Several opponents have canceled scheduled games against Bishop Sycamore after allegations the school scammed their way onto ESPN.
Bishop Sycamore appeared in the grand finale of ESPN‘s kickoff of high school football weekend against defending champion IMG Academy. Bishop Sycamore was clearly outmatched, causing broadcast announcers to worry about player safety early on in the game. The team ultimately lost 58-0, and suspicions began to grow about their legitimacy as an actual school.
Further research found that the school’s website lacked significant information and that the school fabricated claims about its athletes being Division 1 recruits. As the story gained prominence, multiple schools canceled games against the teams that were scheduled for this season.
Bishop Sycamore head coach Roy Johnson was fired after it was revealed that he had an active warrant out for arrest and is facing a civil lawsuit for alleged fraud.
Paragon Marketing Group did the scheduling for the GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff. ESPN released a statement saying the marketing group assured them that they would take steps to prevent a similar situation from happening again.
“We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling,” ESPN said in a statement. “They have assured us that they will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward.”
Andre Peterson, who is the founder-director of the school as well as an assistant coach, told USA Today of Johnson’s firing and pushed back that Bishop Sycamore was a scam.
“If it’s a scam and the kids are not going to school and not doing what they’re supposed to do, then I’m literally scamming myself. And most importantly, I’m hurting my own son. So when people say stuff like that … I would literally be taking my son’s future and throwing it in the trash.”
