High School Player Is Man Among Boys

Let’s say you’re a high school basketball coach, and a 22-year-old Haitian refugee shows up posing as a 16-year-old player. Do you A) get suspicious and start asking questions; B) ask him to buy you some beer and see if he slips up; C) believe his story about being homeless, take him into your home, and watch him lead your team to the playoffs?

A player at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas, was truly a man among boys last high school season.

Police say the basketball star was really Guerdwich Montimere, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti who school officials say was recognized last month by Florida coaches as having been a star high school player in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a few years ago. . . .

“I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks,” district athletic director Leon Fuller said. “In my 50 years in education, I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

School officials in Vancouver have heard of such a thing.