In a move sure to draw fans in states where public and private schools compete in each other in the playoffs, officials on the Georgia High School Association executive committee voted to split public and private school playoffs during their fall meeting yesterday
The new proposal aims at class A, 2A and 3A and will split public and private schools from playing each other in the state playoffs.
The plan will not change the region play between public and private schools in the regular season, and power ratings would seed the playoffs for both playoff brackets.
Public schools will now have their own championships in A, 2A and 3A, while private schools will have a single championship in 3A-A.
Stateline Sports Network points out that of the 78 state championships between 3A and A in 2022-23, 39 of them were won by private schools, despite the overwhelming majority of schools in those classes being public schools.
These changes are expected to go into effect starting in 2024-25.
Also worth noting, yesterday the GHSAA also voted to allow NIL deals by a surprising 66-9 vote as the Peach State becomes the latest of about two dozen states to allow their student-athletes to profit off Name, Image and Likeness, with a handful of guardrails in place.
Among the provisions in their guidelines is that NIL compensation cannot be "contingent on specific athletic performance or achievement" or "provided as an incentive to enroll or remain enrolled at a specific school," and also student-athletes cannot utilize school logos, names, uniforms, or other intellectual property, and also may not use school facilities as part of their NIL deal.