Canadian officials say a 6-foot-9 high school basketball star in Windsor, Ontario, who was playing under the guise of being a 17-year-old 11th grader, is actually a 30-year-old man. Damn.
And to think, his high school coach, who he was living with at the time of his arrest (!!!), once said he might have a shot to make it to the NBA.
Jonathon Nicola, the center for the Catholic Central High School team, was arrested for violating the Immigration Refugee Protection Act, and looking at this interview, who would’ve known that he was thirty years old, right?
Oh, only everyone? Okay.
According to the Windsor Star, Nicola, hailing from South Sudan, was being kept at the South West Detention Centre as of Wednesday after a review the prior day before the Immigration and Refugee Board, which decided he should remain in custody.
Simply put, the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board doesn’t know what the fuck to make of the situation, and of course they’re not saying a word. How could you, though, when you might have something more egregious than even the Danny Almonte Little League scandal on your hands!?
There’s really not a whole lot to say,” said spokesman Stephen Fields. “Because of the fact this is a matter that’s still outstanding before the federal authorities, obviously we can’t really comment on it. Beyond that there’s not a whole lot to say.”
When asked if there was concern over the thought of a grown man posing as a teenager in one of the board’s schools, Fields said he wouldn’t comment specifically on the Nicola case.
“Generally I can tell you that we have a system of checks and balances in place that whenever international students are coming into any of our schools, we make sure that they have all of the necessary government documentation that they require in order to be in one of our schools,” said Fields.
He also wouldn’t discuss whether the board plans to alert students and parents about the situation.
“Again, generally speaking, if we felt at any time that there is any kind of threat to any of our students at any of our schools, then we would act appropriately,” said Fields.
Nicola’s coach/roomate didn’t offer up much either…
He was even living with Comets head coach Pete Cusumano through a program called Canada Homestay, which finds homes for foreign students.
Cusumano said Wednesday he wasn’t allowed to talk about the situation.
But back in January, Cusumano told the Star in an interview for a feature story that Nicola was so good for a young ballplayer that he had a shot at going to the NBA.
Sounds like some people are in some major trouble because something illegal has definitely being going on the past six months. Probably sucks most for all the kids that he became good friends with, right? Guarantee that lunch table is never going to be the same.
Damn, man. Guess this means Jonathon isn’t gonna get a shot at the league. Sucks, because that jumper is silky.
Ball don’t lie (kidding, sometimes it does).
[H/T Deadspin]