and 12, but they did not win their league, and according to the boys basketball coach Bill Bedgood, Notre Dame was ranked No. 7 by coaches in the 32 team playoff division.
Bedgood said he was stunned when he didn't see his team in the playoff pairings online.
"I am so crushed and devastated for our players; especially the seniors whose final season came to an abrupt and unfair ending due to a simple clerical error," Bedgood said in an e-mail to ABC7.
Tom Simmons from the CIF Southern Section said the playoff handbook clearly states that the responsibility to verify receipt of paperwork rests with the school.
"Notre Dame High School did not attempt to verify section receipt of that paperwork. The CIF-SS has great compassion for the student-athletes that worked so hard throughout the year for a chance to qualify for postseason competition. It is never a pleasant task to deny that ability.
"Notre Dame coaching staff had a duty to their student-athletes to verify their placement in the section playoffs. Regrettably, they did not," Simmons said.
Notre Dame High School's boys basketball team has eight seniors on the team. The boy's moms told ABC7 that their sons were understandably very upset and didn't want to go on camera for an interview.
