The hopes of four Glencoe High School basketball players to suit up this season have been dashed after the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) Board of Directors unanimously denied the school’s appeal on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

At the center of the decision is Rule 24, a controversial regulation that restricts athlete transfers when a prior connection to a coach is involved. OSSAA determined the Glencoe athletes violated the rule, making them ineligible for varsity competition this season.

The ruling sparked immediate backlash. On Thursday, families of the student-athletes filed a lawsuit, seeking to overturn the OSSAA decision and restore the players’ eligibility.

Rule 24 states a student transferring after ninth grade is ineligible for one year if it is proven that:

• The receiving school’s coach previously coached the player on an outside team,

• The coach acted as a private instructor,

• The player attended a camp or clinic run by the coach, or

• The player followed a coach from one school to another within 12 months.

Glencoe officials argued for eligibility, but the OSSAA board stood firm, voting unanimously against the appeal. The decision now shifts the battle from the boardroom to the courtroom, with the new lawsuit set to test how far families can push back against OSSAA’s strict transfer rules.