1A. Panguitch has won like 5 of the last 8. Look at 3A, Manti has won 4 of the last 7? Both these programs have won regularly for 30 straight years, probably a 15 final fours. Clearly they have an advantage, right? In Panguitch's case they are just bigger. Much bigger enrollment. Far more kids to pull from. I just think it's funny that a private schools actually rarely win anything. And when they do everybody screams. Yet Panguitch and Manti can win every other year with built in advantages and nobody cares. Right? And for the record kids move between rural schools as well. Maybe not to the extent of the city schools but they move all the time. The difference is nobody cares.
Even in the city public schools they don't care. Corner Canyon can poach private school kids all day long and it's no big deal. But the minute Juan Diego gets a kid from anywhere everybody screams like it's the end of the world.
I think you can look at about 4-5 programs in the entire state in basketball that are blatantly breaking the transfer rules yearly. Just penalize those schools. Don't re-arrange the whole state, as it's unlawful and discriminatory. To just drop a blanket rule that F1 students can't play varsity sports in Utah is absurd. You know how many are playing on awful teams in sports nobody cares about? Hundreds of them.
If you have evidence of breaking the transfer rule. Deal with it. Put that school on probation. Don't make dumb rules that penalize the entire state and thousands of athletes because you don't dare put Corner Canyon or Juan Diego on probation.