Ohio governor orders probe into whether ‘scam’ football school committed crimes

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called for a probe into whether laws were broken by an Ohio high school, which education officials found to be a “scam” after its supposedly top-tier football team got clobbered in a nationally televised game.

Bishop Sycamore came onto the national radar when it was pummeled 58-0 in a game televised by ESPN, which prompted reporters to look into the mysterious school. 

The Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) investigation, released on Friday, found no evidence that Bishop Sycamore enrolled students in 2021 and said it didn’t meet the minimum requirements for academic offerings and student safety. 

“Unfortunately, the facts suggest that Bishop Sycamore High School was and is, in fact, a scam,” the department concluded, calling it “a way for students to play football against high school teams and potentially increase students’ prospects of playing football at the collegiate level.”

In a statement on Friday, DeWine said he will ask the state Attorney General Dave Yost (R) and other officials to determine whether laws were broken by the supposed school, adding he will work with state education officials and lawmakers to help prevent a repeat of the situation. 

“Ohio families should be able to count on the fact that our schools educate students and don’t exist in name only as a vehicle to play high school sports,” DeWine said in his statement. “When an Ohio student goes to school, they deserve a quality education to prepare them for success in the future.”

According to the ODE report, Bishop Sycamore administrator Andre Peterson characterized his program as a way for players to get more exposure among college scouts. 

Bishop Sycamore is registered as a “non-chartered, non-tax-supported school,” making it largely out of the department’s oversight, though the reforms being pushed by DeWine’s administration could change that.