Chestnutt granted another year of athletic eligibility

Scott Chestnutt came to Central High School two years ago as a 6-foot-8 sophomore and a promising basketball player.

While Chestnutt's play on the court has lived up to the promise, questions arose in the past year about Chestnutt's eligibility status for 2004-05.

The question was answered Wednesday when Chestnutt was granted two more semesters for athletics.

According to Missouri State High School Activities Association rules, once a high school athlete first enrolls in school, he has eight consecutive semesters in which to play sports. Chestnutt first enrolled in Herculaneum in the fall of 2000, thus meaning his eligibility would have run out this past spring.

Central appealed to the MSHSAA as a hardship case. Chestnutt, a foster child, was moved from school to school his freshman year, and according to Central athletic director Darrick Smith there were some periods of time that first year that are not even accounted for.

After sending documentation to the MSHSAA, Central had its hearing with the MSHSAA board on Wednesday.

Smith said the decision came down fairly quick.

"Once the information was given to them, they gave him two semesters," Smith said.

Chestnutt led the team in scoring his first season with the Tigers, and last season he averaged 16.3 points in 17 games.

Central coach Derek McCord said he was really excited for Chestnutt.

"He's a really good kid that's had a lot of adversity in his life," McCord said. "Hopefully he makes the most of this opportunity."