Dec. 12--A Congo-born student at Mooseheart will be allowed to continue playing basketball for the Batavia school while his eligibility court case moves through the appeal process, an Illinois Appellate Court decided Thursday.
Rodrigue Ceda Makindu, 18, who arrived in October 2012 at the residential school and community for children from unstable backgrounds, is challenging an Illinois High School Association bylaw that restricts international students' athletic eligibility. On Dec. 1, a Kane County judge ruled that he could play.
A week later, the high school association asked the Illinois Appellate Court to overturn that order and block Makindu from playing while the organization's appeal made its way through court. In rejecting the IHSA's emergency motion, the Appellate Court did not set a timetable for a ruling on the association's challenge to the county court ruling. The court merely denied the IHSA's request to sideline Makindu during the appeal.
Born in Congo, Makindu was desperate to flee the war-ravaged country formerly known as Zaire. In late 2010, he connected online with Plano High School athletic director Jim Schmidt, who eventually placed Makindu at Mooseheart.
After sitting out basketball a year to comply with IHSA requirements, the athletic, 6-foot-3-inch Makindu was planning to play for the Red Ramblers. During that year, the IHSA imposed the new, more restrictive bylaw -- a response to three towering South Sudanese students who led Mooseheart to last season's small school state basketball championship.
The IHSA maintains that the bylaw helps balance athletic competition among schools. Attorneys for Makindu assert that the law discriminates against international students and that no imbalance exists if those students participate in sports.
Mooseheart has won four games and lost one this season. The Red Ramblers' next game is Friday at Hall High School, about 100 miles southwest of Chicago.
tgregory@tribpub.com
Twitter @tgregoryreports
