I am waiting until this one completely unfolds - but what a strange story
http://cal.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=769462
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Keep us posted. It's amazing somebody would go to all that trouble.
A strange story indeed!
A few more details are starting to emerge:
Nevada student may have been duped by fake recruiter, police say
By Chris Gabel
Reno Gazette-Journal
RENO, Nev. — A Fernley, Nev., high school student who told his classmates he’d been recruited by Division I-A football teams but was not may have been defrauded by someone pretending to be a middleman to big-time college football teams, the Lyon County (Nev.) Sheriff’s Department says.
Rest of the article can be found here:
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2.../BREAKING02/80206036
If this is really the case, it is really sad. I can see it happening - small town HS player, no real experience in the school with recruiting - a really vulnerable situation.
Very very sad no matter how it turns out...
08
Nevada student may have been duped by fake recruiter, police say
By Chris Gabel
Reno Gazette-Journal
RENO, Nev. — A Fernley, Nev., high school student who told his classmates he’d been recruited by Division I-A football teams but was not may have been defrauded by someone pretending to be a middleman to big-time college football teams, the Lyon County (Nev.) Sheriff’s Department says.
Rest of the article can be found here:
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2.../BREAKING02/80206036
If this is really the case, it is really sad. I can see it happening - small town HS player, no real experience in the school with recruiting - a really vulnerable situation.
Very very sad no matter how it turns out...
08
Where was the HS coach during all this?
According to some of the articles, he was on stage with the kid at the announcement in the gym... no one from that school had ever been recruited before...
I am sure there is more to come...
I am sure there is more to come...
Apparently the kid made it all up.
"When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality. I am sorry for disappointing and embarrassing my family, coaches, Fernley High School, the involved universities and reporters covering the story," Hart said.
Hart comes clean
"When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality. I am sorry for disappointing and embarrassing my family, coaches, Fernley High School, the involved universities and reporters covering the story," Hart said.
Hart comes clean
The part that I didn't get was how the coach could think the kid was getting a ride when he was never contacted by the coaches or asked for game film. At least the kid doesn't look like a fool now and no one will ever tease him. 
Gotta wonder about the coach and the administration putting together the assembly for the whole school etc. without ever validating anything...
Still a sad story -
From ESPN: "Hart said he had wanted to play football at a Division I school "more than anything."
"When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality. (said Hart) "
Still a sad story -
From ESPN: "Hart said he had wanted to play football at a Division I school "more than anything."
"When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality. (said Hart) "
Here's the latest:
Nevada high school player made up story about being recruited by Cal, Oregon
By SANDRA CHEREB, Associated Press Writer
February 6, 2008
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A prep football player who had claimed he was duped into believing he was recruited to play at a Pac-10 school admitted Wednesday he made up the story.
Kevin Hart, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman for Fernley High School, offered a broad apology in a statement he issued through the Lyon County School District. Hart said he had wanted to play football at a Division I school "more than anything."
"When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality. I am sorry for disappointing and embarrassing my family, coaches, Fernley High School, the involved universities and reporters covering the story," Hart said.
Lyon County sheriff's detectives had been unable to corroborate Hart's claims that he had been duped by a man he paid to help promote him to college football programs.
Lt. Rob Hall said Hart had not informed detectives of his confession, and they would continue to investigate to see if Hart had broken any laws, such as filing a false police report.
Hart first spoke with deputies Saturday, a day after he announced at a school assembly and a news conference that he would sign with the University of California, Berkeley.
At the announcement ceremony, Hart, with Fernley coach Mark Hodges at his side, said he talked with Cal head coach Jeff Tedford many times, and that "personal experience" led to his decision to choose the Golden Bears over Oregon, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
But the announcement was questioned almost immediately, and on Monday officials with California and the University of Oregon said Hart was never recruited.
Hall said Hart had claimed that the alleged promoter he paid was named Kevin Riley, and that he believed he was from Las Vegas. Hart, however, was "unable to provide any phone numbers, addresses," or other contact information for the purported recruiter, Hall said.
"Initially, we thought if this was in fact a hoax or something Kevin came up with, maybe he was trying to put his name out there and create some interest," Hall said.
"Or maybe he just thought it was going to be and when it didn't happen, rumors started and it just got bigger and bigger and he didn't know what to do. That's why we want to sit down with Kevin and talk with him to get his perspective about what happened, where did it start, when did it start," he said.
Hall said detectives will forward their investigation to the district attorney's office to decide whether prosecution was warranted.
Tedford said Wednesday he had never talked to Hart and the Golden Bears never recruited him.
"It was total news to me, and it's unfortunate that that whole situation is what it is," Tedford said.
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said the Ducks did not recruit Kevin Hart, and that he had been contacted by law enforcement authorities.
"Whatever happens, it's a shame," Bellotti said.
On Tuesday, school district administrators said an internal investigation showed that none of the universities once thought to have pursued Hart -- including Nevada, Washington and Oklahoma State -- had contacted Hart.
Superintendent Nat Lommori and Assistant Superintendent Teri White, in issuing the statement the day before recruits across the country sign letters of intent to play for college programs, said they wanted to relieve concerns prospective recruits to those schools might have because of the Hart matter.
The school district's investigation was continuing, White said.
Associated Press writer Scott Sonner contributed to this report.
Nevada high school player made up story about being recruited by Cal, Oregon
By SANDRA CHEREB, Associated Press Writer
February 6, 2008
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A prep football player who had claimed he was duped into believing he was recruited to play at a Pac-10 school admitted Wednesday he made up the story.
Kevin Hart, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman for Fernley High School, offered a broad apology in a statement he issued through the Lyon County School District. Hart said he had wanted to play football at a Division I school "more than anything."
"When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality. I am sorry for disappointing and embarrassing my family, coaches, Fernley High School, the involved universities and reporters covering the story," Hart said.
Lyon County sheriff's detectives had been unable to corroborate Hart's claims that he had been duped by a man he paid to help promote him to college football programs.
Lt. Rob Hall said Hart had not informed detectives of his confession, and they would continue to investigate to see if Hart had broken any laws, such as filing a false police report.
Hart first spoke with deputies Saturday, a day after he announced at a school assembly and a news conference that he would sign with the University of California, Berkeley.
At the announcement ceremony, Hart, with Fernley coach Mark Hodges at his side, said he talked with Cal head coach Jeff Tedford many times, and that "personal experience" led to his decision to choose the Golden Bears over Oregon, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
But the announcement was questioned almost immediately, and on Monday officials with California and the University of Oregon said Hart was never recruited.
Hall said Hart had claimed that the alleged promoter he paid was named Kevin Riley, and that he believed he was from Las Vegas. Hart, however, was "unable to provide any phone numbers, addresses," or other contact information for the purported recruiter, Hall said.
"Initially, we thought if this was in fact a hoax or something Kevin came up with, maybe he was trying to put his name out there and create some interest," Hall said.
"Or maybe he just thought it was going to be and when it didn't happen, rumors started and it just got bigger and bigger and he didn't know what to do. That's why we want to sit down with Kevin and talk with him to get his perspective about what happened, where did it start, when did it start," he said.
Hall said detectives will forward their investigation to the district attorney's office to decide whether prosecution was warranted.
Tedford said Wednesday he had never talked to Hart and the Golden Bears never recruited him.
"It was total news to me, and it's unfortunate that that whole situation is what it is," Tedford said.
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said the Ducks did not recruit Kevin Hart, and that he had been contacted by law enforcement authorities.
"Whatever happens, it's a shame," Bellotti said.
On Tuesday, school district administrators said an internal investigation showed that none of the universities once thought to have pursued Hart -- including Nevada, Washington and Oklahoma State -- had contacted Hart.
Superintendent Nat Lommori and Assistant Superintendent Teri White, in issuing the statement the day before recruits across the country sign letters of intent to play for college programs, said they wanted to relieve concerns prospective recruits to those schools might have because of the Hart matter.
The school district's investigation was continuing, White said.
Associated Press writer Scott Sonner contributed to this report.
wow , what is next parents and players lying about throwing 90 mph and running 6.5 60 yds
Another followup from the morning Chronicle:
(02-06) 20:19 PST -- It was the apropos end to a bizarre year for Cal football - the Golden Bears didn't get a lot of the kids they were recruiting, and nearly got one they weren't.
The bigger picture, we'll leave to Comrades Simmons, Smith and Curtis. We will focus instead on Kevin Hart, the unrecruited offensive tackle from Fernley, Nev., who tried so desperately to be a Golden Bear that he ran an elaborate but profoundly flawed game on his parents, coach and fellow students. In short, he stung himself.
The funny thing, though, was that because recruiting is such a predator's game, played by predators' rules, that it seemed perfectly plausible that a helpless and naive high school student could be played by a remorseless grifter.
Now there's a national signing day tale for you.
Hart, an all-Nevada guard from a small town, admitted late Wednesday afternoon that he tried to portray himself first as part of the Cal football class of 2011, then as the victim of a cruel hoax that involved not only the people of Fernley and the Lyon County Sheriff's Department but five universities, most notably Cal and Oregon.
The holes in the story seem obvious now. He said he'd been lured by a recruiting agent named Kevin Riley, which happens to be the name of Cal's second quarterback. He said he'd spoken with coach Jeff Tedford a number of times but apparently had never visited Cal, let alone been invited to visit. He told the Reno Gazette Journal he'd visited Oklahoma State, even though that school had no record of him. There were no letters to his coach, Mark Hodges, or contacts from other schools. He said he'd been loaned money by the agent and repaid it in full, plus another $500, more or less.
And he'd been the guest of honor at a news conference at his high school where he announced he had chosen Cal. No kidding. He surely had chosen Cal, in the most unusual way imaginable.
Once the original story hit the Internet, it ran free and wild. Nobody wanted to accuse Hart of being a scam artist, though many suggested he was stunningly naive. Many people thought the ugly game that is recruiting had just eaten another innocent, and the story got legs because recruiting is every bit of that, and more.
But after a hard day's spotlighting, Hart caved in and spilled the truth. He wanted what he apparently could not have, and resorted to an elaborate and embarrassing subterfuge to get it.
And like so many teenagers' plans, it lacked sufficient consideration of the endgame. What was he going to do when he got to Cal, try to convince Tedford that he had been recruited? Concoct a new story that sent him to a junior college to find himself? It was a wormhole of deceit that hoodwinked enough people to get media legs, but nobody within the football industry. The scheme had a great start and believable middle but no close.
And while it is still great fun to swing machetes at the recruiting industry as a soulless and grisly body hunt, the Kevin Hart story is no longer that vehicle. A troubled young man wanted into the game so badly that he made himself seem like a victim of it.
Beating Hart up for this monumental judgmental error seems gratuitous, of course. It was a crime of desperation that embarrassed the perpetrator more than any of its victims - his parents, his coach and the local constabulary - but it spoke loudest to the need to be seen as an athletic hero in the only way a graduating high schooler can, by being a star during National Letter of Intent season.
Cal certainly wasn't impacted, except for the few embarrassed answers Tedford was forced to give during his letter of intent news conference. Oregon and Oklahoma State properly claimed ignorance and went on with their days.
No, this one landed squarely on Kevin Hart's unprepared head because he wasn't ready to face athletic mortality, or because junior college wasn't part of his dream, or because he just wanted to be someone famous. He is paying the appropriate price, and will have to find an alternate route to Division 1-A football - which he can still manage if he has the game. Football coaches take anyone who can help their days pass easier, and some of them will do anything to get those anyones. It's the way of the business.
But Hart was on the outside of a glass house with no way for him to enter on his own. He chose a creative but spectacularly poorly executed method to gain entrance, and payment will be swift and enduring. Recruiting is every bit the unseemly game its critics say it is, and yet it was the absence of recruiting that brought down a young man who needed the game most of all.
(02-06) 20:19 PST -- It was the apropos end to a bizarre year for Cal football - the Golden Bears didn't get a lot of the kids they were recruiting, and nearly got one they weren't.
The bigger picture, we'll leave to Comrades Simmons, Smith and Curtis. We will focus instead on Kevin Hart, the unrecruited offensive tackle from Fernley, Nev., who tried so desperately to be a Golden Bear that he ran an elaborate but profoundly flawed game on his parents, coach and fellow students. In short, he stung himself.
The funny thing, though, was that because recruiting is such a predator's game, played by predators' rules, that it seemed perfectly plausible that a helpless and naive high school student could be played by a remorseless grifter.
Now there's a national signing day tale for you.
Hart, an all-Nevada guard from a small town, admitted late Wednesday afternoon that he tried to portray himself first as part of the Cal football class of 2011, then as the victim of a cruel hoax that involved not only the people of Fernley and the Lyon County Sheriff's Department but five universities, most notably Cal and Oregon.
The holes in the story seem obvious now. He said he'd been lured by a recruiting agent named Kevin Riley, which happens to be the name of Cal's second quarterback. He said he'd spoken with coach Jeff Tedford a number of times but apparently had never visited Cal, let alone been invited to visit. He told the Reno Gazette Journal he'd visited Oklahoma State, even though that school had no record of him. There were no letters to his coach, Mark Hodges, or contacts from other schools. He said he'd been loaned money by the agent and repaid it in full, plus another $500, more or less.
And he'd been the guest of honor at a news conference at his high school where he announced he had chosen Cal. No kidding. He surely had chosen Cal, in the most unusual way imaginable.
Once the original story hit the Internet, it ran free and wild. Nobody wanted to accuse Hart of being a scam artist, though many suggested he was stunningly naive. Many people thought the ugly game that is recruiting had just eaten another innocent, and the story got legs because recruiting is every bit of that, and more.
But after a hard day's spotlighting, Hart caved in and spilled the truth. He wanted what he apparently could not have, and resorted to an elaborate and embarrassing subterfuge to get it.
And like so many teenagers' plans, it lacked sufficient consideration of the endgame. What was he going to do when he got to Cal, try to convince Tedford that he had been recruited? Concoct a new story that sent him to a junior college to find himself? It was a wormhole of deceit that hoodwinked enough people to get media legs, but nobody within the football industry. The scheme had a great start and believable middle but no close.
And while it is still great fun to swing machetes at the recruiting industry as a soulless and grisly body hunt, the Kevin Hart story is no longer that vehicle. A troubled young man wanted into the game so badly that he made himself seem like a victim of it.
Beating Hart up for this monumental judgmental error seems gratuitous, of course. It was a crime of desperation that embarrassed the perpetrator more than any of its victims - his parents, his coach and the local constabulary - but it spoke loudest to the need to be seen as an athletic hero in the only way a graduating high schooler can, by being a star during National Letter of Intent season.
Cal certainly wasn't impacted, except for the few embarrassed answers Tedford was forced to give during his letter of intent news conference. Oregon and Oklahoma State properly claimed ignorance and went on with their days.
No, this one landed squarely on Kevin Hart's unprepared head because he wasn't ready to face athletic mortality, or because junior college wasn't part of his dream, or because he just wanted to be someone famous. He is paying the appropriate price, and will have to find an alternate route to Division 1-A football - which he can still manage if he has the game. Football coaches take anyone who can help their days pass easier, and some of them will do anything to get those anyones. It's the way of the business.
But Hart was on the outside of a glass house with no way for him to enter on his own. He chose a creative but spectacularly poorly executed method to gain entrance, and payment will be swift and enduring. Recruiting is every bit the unseemly game its critics say it is, and yet it was the absence of recruiting that brought down a young man who needed the game most of all.
I am wondering why he made this up, 15 minutes of fame or did he feel pressured? 
Sad story actually.
Sad story actually.
The fact that teenagers lie is not news. The news here is where were the adults? Mom? Dad? Athletic Director? Counselor? Principal? Coach? So what if no one had been recruited there before! Maybe on one has received an admission to Harvard either, but they would still know not to announce it until it had been confirmed. Not one of them thought they had to sign a NLI, send in a transcript, process requests for film, visit the campus, talk to a coach, respond to an email or telephone call, yet they went ahead with an assembly? Geez...
(P.S. - Frank you are funny!)
(P.S. - Frank you are funny!)
quote:Originally posted by brod:
The news here is where were the adults? Mom? Dad? Athletic Director? Counselor? Principal? Coach?
You'd think that at least one of them would have asked to see the letters or e-mails. How completely embarrasing! He's going to want to go to jail to hide from everybody!!!
A couple of thoughts:
(1) The original article says Kevin Hart was the first Fernley athlete to receive a full scholarship to a Division I school directly out of high school. Perhaps his coaches and other school administrators were unfamiliar with the recruiting process and were unaware that they should confirm the information.
(2) When my son and a high school teammate verbally committed to schools this fall, we simply notified the baseball coach and AD of their decisions and they put the wheels into motion for a signing ceremony. I am almost positive that they did not call the boys' selected colleges to verify their deals. They simply trusted our word. Same with representatives of the media who were present at the ceremony.
(1) The original article says Kevin Hart was the first Fernley athlete to receive a full scholarship to a Division I school directly out of high school. Perhaps his coaches and other school administrators were unfamiliar with the recruiting process and were unaware that they should confirm the information.
(2) When my son and a high school teammate verbally committed to schools this fall, we simply notified the baseball coach and AD of their decisions and they put the wheels into motion for a signing ceremony. I am almost positive that they did not call the boys' selected colleges to verify their deals. They simply trusted our word. Same with representatives of the media who were present at the ceremony.
quote:Hodges, who began his coaching career on the junior college level and then coached at NAIA Southern Oregon before spending over a dozen years at both South Medford and North Medford high schools alternating the titles of offensive and defensive coordinator, has coached numerous players who went on to Division 1 athletic careers.
At Southern Oregon, he helped develop two college All-Americans, including a quarterback and slot back. His last two quarterbacks at North Medford have gone on to play college football, one at Portland State and the other at Eastern Oregon, while defensive tackle David Faaeteete went on to the University of Oregon.
This is from the link in the first post. It sounds like the head coach should have known better or to check to see what's going on. This is a guy who has experience on both ends of the recruiting trip.
I know if a kid says "so and so is interested in me" the first thing I tell them to do is set up a visitation. But usually the coach contacts me first and then I know it's credible. I have one guy this year who was contacted through his private coach. My guy came to me and I said to set up a visitation.
The high school coach may not talk directly to the college but to be as out of the loop as this guy was and set up all this stuff is crazy. Why didn't he look at the NLI first?
Hart might have been the first person from that school to "get recruited" but it wasn't the coach's first recruit.
A sad and embarrassing story. I hope this kid has learned his lesson.
Until then he may want to use this company.
Until then he may want to use this company.
Small town.
Big lesson.
Big lesson.