by Doug Stanglin
A purported 16-year-old star basketball player at Permian High School in Texas has been arrested after authorities found that the naturalized citizen from Haiti is actually 22, the Odessa American reports.
Guerdwich Montimere admitted the deception, the newspaper reports, and was charged Tuesday night with presenting false identification to a peace officer, the paper says.
“I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks,” says athletic director Leon Fuller. “In my 50 years in education, I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
Montimere graduated from Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2007 after leading Dillard to a state semifinal basketball game. He then played basketball briefly at a community college in Illinois.
The newspaper says Montimere moved to Odessa in 2009 and enrolled in a junior high as 15-year-old Jerry Joseph, eventually moving in with Permian basketball coach Danny Wright.
“He was a family member and that is devastating to my family,” Wright says. “This affected a lot of people. The whole school of Permian embraced that kid. He deceived us and played on everyone involved’s emotions.
“He has been lying to everyone, my God, what is up with that?” Wright tells the newspaper.
Montimere played varsity basketball for the Panthers his sophomore season, which means the entire season will likely be forfeited.
The school and the newspaper were tipped off about two weeks ago by sources from Florida, leading to his eventual unmaking by immigration officers, the Odessa American reports.
Permian high school is best known for its powerhouse football team that was the subject of the book Friday Night Lights.
