Former Kenwood coach Mike Irvin helped fraudulently enroll at least 17 players, inspector general says

According to the CPS Office of the Inspector General’s annual report released Wednesday, basketball coach Mike Irvin and members of his coaching staff conspired to fraudulently enroll at least 17 students to play at Kenwood.

Investigators found that at least half of the school’s varsity players over three years were fraudulently enrolled. Two of the basketball players are still enrolled at Kenwood after they provided CPS with proper residency documentation in late 2024.

Irvin resigned in November and has been placed on the district's do-not-hire list. He was 90-26 in four seasons and led Kenwood to supersectional appearances in 2022 and 2023. Kenwood lost in the city title game in 2023 and 2024. According to the report, all those victories may have been with ineligible players.

The inspector general began the investigation after receiving multiple complaints from the school community and a recruiting complaint from another CPS high school.

The enrollment scheme involved providing families false addresses in Kenwood’s attendance area and providing or helping families create false documents, including fake leases and utility bills.

Some parents admitted to the inspector general that they used false addresses. One family lived in Lynwood, and one was in Richton Park. Some families submitted doctored ComEd bills as proof of residency, and some of the fake addresses were used by multiple players in the same year.

“I’m not responding to a subjective report by an opinionated person,” Irvin told the Sun-Times on Tuesday. “It’s a witch hunt, especially when five different versions of the story have already been told. To provide a fair account, it is important to examine the number of times Kenwood has been featured in the media regarding fraudulent enrollment [for non-basketball related issues].”

The new revelations bring up questions. Will CPS or the Illinois High School Association levy additional punishments against Kenwood? Will the IHSA continue to allow CPS to police itself?

An IHSA spokesperson told the Sun-Times on Tuesday that the organization would reserve comment until reviewing the full report.

“This is absolutely above my pay grade,” Irvin said. “I am just a basketball coach. My responsibility is to coach a program that has a varsity, sophomore and freshman team. That’s over 180 players deemed eligible by our athletic directors and the Office of Sports Administration. My focus has always been ensuring my student-athletes succeed academically and athletically, and I am proud of the results. My team’s cumulative GPA was 3.5, and I worked hard to send Black boys to college. That is my contribution, and I stand proud of it.”

Club basketball connection

Many of the fraudulently enrolled players lived in the suburbs and some in Chicago, but outside of Kenwood’s attendance area. Nearly all were on Irvin’s club team, the Mac Irvin Fire, according to the report.

The overlap between the Mac Irvin Fire and Kenwood ranged from four to 10 players during the years investigated. In three seasons, more than half of Kenwood’s team played for the Mac Irvin Fire. That’s against IHSA rules.

According to the report, Irvin “repeatedly lied and gave evasive, inconsistent and incredible answers” when interviewed by the inspector general.

Irvin claimed he met his players when they enrolled at Kenwood, even though they had already played for the Mac Irvin Fire. He also denied he was the Fire’s CEO or ran the club team, even though his resume lists him as CEO.

CPS failures in oversight

Irvin and his coaches “blatantly violated myriad CPS and IHSA rules, and it should have been caught by the CPS Office of Sports Administration and the school’s administration,” the report said.

An IHSA bylaw allows CPS to govern its schools. According to the report, Kenwood and CPS Sports Administration failed to provide any meaningful oversight.

Many of the Kenwood player files were missing residency documents. One student’s file contained fake documents dated after the student’s enrollment date. Another had documents listing a suburban address.

There was no evidence that home visits were completed for any of the players. One member of Kenwood’s staff said the school had never seen a basketball player’s enrollment materials.

Kenwood principal Karen Calloway was a member of the IHSA Board of Directors and CPS Sports Administration’s advisory council. The investigation’s evidence showed that Calloway “had ample reason to be suspicious about the fraudulent enrollment of basketball players at the school yet failed to take action or report it.”

Calloway “reacted in different ways when confronted with issues regarding her school’s basketball team depending on her audience. To the IHSA and complainants, she was a zealous defender of her student-athletes, but to the [CPS Inspector General] she was a detached administrator seemingly struggling with enrollment issues.”

When reached Tuesday, Calloway told the Sun-Times she would have to go through CPS to make any comments.

While Kenwood ignored Irvin’s fraud, CPS Sports Administration was “unable and unwilling to fulfill its oversight responsibilities,” according to the report.

In interviews with the inspector general, CPS sports staff said they could only conduct investigations if they received complaints. But CPS policy authorizes proactive investigations.

Last season's penalties

The inspector general first presented evidence of five ineligible players to CPS and the IHSA on Jan. 25, 2024. Nothing was done by CPS, and Kenwood was allowed to play in the city tournament and advanced to the championship game Feb. 10.

CPS sports director David Rosengard declined to comment on the situation at the time and was fired in September.

On the first day of the 2024 state tournament, the IHSA took action and kicked Kenwood out of the playoffs. Kenwood appealed to the IHSA board, which ruled that it could play in the state tournament without five ineligible players, two assistant coaches and Irvin.

Kenwood responded by requesting a temporary restraining order in Cook County Circuit court, and Judge Caroline Moreland ruled in favor of the IHSA.

The impact

Kenwood’s ineligible teams advanced to two supersectionals and two city championships, knocking out dozens of teams along the way.

Since many of Kenwood’s ineligible players lived in the suburbs, they took spots from students who lived in the neighborhood and wanted to attend Kenwood, which is one of the best neighborhood schools in the city.

Fradulent enrollment has been an issue at Kenwood since it opened in the 1960s. CPS requires parents to provide two documents proving their current address.

Kenwood is likely not the only top Public League basketball team with residency issues over the past several decades. Many former Public League stars went to suburban junior highs. It is clear from the inspector general’s Kenwood investigation that CPS Sports Administration never had the proper oversight in place.

The report says that CPS “must fundamentally reform how it oversees and regulates high school sports,” and it should create a new position responsible for enforcing compliance with CPS and IHSA rules.

In November, CPS said it is auditing its high school student-athlete enrollment processes.