Nevada’s state high school basketball tournament is one of the most fun events to cover in my job. You get to see people invested in prep hoops from coaches, past and present, to some of the top players in the Silver State.

Still, one thing that bothered me last weekend was that on numerous occasions I heard folks say southern Nevada has more athletes than northern Nevada. Sure it does in terms of sheer numbers, but I’m not sure it does by percentages. Too many casual fans are watching Bishop Gorman and saying North schools can’t compete because they don’t have the athletes southern schools, namely Bishop Gorman, do.

Well I wonder why that is. Could it be the private school is playing by different rules than everybody else? I believe that is just the reason.

Private schools can get their athletes from anywhere in the city, not just a designated zone adjacent to their campus, like public schools. Additionally, the private school can offer a student athlete a scholarship if he or she cannot afford the tuition.

Gorman has about 1,000 students and, lets say, a variable amount of scholarships, maybe 75. That 75 is a pure guess, but I’d be curious to know how many of those scholarships are going to athletes. My guess is a high percentage of those scholarships are going to athletes. Do any of us really believe Gorman is inviting the poor kids, who are really, really smart to get a piece of their standout private education?

By the way, tuition at Gorman exceeds $10,000 a year.

Gorman has one of the top boys basketball players in the country in a young man named Shabazz Muhammed. He had to have been recruited to play basketball for the Gaels. I could be wrong but if he’s going there for the fine Catholic education, he’s the first kid named Shabazz or Muhammed I’ve ever heard of to do so.

So when did the Church get in the business of winning state championships?

On Saturday night, after Gorman handily beat Reed in the girls large-school title game, I actually had somebody say to me, ‘that 5A-4A split doesn’t look like such a bad idea right now does it?’ The gentleman was alluding to a long-set rumor that the larger Las Vegas schools would become their own classification of 5A schools and northern Nevada large schools would remain 4A.

Gorman beating Reed or Gorman beating anybody right now is not an enrollment issue. It’s a Gorman issue. Heck, Gorman has a smaller enrollment than all of Reno’s 4A schools. Plus I’m pretty sure the night before I saw Reed dismantle a ‘5A school’ (Liberty) that had won a regional championship. Anybody who believes recent southern dominance is an enrollment issue has their head in the sand.

Gorman does not play by the same rules as the state’s other athletic programs. The Gaels’ athletic program can hand-pick athletes from across Las Vegas and select all-star teams. Nobody else gets to do that.

Gorman has won more than its fair share of state championships over the years, but it apparently it really ramped up its efforts about three years ago. The Gaels have won the last four 4A baseball titles and back-to-back boys basketball crowns. Gorman has four of the last five girls basketball titles and finished second the year it didn’t win. In addition, its won football titles two of the last three years.

If that’s not proof the rest of the state is playing against a stacked deck, I don’t know what it is.

By nature, private schools have an advantage over public schools. Because of this they should not be allowed to compete for the same state championships as public schools.

Dan Eckles is the Sparks Tribune’s sports editor. He can be reached via email at deckles@dailysparkstribune.com