Demond Demas won't play his senior season.
It is not because of a season-ending injury but rather due to his appeal for his transfer to Tomball being denied by the UIL State Executive Committee on Tuesday.
"Whatever happened, it happened," Demas said following the ruling. "I'm not going to cry about it. I'm not going to be upset. It's just life. Life's going to throw you adversity. Life's going to throw you curveballs. You going to knock it out of the park or what. That's how I see it. I'm just going to knock it out of the park from here on out.
"I swung, I missed. Not going to strikeout though."
The 6-0 vote by the State Executive Committee upheld the previous ruling by the District 20-5A Executive Committee, which ruled that he had indeed moved to Tomball for athletic purposes, which is against the rules of the UIL.
As of August 6, the SEC had heard three appeals, two were denied and one had been withdrawn. In the 2018-2019 year, 51 appeals were made to the SEC, 36 were declined, 11 were granted and three were withdrawn. In 2018-2019, 70.59 percent of District Executive Committee decisions were upheld by the SEC.
Moments after the ruling, Demas, who's only option to play his senior season was to return to North Forest High School, tweeted that he would not be returning to his original high school. Instead, he will be staying at Tomball.
Demas spent the last three seasons playing at North Forest before transferring to Tomball in 2019.
"It's a really sad day," Houston ISD Athletic Director Andre Walker told VYPE in an exclusive interview. "Nobody wins. Not good for the school or for the kids. When you have adults with their own motives getting involved in this process, this is what you get."
Demas - who is verbally committed to Texas A&M; - is the No. 2 recruit in Texas per 24/7 Sports. In the country, Demas is the No.14 overall recruit for the 2020 class.
"It was stressful for my family, not for me," Demas said. "I'm all smiles. I'm alright with it. I mean I did what I had to do in my three years. Got my scholarships, got the grades, got my SAT score, now it's just smooth sailing my senior year. I would love to play football my senior year but I guess it just wasn't in God's plan. I'm not going to question God and why he did it."
So, what's next for Demas?
"Just keep training with Footwork King, keep trying to keep myself together, keep myself molded as the receiver that I am and just make myself even better than what I used to be," Demas said.
VYPE will continue to update this story as it develops.
