This Football Recruit Is Purposely Tanking His High School Grades To Avoid Playing At Texas

SteveHolt10 years ago

A University of Texas football signee is allegedly tanking his high school grades to void his UT scholarship and play football at the University of Oklahoma.

Du’Vonta Lampkin, a three-star defensive tackle from Houston, signed with Texas this past February. His recruitment, considered a toss-up between Texas and OU, was a major victory for the Longhorns. UT desperately needed talented defensive linemen in this year’s class and Lampkin was a major piece of the puzzle.

But in a surprise announcement late last week, Lampkin said that he was no longer planning to attend UT.

Via the Austin American-Statesman:

The defensive tackle from Houston Cypress Falls appears to be tanking his academics just to avoid playing for the Longhorns. Only Texas might not let him go as freely as he hopes.

When contacted Monday by the American-Statesman, Lampkin said, “I’m not trying to do any interviews.”

Asked whether his transcript was incomplete, Lampkin said, “Yeah, that’s true.”

Asked whether he was indeed looking to land at Oklahoma, he said, “Hey, I got to go, man.” Click.

..The Cypress Creek Mirror reported that he still had to complete a Spanish course to fulfill his foreign language requirements. Lampkin told the newspaper he didn’t want to risk failing the Spanish course and have to enroll in junior college.

“If anything, I may land at Oklahoma,” Lampkin told the Mirror. “So, as soon as everything dials down, I’m going to contact (Bob) Stoops and see if they have any scholarships available for me.”

Many suspect Lampkin of tanking his grades on purpose. If he is denied enrollment from UT for academic reasons, he is free to play anywhere without sitting out a year. Texas coach Charlie Strong may not be letting him off easy, though.

The Texas admissions office could delay a decision for weeks, possibly months, and that could keep Lampkin sidelined through August training camp. Or he could even be given provisional entry status at UT. If that happened, all NLI penalty rules come into play, and he could lose a year of eligibility.

And according to NCAA rules, coaches at other schools are not allowed to speak with players signed elsewhere.

Luckily for Lampkin, OU prides itself on mediocre academics and accepting a student with questionable grades is something the Sooners will do without a second of hesitation.

Let this be an important lesson to us all. If you’re ever in a position where you don’t want to do something, just stop giving a shit entirely until you’re free from any and all obligations..

[via Austin American-Statesman]

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