SAN RAMON — Jalen Stokes won’t be suiting up for Dougherty Valley for the foreseeable future.
After sitting out the first five games of the year, the all-East Bay Athletic League forward was ruled ineligible for the season after the North Coast Section denied his transfer from Dublin, Dougherty Valley head coach Mike Hansen confirmed to the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday.
Stokes, a UC Davis commit and 2023-24 all-Bay Area News Group player, was enrolled at Dougherty Valley at the beginning of the school year. His transfer raised eyebrows in the summer and solidified Dougherty Valley’s standing as one of the top teams in the Bay Area a year after winning the NCS Division I crown.
Stokes was the missing piece to a Dougherty Valley team that played well without a go-to scorer last season. Stokes’ ineligibility is a big blow for the Wildcats as they had high hopes for a run at the state title this season.
“It’s disappointing for sure,” Hansen said. “I don’t think (the decision) was done properly. I don’t think all the facts were looked at, and I think the ruling was rather one-sided in their evidence gathering.”
Hansen said the school plans to appeal the section’s decision. He also expressed frustration with Dublin as he believes Stokes’ former school played a part in the ruling.
“When this happens to kids and it’s not done right, it’s always from the same school which is kind of ironic to me,” Hansen said.
Dublin head coach Tom Costello declined to comment on Hansen’s comments, but said in a statement, “Jalen was obviously a key piece to our success throughout his three seasons with us. We are proud of the many great memories shared as well as his ability to garner multiple (college) scholarship offers while a member of our program. We wish him nothing but the best as he continues his basketball journey.”
While Stokes’ future with Dougherty Valley is put on hold, there would be a possibility for the 6-foot-5 forward to play again this season at his old school.
While NCS commissioner Pat Cruickshank could not comment on specific players’ transfers, he said there are pathways for athletes who were denied eligibility at their new school to return to their previous school and play right away.
“If a player transfers from School A to School B, never participates in School B, and decides to go back to School A for whatever reasons, they would have eligibility at School A because they never participated in School B,” Cruickshank told the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday. “The basic scenario of a return to previous school without participation at the new school would be that person would have full eligibility if they didn’t compete there. And that’s actually one of the pretty basic rules.”
However, Hansen said he believes there is no chance Stokes returns to Dublin.
“That’s not something I worry about at all,” Hansen said. “He wants nothing to do with them.”
According to Hansen, part of the NCS ruling on Stokes’ transfer deemed that Dougherty Valley has directly benefited from transfers in the last three years.
“One of the things that stuck out to me was that it said we had seven transfers in the past three years that have greatly and significantly had an impact on our success in the North Coast section, which is not true,” Hansen said. “They listed the seven and four of those players haven’t even played for us yet.
“There were too many of those mistakes in the report that it just didn’t jive with me or our administration.”
Stokes was a decorated player at Dublin last season, leading the Gaels to an NCS Division I title game berth where they eventually fell to Dougherty Valley in a close contest.
He averaged 19.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 49% from the field.
“He’s been in remarkably good spirits trying to remain positive, or just take care of his mental health to make sure he’s in a good place,” Hansen said. “Obviously, his basketball career is going to continue on beyond high school.”