Yeah, quite the headline. Major h/t to @ZionOlojede for the interview and information above and proceeding. Our guy Jake blogged about the story of IMG Academy vs Bishop Sycamore somehow appearing on ESPN this past weekend (read that for the full backstory below). In the days that have followed, more and more information has come out about this "school" and how exactly they all found themselves at Bishop Sycamore.
The Strange Story of How ESPN Got Played By a High School That Probably Doesn't Exist.
I'm going to break down the quotes in Zion's tweet as there is A LOT to take in:
35 football players sleeping on a floor eating whatever the hell they could find. Even at Division I schools nutrition and facilities are an issue, but can you imagine what the hell this was like? Imagine trying to sleep on a hard floor with a pillow next to a 6'8, 360 lb defensive lineman...not happening
Recruit a bunch of kids from different neighborhoods/cities - normal, right? Yeah, not for Bishop Sycamore. An excess of testosterone and a lack of space combined with neighborhood rivalries and ZERO supervision is a SURE sign of disaster.
This entire situation is extremely sad for all of the players and families involved. So many athletes are exploited for their talents and it can absolutely devastate their futures. This is a worst-case scenario of that. I really hope that all of this attention for Bishop Sycamore leads to recourse for the players and families. It's clear these kids (and apparently not kids) had no help in this process and were cheated and lied to.
I also have a MAJOR SPIN ZONE.
This was all a purposeful ploy by the Bishop Sycamore organizers.
- Assemble a team of wide-eyed players that want to be the next Last Chance U
- Somehow convince ESPN that your roster is chock full of superstar D1 recruits
- Get blown out on ESPN against national powerhouse IMG Academy
- National media attention is given and anger is directed towards the "leadership" of Bishop Sycamore.
- The Bishop Sycamore story gets a documentary/tv series and the promises are then fulfilled
Is that the case? No clue. But at this point it could be a great way for those players to turn this negative into a positive.
Stay tuned as I am sure this situation will continue to evolve....
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