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The college football prospect who lied about being recruited might not exist at all
Not only has a college football recruit who claimed to have offers from five of the sport's biggest programs been exposed as a fraud, he may not exist at all.
Unique Brissett II claimed to be a wide receiver at Globe Institute of Technology in New York, with offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, Maryland and Kentucky.
Brissett tweeted Monday evening that he just visited Michigan State, but as Land of 10's Luke Srodulski noticed, the photos Brissett used in his tweet were swiped from another recruit.
Brissett's Twitter and Instagram accounts were deleted Monday night after the ruse was discovered.
The alleged interest from Miami and Kentucky is also bunk, according to 247Sports' Andrew Ivins, who reported that coaches at both schools had never even contacted Brissett.
Where the story really starts to unravel is when you look into Brissett's alleged football résumé. For starters, the highlight film Brissett has been passing off as is own is actually of another prospect, Ivins said. That may be because Globe Institute of Technology was shuttered in September. Brissett's recruiting profile on NCSAsports.org lists him at 6'2", 215 lbs., and depicts a player in a No. 56 jersey down in a three-point stance, despite describing Brissett as a running back/wide receiver. His 247Sports page has him at 5'10", 157 lbs. and includes a photo.
His NCSAsports.org profile lists Brissett's high school alma mater as Bronx Leadership Academy High School. (There are actually two Bronx Leadership Academy High Schools.) Secretary Mavis Williams at Bronx Leadership I could not confirm to SI.com whether the school had a student by that name but did say that the school did not have a football team. (A call to Bronx Leadership II went unanswered; we'll update if we hear back.)
Brissett also has a profile on high school sports site MaxPreps, which says he played varsity football at Eagle Academy in the Bronx and was a team captain. The MaxPreps page for Eagle Academy's football team lists no games and has a roster of only four players. Eagle guidance counsellor Joseph Beckner told SI.com that Brissett was not a student there and that the school hadn't had a football team for “at least five years.”
Perhaps the fact that the player's name is Unique Brissett II should have a clue to recruiting services that this may have been a farce.
