[Batpuff]

Prep Star's Ineligible
Star high school player ruled ineligible for next season
WSAZ NewsChannel 3
One of the best high school basketball players in the entire country will not get to play this coming school year.

Bill Walker, who is from Huntington, but has been playing in Cincinnati, just lost his eligibility.
The Ohio Athletic Association says Walker has already played four full years of high school and cannot play another.

He went to Cincinnati's North College Hill and won back to back state titles with his teammate from Huntington, O.J. Mayo.

Mayo is roundly considered the very best high school player for this coming year.

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Bill Walker, one of the nation's top high school basketball players, will not be allowed to play this year because he has used up all of his eligibility, state athletic officials said on Monday.

Walker, a 6-foot-6 forward who combined with O.J. Mayo to lead North College Hill to consecutive state championships, has completed his eight semesters of eligibility, the Ohio High School Athletic Association said.

Walker played a year as a ninth-grader at Rose Hill Christian in Ashland, Ky., before enrolling at North College Hill as an eighth-grader in February 2003, the association said.

Walker was widely considered second only to Mayo among the nation's incoming seniors. Walker averaged 21.7 points and 10.1 rebounds last season, highlighted by a 50-point, 25-rebound performance in a 100-68 victory over Covington (Ky.) Holmes as North College Hill (26-1) lost only to Virginia-based perennial power Oak Hill Academy.

North College Hill High School officials have said they believed Walker had four full seasons of eligibility when he enrolled.

Mayo and Walker have said they want to play college basketball together. It wasn't immediately clear how Monday's ruling will affect their plans