2 of the NIC-10's biggest basketball stars are leaving the conference

ROCKFORD — The two biggest NIC-10 boys basketball stars have two years left to play.

But apparently not in Rockford.

And maybe not anywhere this season.

Auburn center Mike Jones and Boylan guard Tristian Ford have left the NIC-10, their coaches confirmed Tuesday. Auburn coach Bryan Ott said both were hoping to play for Chicago Leo, which was ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 2A last year before losing in the supersectionals.

The two juniors did show up at Leo and tried to enroll on the opening day of school on Aug. 11, confirmed Leo president Dan McGrath. The two said they planned to move in with a relative to meet Illinois High School Association rules which require athletes to live within 30 miles of a private school to be eligible. Leo officials checked with a lawyer and decided not to let them enroll because of concerns over the custodial parent issue. The school held firm on its position even a week later when the two players showed up again with signed papers giving their relative custody.

Also, IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said the state "has not received transfer eligibility ruling requests for these two students at Leo or any other school to date."

Both Jones and Ford played for the same AAU team this summer. Their AAU coach was recently hired as an assistant coach at Chicago Leo.

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Ott said Jones told him Aug. 10 he is transferring for academic reasons. Boylan coach Brett McAllister said Ford had “a tremendous two years for us” both in the classroom and on the court.

“I would put his work ethic in the classroom ahead of his basketball game,” McAllister said. “He was just tremendous here in class. Our teachers and coaching staff believed in him. He is setting himself up for a tremendous future.”

Both Jones, an extremely athletic 6-foot-6 center, and Ford have flashed skills that are even better than the impressive stats they have put up.

“I don’t think there is a ceiling for him,” McAllister said of Ford. “He’s got growing to do left in his body still. His best basketball is still ahead of him. There is no doubt he is a next-level player. There is no ceiling at this point. He can take this thing however far he wants to take it.”

McAllister would not comment on where Ford plans to play now.

“We started school two weeks ago and he is not here,” the Boylan coach said. “Outside of that, I don’t have any information for you.”

Both families would have to move to be eligible to play for a Chicago school. IHSA rules say players must sit out for a year if they transfer from a public school to a local private school. And no wait will be long enough if the school isn’t local. IHSA rules say you must live within 30 miles of a private school to be eligible to play, and you must also live with a parent or custodial guardian.

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Also, before Jones and Ford begin playing at a new school, Auburn and Boylan must fill out a transfer form and say no rules were broken that they know of in the transfer.

“Nobody has talked to anybody in Chicago about Mike,” Ott said. “It doesn’t come to that until he gets enrolled at a school and we get a concurrence form where the school has to say everything is on the up and up. I checked, and no one, not me or the athletic director or the principal, has seen anything yet. There has been nothing for us to even reply to from Chicago.”

Auburn and Boylan would have been the two favorites to win the NIC-10 this year if their two stars had stayed. Both would have returned three starters.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: NIC-10 boys basketball stars transferring out of Rockford