This is absolutely beyond belief!!!

[Adidas410s]

A kid in Fernley, Nevada committed to play football at Cal...but he's never had an offer from them.

http://cal.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=769462

[JR2004]

Read that last night. That's extremely odd to say the least. Something just doesn't add up at all about the story. It should be interesting to see what happens.

[Phil C]

:eek: :confused:

[lakers]

wow, what is goin on???:confused:

[BobcatBenny]

I am thinking some cruel joke has been played, especially since law enforcement is involved.

I feel bad for the kid.

[BMOC]

I am curious to how all this is going to play out. Gotta feel bad for the kid. :(

In the article though, it says that the HC from Cal did most of the recruiting which won him over. I have to wonder who in the heck was he talking to, or was he even talking to anybody? :confused: Just seems way to fishy.

[kaorder1999]

Just read this on the DMN Blog
-----------------------------

You gotta feel for Fernley (Nevada) offensive lineman Kevin Hart , who apparently has been the victim of mean and dirty prank. On Friday, Hart announced he had orally committed to Cal over Oregon. He did it in front of the student body no less. However, reports have surfaced that Hart had been duped into thinking he had been speaking with Cal coach Jeff Tedford and an Oregon coach during the recruiting process. He had been speaking with an impersonator instead. The NCAA prohibits coaches from speaking about recruits until they sign a national letter of intent. Apparently, there is a “law enforcement investigation” into the matter.

[NastySlot]

i was just on the the DMN Blog also....how does something like this happen............didn't his high school coach know who Tedford was or what he looked....he didn't talk to him?............and did kid make a visit there?...........something just isn't right........i hope this isn't some bad joke for the kids sake...........i find it hard to believe that something like this could happen.

[boudreaux]

Sounds like the Alamo Bowl ring story. False.

[pirate4state]

A practical joke?? :speech: :speech: :dispntd: :dispntd:

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by pirate4state
A practical joke?? :speech: :speech: :dispntd: :dispntd: That's just wrong on so many levels.:(

[CenTexSports]

The latest article indicates that the family paid the recruiter for trips and his time. It looks like a crime has been committed. He must have said that he was an independent recruirter and he could help get the kid a scholarship.

The kid's HS coach and parents must not have been on top of this. They were probably in over their heads.

[lakers]

If anybody didnt keep up with this story (like me) here it is...

Youtube Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQE87qfLpqM)

The small-town football player involved in the most bizarre recruiting story, well, ever, answered the phone on the third ring.

"I'm not going to make any comment on it," said Kevin Hart, his voice subdued, almost sad. "I don't mean to be impolite. I'm just going to hang up the phone."

A moment later, click.

Thursday was not a good day for Hart. How could it be? The sheriff's department wanted to talk to him again.

But Wednesday was worse. Wednesday is when the pride of Fernley High School admitted that he had lied to the police, to his family, his friends, his teachers, his coaches, his teammates, his classmates, and anyone else in a small Nevada town who thought Hart was going to be the first Vaqueros player to receive a Division I football scholarship.

"I've been with the Lyon County Sheriff's office for 18 years," said Lt. Rob Hall, "and I've never seen anything like this."

A week ago, in front of television cameras and a packed high school gymnasium, the 6-5, 290-pound offensive guard placed two baseball caps on a table -- a Cal Bears cap on his right, an Oregon Ducks cap on his left -- and then, after a dramatic pause, put the blue-and-gold Cal hat on his head.

"They really won me over," Hart told reporters. "Coach [Jeff] Tedford and I talked a lot, and the fact that the head coach did most of the recruiting of me kind of gave me the real personal experience."

Actually, the Cal head coach barely knew he existed. That's because there was no scholarship offer. Not from Cal. Not from Oregon. Not from anywhere. Hart made it up. He made everything up.

What began six months ago as a small, ego-driven lie, somehow gained weight and strength and grew into an uncontrollable hoax. It enveloped a school, a town, a family and maybe a future.

Chin strap-deep in his own confused dishonesty, Hart issued a statement Wednesday through the county school district saying that he fabricated it all.

"I wanted to play D-I ball more than anything," he said in the statement. "When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality."

You've got to at least give Hart credit for facing the truth. Not that he had any choice.

Not long after Hart received a standing ovation at the school assembly, word of his decision made its way to the recruiting chat rooms. A sampling from The Bear Insider.com:


"1st DI player to come out of that high school? He must be a superstar at the school." … "I think this qualifies as a KABOOM." … "Yes, I have seen him play. He's pretty good. Has college size, good skills. Good addition for Cal." … "Sounds like a great young man with size and attitude!" … "I think Kevin Hart will be one hell of a sleeper recruit for Cal."

Except that Cal never recruited him. And even though Hart attended football camps at Oregon and the nearby University of Nevada, he wasn't on either program's list of approximately 300 potential recruits.

"We knew of the kid," said a sympathetic Chris Ault, head coach at Nevada. "He was in our camp, but he's not a scholarship athlete."

And yet, about 10 days ago, a Nevada assistant coach told Ault, "Coach, you won't believe this, but the Hart kid is gonna go to Oregon."

"What?" said Ault.

"Oregon's offering him a scholarship," said the assistant.

A few days later, after spending time with nine players making their official weekend recruiting visits to Nevada, Ault came home, ate dinner and then saw some jaw-dropping footage on the local news.

There was the non-prospect Hart placing a Cal cap on his head.

Ault couldn't believe it. He started calling his assistant coaches, all the time consumed by a single, paranoid thought: Holy god, the guy's a half hour from our campus and we didn't even recruit him! What's this going to look like?

As early as last September, Hart told his school newspaper, the Vaquero Voice, that he was being recruited by Nevada, Boise State, Washington, Oregon, Cal, and Oregon State -- and that Oregon and Washington had already offered him full scholarships. And last Friday, Hart told reporters how difficult it had been to choose between a list of finalists that included Cal, Oregon, Nevada, Illinois and Oklahoma State.

All lies.

"Didn't talk to the kid one time, never recruited him," said Cal's Tedford during a Wednesday news conference."

"He was in our camp," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti told me Thursday. "We evaluated him. We did not recruit him."

Nobody on that list did. But Hart apparently was overwhelmed by his fixation on playing big-time football, on being wanted, on the need to replicate what he had seen done by actual blue-chip players on national signing day: the semi-insanity of high school seniors announcing their college decisions on local and even national television outlets, including ESPNU.

"Now that it's over, you just feel sorry for him," said Ault.

Hart created a lie of audacious proportions. It was a lie doomed at conception. After all, what did he think would happen when news of his "commitment" reached Cal? Or when the police probed just below the water line of his flimsy cover-up story (Hart told police he was duped by a fake recruiter, prompting a brief investigation)?

But there are more important questions to ask, such as, where were the adults in this football horror flick?

Tedford, Bellotti and Ault never set foot in Hart's home, never even contacted the family -- all standard recruiting doctrine when you're trying to sign a kid -- and yet, Hart's parents didn't think something was a little screwy? And wouldn't you think Fernley coach Mark Hodges might have been a teensy bit curious why nobody from Oregon, Cal or Nevada ever bothered with a visit, a phone call, a letter to him?

Or maybe they simply wanted to believe the unbelievable.

Fernley High principal Dave Regalado, when reached in his office Thursday morning, declined to comment on the situation. He referred all questions to Teri White of the Lyon County School District. White also was unavailable for comment.

The adults hid, but not Hart's classmates.

"I'm disappointed, but I'm not angry," said Sean Lewandowski, a Fernley High junior who writes for the school newspaper. "I texted him and told him that I stand by him."

Hart needs all the friends he can get these days. According to Lewandowski, Hart hasn't been at school since last Friday's event. And if and when he returns, Lewandowski said the reaction among the students will be "mixed." No standing O's this time.

As for football, Ault suggested Hart consider playing for a junior college program.

"But what if he wanted to walk on at Nevada?" I said.

There was a pause.

"I think it's best that we just let it lie," said Ault. "I think it would be very difficult for him here."

It's going to be difficult for him everywhere. At Fernley. At the next place he wears a football uniform. That's what happens when you become the latest cautionary tale of college recruiting.

"The people who have talked to him say he's really embarrassed, ashamed of himself," said Lt. Hall, whose own two sons played football at Fernley. "It sounds like he's learned his lesson."

Hall's investigation should be completed by early next week. The findings will be submitted to the district attorney, but Hall said he would be "surprised" if charges were filed against Hart for falsifying a police report.

Makes sense. The one truth in all of this is that nobody can do to Hart what he's already done to himself.

link (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=3236039)

[jason]

all that came out a few days after his 'announcement' - are there any up to date updates?

[g$$]

He got a lot of attention for this stunt, but to my knowledge he isn't going to play anywhere. Anybody know differently?

[c-town_balla]

I remeber somthing about Portland State offering him

[Phantom Stang]

Originally posted by c-town_balla
I remeber somthing about Portland State offering him
I don't know about offering, but they were apparently looking.......
*********************************
University interested in Fernley's Kevin Hart
Staff report
February 12, 2008, 12:05 AM

Portland State University confirmed a local television report Monday that the Vikings' football program is interested in viewing game video on Fernley player Kevin Hart.

The 6-foot-5, 285-pound Hart had announced to a school assembly on Feb. 1 that he had been offered a full-ride scholarship to play football for the Unversity of California.

Five days later, Hart confirmed the offer from Cal and at least five other university football programs never occurred.

A Portland television station first reported the news several days ago. According to Mike Lund, PSU's assistant athletics director/media relations, the university has no official comment because of NCAA rules dealing with recruitable athletes.

"We can't comment on prospective recruits," Lund said.

He said coach Jerry Glanville could not comment on Hart because he was out of town.

KRNV-TV in Reno also reported the Lyon County School District may not extend Fernley coach Mark Hodges' coaching contract for next season.

Sports director Brian Samudio reaffirmed his information on Monday to the LVN and said the grounds for the decision are based on unprofessional conduct and fiscal irresponsibility.

Teresa White, Lyon County School District associate superintendent, said Monday she could not comment on Hodges' status as a coach.

John Sudsbury, Cal's media spokesman for football, said he wasn't aware of an e-mail that was sent to a Fernley coach three days before Hart announced his intentions to play for the Bears.

KRNV, though, reports an e-mail sent by offensive line coach Jim Micalczik to a Fernley coach on Jan. 29 stated no scholarship offer had been give to Hart.

http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20080212/SPORTS/39124092/-1/SPORTS

[Sweetwater Red]

Coach Jerry Glanville!:eek: :doh:

[Phantom Stang]

The drama continues....
**********************************
Fernley football coach resigns

STEVE RANSON,
March 7, 2008, 12:05 AM

Fernley High School football coach Mark Hodges resigned from his position Wednesday to accept the head football coaching job at Hermiston (Ore.) High School.

Hodges told the Lahontan Valley News Thursday night he had been looking at the position for a while, and the resignation had nothing to do with a recruiting hoax involving one of his players, Kevin Hart, or the Lyon County School District.

Hart, an all-league and all-state lineman, was supposedly recruited by five major universities. At a Feb. 1 assembly, he announced he was going to attend the University of California. One day later, Web sites that cover Cal Bears sports questioned Hart's intent to play for the university. In a statement released Feb. 6 through the school district, Hart admitted his story was a lie.

Hodges said he looks forward returning to Oregon. Prior to coming to Fernley in 2005, he was an assistant football coach at North Medford, Ore. Hodges said he spent 12 years coaching at the high school level and three years as an assistant coach at Southern Oregon University.

He compiled a 7-4 record at Fernley this year, and the Vaqueros qualified for the Northern 3A playoffs.

"The opportunity to coach at a 5A high school is great," he said. "It's a step up, and they have a great sports program."

Hodges said officials at Hermiston High School contacted area coaches and did a thorough background check on him.

Before Hermiston offered him a job, Hodges said he had been looking at other schools.

Hodges said he couldn't pass up the economic advantages of living in Oregon.

"It's an economic advantage, a raise in pay and the cost of living is good," he said.

Because of the Hart situation, Hodges filed a suit against the school district for defamation of character. Although he will be leaving the school district, Hodges said the suit will still go forward.

In his lawsuit, Hodges claims the school district supplied information to a Reno television station stating the Fernley football coach's contract would not be extended because of Hart's hoax about being recruited by a major university and because of fiscal irresponsibility.

When the lawsuit was filed, Hodges' attorney, Ken McKenna of Reno, said, "The statement of fiscal irresponsibility and the Kevin Hart matter created the insinuation (Hodges) was a conspirator with Kevin Hart."

McKenna said the minimum amount to file a complaint in court is $10,000.

"The jury can award from nothing to hundreds of thousands of dollars," McKenna added.

According to the complaint, Hodges is also asking for past loss of benefits, future loss of earnings and/or loss of earning capacity, punitive damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs of the suit, and additional damages as deemed by the court.

Hodges said he was still referring any questions about the lawsuit to McKenna.

In 2006, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association forced the Fernley High School football team to forfeit all five of its wins of the 2005 season due to the use of an ineligible player. According to several media reports, at least three players transferred from North Medford High School in Oregon, where the newly hired Hodges had previously worked. After the season ended, three transferred back, including Hodges' son.

http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20080307/NEWS/535057940

[waterboy]

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive!" Man, that sounds like soap opera over there. Don't be a bit surprised if this situation doesn't become a bad TV movie one day soon.:doh: :(