Michael Brick: Before an assembly of his high school classmates last week, with all the fervor and high dudgeon only a pep rally can conjure, a football player from Nevada announced his commitment to play for the University of California. Then the university announced it had made no such offer.
Now the player, his coach, the schools and a shadowy recruiting figure are the focus of investigations concerning two main questions: Who duped whom? And how did it get this far?
“I’ve heard of kids committing to schools that didn’t have an offer, but never in my life calling a press conference” said Jamie Newberg, national editor of the Web site Scout.com.
Students, high school officials and reporters from local television stations and newspapers were convinced of the authenticity of the scholarship offer.
The player, Kevin Hart, is a 6-foot-4, 305-pound senior lineman for Fernley High School, about 30 miles east of Reno. His name had appeared in online and print recruiting news accounts about being a potential recruit. On Friday, he appeared in the school gym to make his announcement in dramatic fashion.
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