Man Charged With Attempting To Recapture High School Basketball Glory

A 22-year-old, 6-foot-five man stands accused of using his boyish looks to pass for a 16-year-old sophomore so that he could play high school basketball.

Soon after Joseph enrolled at Permian, he was first approached to play football, but said that he was more interested in basketball.

Senior football player Steven Pipes, explained that everyone was convinced by Joseph’s alleged act:

Everyone just thought he was a big guy. He played the part good, skipping down the hallways acting goofy like a 16-year-old.

Jerry Joseph averaged 20 points a game in the final nine games to lead Permian High School to the playoffs – where they lost in the first round. Joseph had been the starting center throughout the competition.

Joseph’s plan came unstuck when Florida basketball coaches recognized him at an amateur tournament in Little Rock, Arkansas – where he went by the name of Guerdwich Montimere, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti who graduated from Fort Laurderdale’s Dillard High School in 2007.

When Joseph was initially confronted by authorities he denied the allegations and was believed. However, further investigation by school police and immigration authorities determined that he was, in fact, Montimere. Consequently he was charged with failure to identify himself to a police officer (a misdemeanor) and held on a $500 bond.

Montimere’s mother told the Associated Press that basketball was important to her son and that she had not seen him for two years.

She added:

I guess he doesn’t want me in his life at all. I always pray to wish him the best.

His cousin, 37-year-old, Tales Simeon of Fort Lauderdale, commented:

At 22 years old, if you’re good, they still take you in the NBA or wherever you want to go. So why did he try to be something else, to change his age. What happened? I have no idea. I don’t know what’s going on. This is crazy.

If convicted, Montimere faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Permian High School faces the prospect of having to forfeit the entire season.