As Pleasant Valley High School continues to look into claims surrounding its boys basketball program, District 11 chairman and Whitehall Athletic Director Bob Hartman provided additional insight into the matter on Thursday.

“We received anonymous emails, or some nonanonymous emails, and have forwarded those on to Pleasant Valley, because ultimately Pleasant Valley determines if students live in their school district,” Hartman said. “Monday, (Athletic Director) Tom Toth called me to let me know that they were going to investigate it, and asked me for some recommendations on what I thought or they should do moving forward.”

While Pleasant Valley’s investigation into whether or not members of the basketball team are in fact eligible to play based on residency within the district, Hartman noted that District 11 is currently not involved in the matter.

“At this point right now, we don’t play a role, other than Tom Toth is a new AD who has got a good future in front of him,” said Hartman. “I think he’s going to do a real nice job. He just called for advice and I was willing to answer any questions that he may have. I know that if he’s able, he’ll do everything that he can to do the right thing and get this right for Pleasant Valley.

“At this point, we’ve gotten no violation form, which schools would need to fill out, in order for us to look into these matters. So there’s nothing that we’re looking to do. I talked to Tom about the eligibility of players, and if players are eligible to play, there’s no issue.”

Hartman did say that if players are found out to be ineligible they must stop playing immediately.

“When you find out they may not be eligible to play, it’s best to not play those kids,” he said. “In any case or in any situation if you use a player you know is ineligible, you’d have to forfeit a contest. We try to do our best to avoid that.”

Hartman also said the Bears, currently 2-2 on the season, would not be forced to forfeit any of their wins up until this point.

“The reality is, the players are eligible until they’re ineligible,” he said. “We’re not going to change the result of a contest if Pleasant Valley was unaware that these kids may have been ineligible. If they were to play those athletes knowing that they were ineligible, then that is when we would bring possible forfeiture into it.

“But If they are unaware, we’re not going to go backward (to punish them). Generally, the rule for every student athlete says that if they are legally enrolled, they are legally enrolled.”

Whatever the outcome, Hartman — and the district — are just hoping it’s the right one for all parties involved.

“We just trust that schools are good members, and do what’s right,” Hartman said. “We look at not only their school, but the schools that they compete against and try to provide for as level a playing field as possible.

“(We will) let them handle it as they see fit. I’m confident that they’ll do the right things, whatever they may be.”