Tuesday, February 1, 2011

5 Star Running Back Mixed up in Recruiting Scandal


Laramie, WY — Despite telling an assembly at his high school that he’d been recruited by the University of Wyoming and that he planned to sign a letter of intent to play there, Apex High School senior Kyle Ryan was never recruited by the college, officials in the Apex County School District said Tuesday.

The district reported that it has been so far been unable to verify that Ryan, a senior running back at Apex, was ever offered an athletic scholarship to play football by Wyoming or Oklahoma State University.

The investigation is continuing, the school district said.

Dave Williams, Oklahoma State assistant athletic director for media services, said that Hart was “never in our system.”

Apex coach Mike Hodges and Ryan's father have declined comment on the situation because, as Hodges said earlier this week, it is under “law enforcement investigation.” Hodges said that contact had been made with both the Apex County sheriff’s department and the NCAA.

“This is involving law enforcement and may involve other departments, other than the NCAA, that are bigger than local,” said Hodges, who has been a coach for more than 20 years. “I would love to tell you everything I know, but I can’t at this time and I’m not even sure what I know.

”Up until the other night I was a happy man.“

Just hours after the 5-foot-10, 190-pound half back told the entire student body Friday that he planned to sign a letter of intent to play at Wyoming rather than Oklahoma State, doubt set in about his claim.

Rivals.com, a respected recruiting Web site, reported that ”the Wyoming staff has had no contact whatsoever with Coach Hodges or Ryan, and they have not visited him; nor has Ryan been on a recruiting trip to any school.“

College coaches are prohibited from commenting on a recruitable athlete, including to verify if an offer is on the table.

”The NCAA is involved because Wyoming and Oklahoma State are involved,“ said Eddie Bonine, executive director of the North Carolina Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs North Carolina high school sports. He’s been kept abreast of the situation by Apex County School District Assistant Superintendent Teri White. ”It could be that someone was impersonating those schools.“

Bonine said the NCAA was notified because of Wyoming and Oklahoma State's involvement, even if that involvement was involuntary.

The Rivals report differs significantly from statements Hart made Friday, including that he made an official visit to Oklahoma State the previous week.

”(Wyoming coach Dave Christensen) and I talked a lot, and the fact that the head coach did most of the recruiting of me kind of gave me that real personal experience,“ Ryan told local media after his announcement on Friday.

Bonine said he had never heard of a similar situation as the one described to him by White.

”My chin went to my chest. If I said ’Wow’ once, I said it five times,“ Bonine said. ”This could be a black eye, not for the program, but for the school, and it will be a learning opportunity for all schools.“

”We have a young student-athlete and a program to protect,“ White told Rivals.com. ”Our investigation has just begun. There’s certainly no evidence that any school knew anything about this."

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