Lyon County Sheriff investigating Hart case

By STEVE RANSON

sranson@lahontanvalleynews.com

The Lyon County Sheriff's Department's detective division is now investigating an alleged college football recruiting hoax affecting a Fernley High School player.

Lt. Rob Hall confirmed Wednesday morning his division received the case involving senior Kevin Hart, who allegedly was offered a letter of intent to play football for the University of California.

He said detectives will review the allegations and try to corroborate as much information as possible among those involved. Hall said detectives will also examine if money exchanged hands in both directions.

"We have no allegations the Harts paid any money," Hall said, but he did not rule out if Kevin Hart allegedly paid money to a recruiter.

"We'll be calling the college athletic departments and see how much information we can get from them," he said.

Additionally, Hall said detectives will conduct background interviews.

"We want to speak with people involved in the recruiting effort," he added.

Deputies had taken an initial report on Saturday from Hart. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound lineman said someone by the name of Kevin Riley acted as a middle man in the recruiting process. According to the report, Hart told a deputy the recruiter told the Fernley student there were scholarship offers available to the all-league player.

Hall said the investigation is ongoing and that no charges have been filed.

"We have to check the NRS (Nevada Revised Statutes) to see if there has been a criminal act," said Hall.

Hart announced his intent to play for the University of California's Golden Bears at a school assembly on Friday. He also mentioned other universities had recruited him including Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Oklahoma State University. Representatives from each school's athletic department deny Hart was ever actively recruited by them.

Eddie Bonine, Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association executive director, said Tuesday he has no idea when the situation will be resolved.

"Once it's all said and done, the NIAA is an education-based association. We're going to do whatever we can so that this incident doesn't happen again to our state."