Snowned under

Bad weather postpones James' jersey ceremony

St. Vincent-St. Mary officials say a ceremony to retire LeBron James' jersey will be rescheduled. Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- LeBron James' jersey retirement party is back on for Monday.

James' final regular-season game for Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary was postponed Sunday because of bad weather. The school was unable to reschedule that game against Toledo Scott, so Sunday night it announced a new game will be played Monday against Akron Firestone.

"Toledo Scott said it wasn't going to be able to make it because of the weather," said St. Vincent-St. Mary spokeswoman Patty Burdon.

She said tickets for Sunday's game will be honored at Monday's 7:30 p.m. game at Akron's Rhodes Arena.

James will sit out the game anyway as part of a two-game suspension ordered by a judge, who reinstated the 18-year-old player after a state commission ruled him ineligible for accepting two free sports jerseys from a Cleveland clothing store.

During postgame ceremonies Monday, James, a 6-foot-8 senior who is expected to the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, will have his No. 23 jersey retired.

Sunday's game was postponed after a snowstorm dumped 9 inches of snow in the Toledo area over the weekend with more expected.

St. Vincent-St. Mary, ranked No. 1 by USA Today, begins play in the state tournament on Friday night against the winner of Tuesday night's Kenmore-Buckeye game.

If the Firestone game had not been added to St. Vincent-St. Mary's schedule, James may have had to sit out Friday's playoff game.

James' case will be heard again on March 4 -- one day after the school's second-round playoff game -- by Summit County Court Judge James Williams, who will likely grant a permanent injunction to reinstate James.

St. Vincent-St. Mary had to forfeit one of its wins after the Ohio High School Athletic Association stripped James of his eligibility by accepting two "throwback" jerseys valued at $845 from the store.

The OHSAA decided James had broken one of its amateur bylaws by capitalizing on his fame to get the gifts.

 

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