Transfer rule leaves Roman Catholic’s Lynn Greer III ineligible for PIAA basketball playoffs

Roman Catholic basketball star Lynn Greer III was ruled ineligible for the upcoming PIAA playoffs after an application for a hardship waiver was rejected, and coach Matt Griffin is surprised.

“I don’t feel like Lynn Greer fits into why the rule was put into place,” Griffin said on Saturday. “I am a little caught off guard. … I’m surprised that he is ineligible.”

PaPrepLive.com reported the story on Tuesday.

Greer, a highly recruited junior point guard, is still eligible to play in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs and help the Cahillites try to repeat as champs. But he will be ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. Greer declined to comment.

Greer transferred to Oak Hill Academy, a national basketball powerhouse in Virginia, last spring. He returned to Philly and Broad and Vine Streets in November after not settling in at the school or appearing in a game.

The PIAA passed a new rule last summer that requires students who transfer in their 10th grade season or later to sit out the next season’s postseason unless they can prove hardship. The waiver provision addresses transfers with “exceptional and unusual” circumstances."

Greer had two hearings with District 12 officials in December and January, but his argument didn’t fit the PIAA’s guidelines for a waiver, Griffin said.

“I don’t think they accounted for young men going to a boarding school and the hardships that are associated with going to a boarding school, which can potentially be entirely away from your family, friends, everybody that you grew up with,” Griffin said. “Yeah, it’s his decision. But a lot of times you don’t know until you get there. I think that’s tremendous hardship for a young man, and no one can tell me otherwise.”

Griffin said Roman Catholic, the defending PIAA Class 6A state champion, is still looking through the PIAA handbook to check that Greer is indeed ineligible for postseason play.

Greer, a four-star recruit, is ranked as a top-20 point guard in the country. He holds offers from Florida, Iowa, Penn State, Temple, Oregon and St. Joseph’s. He recently earned first-team All-Catholic honors after he averaged 14.2 points per game this season. Last season, Greer helped the Cahillites beat Lincoln, 92-80, in the 6A state championship.

Greer scored 10 points on Friday as Roman Catholic edged St. Joseph’s Prep, 55-50, in the quarterfinals of the Catholic League tournament. The Cahillites are to face Neumann-Goretti in the semifinals at the Palestra on Wednesday.

Griffin will most likely have to make a run in the state tourney without Greer, but he’s not looking that far ahead. He’s focused, he said, on Roman Catholic’s game against the Saints next week.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Griffin said of the PIAA playoffs. “If that were to be the case, we’ll just do the best we can. I feel badly for Lynn. He’s a tremendous young man, and he deserves the opportunity to play.”