College Football

Recruit commits to Florida, but there was no offer — he'd gotten catfished

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:38 p.m. ET

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It's called catfishing, and Houshun Gaines just got hooked.

Gaines, a college football prospect from Rocky Mount, North Carolina's Nash Central High, committed to Florida last week, believing he'd been in contact with a member of the Gators coaching staff via social media and had been offered a scholarship. But it turns out that whoever Gaines thought was Florida assistant coach Brad Lawing was somebody else pretending to be the coach.

Gaines didn't find that out, though, until after he had made his commitment announcement at his high school, putting on a Gators cap in front of family and friends.

Gaines, a three-star defensive end, reportedly has quite a few schools interested in him, including Florida, but there was no offer when he committed.

"When I talked to a coach, they told me they hadn't spoke to Gaines in several weeks," Nash Central athletics director Michael Mosley told the Rocky Mount Telegram. "I think he was talking to someone he thought was a coach. I guess he said (on Friday) that he had talked to a coach the night before, but they said he hadn't talked to anybody on the coaching staff."

So Gaines again is available to North Carolina State, Virginia Tech or other programs who may want him. And he seems to have a good attitude about the whole thing.

And look at it this way: Even before he gets to college, Gaines has learned a lesson that Manti Te'o didn't figure out until he was a senior.

H/T Rocky Mount Telegram

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