Grayson Football Star's Eligibility Investigated By GHSA

GRAYSON, GA — The Georgia High School Association is investigating the eligibility of a Grayson High football star who appears to have transferred for the sole purpose of playing one season.

Running back Kurt Taylor, who has signed to play with the University of Michigan, transferred to Grayson for his senior season last fall. After football season, he transferred back to Newton High School in Covington, where his family continued to own a home, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

The Grayson Rams went 14-1 en route to winning the 7-A state championship last year.

GHSA spokesman Steve Figueroa confirmed Thursday that an investigation is under way in the wake of the Fox 5 report and public responses to it — including some by state lawmakers.

Taylor was one of five high-profile football players who transferred to Grayson in advance of the 2016 football season. Fox 5 reported that Taylor's father rented an apartment in the Grayson area last year, but maintained the family home in Covington.

The story includes tweets from Taylor showing him and his family meeting with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh at the Covington home.

Under current state rules, student-athletes generally are eligible to compete immediately upon transferring schools, as long as they have made a "bona fide" move. If he legitimately lived at the apartment in Grayson, it's possible that no rules were violated even if his family still owned the Covington home.

Georgia lawmakers have proposed several different reforms to the system. They range from requiring a transferring student to sit out of athletics for one year to a complete state government takeover of the GHSA.

In the Fox 5 story, Sen. Bruce Thompson, a Republican from White, said Taylor and his family were "mocking the system."

"There’s a significant problem with that,” Thompson said to the station. "And there should be a penalty for that. I don’t know what that is, but there should be a penalty."

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