BY HENRY SHULDINER, SPORTS EDITOR

PHOTO BY CORY F. ROYSTER PHOTOGRAPHY

According to multiple sources, Wilson Running Back Abdul Adams has transferred to H.D. Woodson effective immediately. Losing Adams will no doubt be a huge loss for the Tiger offense next year. The junior running back finished this year with 1,846 yards (eighth in the area), 21 touchdowns, and was named to honorable mention in the All-Metropolitan section of the Washington Post.

According to 247sports.com, Adams has received offers from  17 programs including Michigan State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Marshall, and Kansas. This is the 12th most offers of any high school running back in the country, per rankbyoffers.com. Additionally, the junior has garnered interest from many more NCAA Division I schools.

Under section 5.1.2 of the DCIAA rule book, the rule book which governs all DC Public School Athletic competitions, “A student who transfers enrollment from any school to a public school in the District of Columbia in grades nine (9), ten (10), eleven (11), or twelve (12) is ineligible to participate in interscholastic athletics for one calendar year.” Under DCIAA rule, Adams would not be allowed to play next year, so it is puzzling to imagine why a transfer was necessary.

With students like Adams transferring, it creates less parity within the DCIAA. This is a problem that has long-plagued the competitiveness of the district’s public school sports leagues. The purpose of the rule is to disallow the city’s best athletes from being able to transfer from their respective schools to perennial powerhouses such as Dunbar and H.D. Woodson for football, Roosevelt and Coolidge for basketball, and Wilson and Bell for soccer.

Adams was unable to be contacted for this article and Head Coach Mark Martin did not have enough detail on the situation to comment. The situation is still developing.