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In a stunning development, a star center for a Canadian high school basketball team was exposed as a 30-year-old African refugee, leading to his being detained in connection with the Immigration Refugee Protection Act.

According to the Windsor Star, 30-year-old South Sudanese native Jonathan Nicola was a star center for the Central Catholic Comets throughout the 2015-16 season. The 6-foot-9, 202-pounder spent the previous months during the academic year living with Central Catholic basketball coach Pete Cusumano as part of the Canada Homestay program while he lived in the country on a student visa.

That visa is now likely to be terminated as a result of the large discrepancy in Nicola’s age. While he has been presenting himself as a 17-year-old, the Canada Border Services Agency has obtained evidence that purports to show Nicola is actually 30 years old, making him a full 12 years older than the eldest competitors on most of the teams he played against during the 2015-16 season.

While Canadian officials have been unable to provide any specifics about the case due to privacy concerns, Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board spokesman Stephen Fields insists that students within the district were never at risk due to a fellow student.

“Generally speaking, if we felt at any time that there is any kind of threat to any of our students at any of our schools, then we would act appropriately,” Fields told the Star.

While Nicola’s case is a stunning one, it is certainly not the first of an older athlete masquerading as a teenager to continue competing in high school athletics. Notably, in 2009, 21-year-old Haitian immigrant Guerdwich Montimere claimed to be a 17-year-old named Jerry Joseph to maintain eligibility and compete in high school basketball for Odessa Permian in Texas. He was later sentenced to three years in prison in connection with charges of identity theft and sexual assault, the latter charge related to a relationship he developed with a 15-year-old fellow student while on campus.

Nicola remains in custody at the South West Detention Centre awaiting further hearings on his immigration status.

http://www.freep.com/story/spo...han-nicola/83331368/

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Jack Flash posted:

In a stunning development, a star center for a Canadian high school basketball team was exposed as a 30-year-old African refugee, leading to his being detained in connection with the Immigration Refugee Protection Act.

According to the Windsor Star, 30-year-old South Sudanese native Jonathan Nicola was a star center for the Central Catholic Comets throughout the 2015-16 season. The 6-foot-9, 202-pounder spent the previous months during the academic year living with Central Catholic basketball coach Pete Cusumano as part of the Canada Homestay program while he lived in the country on a student visa.

That visa is now likely to be terminated as a result of the large discrepancy in Nicola’s age. While he has been presenting himself as a 17-year-old, the Canada Border Services Agency has obtained evidence that purports to show Nicola is actually 30 years old, making him a full 12 years older than the eldest competitors on most of the teams he played against during the 2015-16 season.

While Canadian officials have been unable to provide any specifics about the case due to privacy concerns, Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board spokesman Stephen Fields insists that students within the district were never at risk due to a fellow student.

“Generally speaking, if we felt at any time that there is any kind of threat to any of our students at any of our schools, then we would act appropriately,” Fields told the Star.

While Nicola’s case is a stunning one, it is certainly not the first of an older athlete masquerading as a teenager to continue competing in high school athletics. Notably, in 2009, 21-year-old Haitian immigrant Guerdwich Montimere claimed to be a 17-year-old named Jerry Joseph to maintain eligibility and compete in high school basketball for Odessa Permian in Texas. He was later sentenced to three years in prison in connection with charges of identity theft and sexual assault, the latter charge related to a relationship he developed with a 15-year-old fellow student while on campus.

Nicola remains in custody at the South West Detention Centre awaiting further hearings on his immigration status.

http://www.freep.com/story/spo...han-nicola/83331368/

That happens a lot. Oh, and who looked at this guy and thought he was 17? The same one that calls griner a woman??

Canadian high school basketball star claims he did not know his real age

--------------- That's what I would've said -----------------------

Jonathan Nicola, the star high school basketball player in Canada who is under investigation for possibly lying about his age, claims that the misunderstanding is due to him not knowing his real age.

Nicola was a star player for Catholic Central Secondary School in Windsor, but he was arrested at the Canadian border and has been held by immigration since April 15. He was traveling to the US with his team when border services were alerted that his fingerprints matched that of someone who tried to make a refugee claim in the US, The Toronto Star reports.

According to information shared at a hearing, Nicola’s visa application and passport to Canada listed his birthday as Nov. 25, 1998. However, his documents for the US listed his birthday as Nov. 1, 1986.

Nicola says the issue is his mother never told him his birthday.

“I always keep asking what is the specific age that I was born, and she has told me that she could not remember,” Nicola said at a recent hearing.

“Over (in South Sudan) . . . not every year we study . . . we always keep moving to different schools, and over there, they do not ask your age. They do not ask you nothing,” Nicola said.

If Nicola’s story hardly seems believable, it’s for good reason. He applied for a visa to the US in Nairobi that was denied in April 2015. He was applying to enter the US on a full scholarship.

Does it seem at all suspicious that six months later he headed to Canada on a student visa to attend a school on a full scholarship? The question is how did Nicola get his documents to play ball in Canada. He says he met someone who helped him with his application.

At 6-foot-9, Nicola was a stellar player for his high school. His coach thought the supposed 11th grade had a chance to go pro.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sport...r-BBslPfU?li=BBnbfcL

 

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