DC high school football player returns to field after controversial eligibility ruling

WASHINGTON (7News) — A D.C. high school football player is back on the field after a controversial eligibility ruling last year.

Shaun Powell Jr. is a senior at Eastern High School in Northeast D.C. and plays quarterback for his school. He transferred to Eastern from Brunswick Academy in Virginia in 2022 after his father felt he would get better exposure to college scouts at the D.C. school.

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However, Powell missed that time to show off to college teams after DCPS ruled him ineligible to play, claiming his GPA did not meet the minimum requirement.

The minimum GPA to play high school sports for a DCPS high school is 2.0. Powell Jr. and his father claimed he had that.

Brunswick Academy even provided a transcript showing he had a 2.0 GPA. 7News even took a look at the transcript provided by Powell's dad. The Virginia school calculates on the percentile scale and put Powell Jr.’s number at 79%. According to DCPS charts, 79% is a C+ and anything above 72% is a C or 2.0.

RELATED | DCPS denies high school football player's appeal to play, says 2.03 GPA 'not relevant'

Despite the evidence, DCPS stuck by its ruling and was even backed by Mayor Muriel Bowser.

"Put yourself on the other end of this, If we have an ineligible student playing in games, then the other teams start to complain," Bowser said last year. "That's why we have a system of rules and we ensure that the rules apply to everyone."

RELATED | Bowser confident in DCPS' eligibility ruling on Eastern High QB Shaun Powell Jr.

Powell Jr. unfortunately missed his entire junior season of football in 2022.

But now, he's back and looking for a strong senior season with the Eastern High School Rams.

Powell Jr.'s family told 7News that his transcript was finally accepted. DCPS also told 7News that it has recalculated the GPAs of other transfers to confirm eligibility.