Student at center of Ridgeway basketball scandal speaks out - KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports

(WMC-TV) - The student at the center of a basketball scandal at Ridgeway High School is speaking out about the team's disqualification due to his ineligibility to play.

Last week, the Ridgeway boys' basketball team was disqualified from the state tournament after officials say a student provided false documents to the school, including a false transcript.

McKinzey Sewell showed Action News 5 a tattoo with his own birth date on it. It read March 4, 1994. A copy of his birth certificate shows the same date.

Sewell says he is only 18 years old, and though he takes responsibility for what happened, he also says it is not all his fault.

He claims he married the mother of another basketball player in November. Sewell says she got him into Ridgeway High School, even though he was not supposed to after getting his GED in Louisiana.

Sewell says things took a turn for the worse with his wife when he became involved with a 19-year-old at the school.

"She told me that she didn't want me going to Ridgeway because of the girls there. The only way she would let me back there was like I signed the wedding papers," he said. "I really wanted to be there because I felt like I had a second chance at doing something that I loved to do."

His aunt blames Sewell's wife for forging the paperwork. She also blames Ridgeway High School for not double checking that paperwork.

"First and foremost I want people to know that McKinzey Sewell is 18 years old. He's not 22. He's not 23. He was manipulated by a person older than him. He's 18. His girlfriend is 34 years old," said McKini Spain, Sewell's aunt.

Sewell apologized to his teammates for all that's transpired.

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