Bellevue High stained by football scandal

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from the Seattle Times article of Aug. 23 detailing alleged improper practices within the Bellevue High football program:

Bellevue High School has established itself as one of the premier prep football programs in the nation with 11 state titles in the past 15 years.

But the program’s remarkable success has depended, in part, on players who weren’t actually Bellevue High students. Instead, athletes became eligible to play for the football powerhouse by traveling to a Bellevue office park for classes at an obscure, 40-student private school: The Academic Institute, Inc.

While the Institute touts its focus on education – at a full-time cost of $1,750 per month – two former teachers label Academic Institute a “diploma mill” that doesn’t adhere to basic educational standards. At least 17 Bellevue football players attended the program over the past seven years, the Seattle Times has learned.

Among the players who have attended Academic Institute were those instrumental in Bellevue’s recent 67-game winning streak: Myles Jack, a linebacker now at UCLA; Marcus Griffin, a defensive tackle at the University of Arizona; and Max Richmond, a wide receiver at the University of Washington.

 At least two families of football players received tuition assistance coordinated by the team’s wealthy supporters, according to interviews and documents. A third player whose family couldn’t afford the steep tuition said he attended Academic Institute for two years without knowing who picked up the tab.

Students at a private school without a football team can play for a public-school team in their home district.

The events took place under the watch of school district officials who conceded that discounted tuition for athletes would constitute a violation of state athletic rules, a district document shows. Earlier this year, one family complained that an assistant coach threatened to revoke their son’s financial aid at Academic Institute if the student didn’t continue playing football at Bellevue.

School district leaders initially sought to have the booster club answer questions about its relationship with Academic Institute. But, after a brief email exchange, they let it drop.

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Editor’s note: After the original Seattle Times article of Aug. 23 the newspaper followed up with another article in which the parents of Darien Freeman disputed portions of the first article that were attributed to their son. The newspaper further documented its original article:

The parents of a former Bellevue High School football player have disputed their son’s account of his time on the team, calling  a Sunday Seattle Times article on the subject “false and misleading.”

Part of Darien Freeman’s account, however, is corroborated by documents reviewed by the Seattle Times.

In an article about how Bellevue’s success was aided by a small private school, Freeman, 20, told the Times that he lived in four different cities during his years with the Bellevue football team – Sammamish, Bellevue, Auburn and SeaTac. That would be a likely violation of rules that generally require student-athletes to live within a school’s attendance boundary.

Freeman described in detail the hours he spent busing from Auburn to Bellevue, catching a 5:30 a.m. bus to start class around 8:15. Often it would be well past dark by the time he returned home. Later, when the family lived in SeaTac, he said, his mother would drop him off at a bus stop in Renton to commute.

Freeman’s parents, Yusef and Allona, wrote in a letter this week to the school district that their son lived in the Bellevue attendance area. Supporters of the Bellevue football program have shared the letter on social media.

Records reviewed by the Seattle Times, however, show that Freeman’s father has had a home address in Auburn. Court records from an eviction case also show a Yusef Freeman was renting an apartment in Sammamish in 2009. Darien Freeman had said he lived in that city during his 2009-10 freshman season.

Later, a traffic citation was issued to a Yusef Freeman with an address in SeaTac.

The parents disputed Freeman’s account in which he said his father had asked him to thank Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff for helping pay rent. They said Goncharoff never gave the family money to pay for rent.

After the Seattle Times story was published on Sunday, a distraught Darien Freeman called a Times reporter, saying he’d just spoken with Goncharoff. Freeman said he may have misunderstood the conversation about rent and that it was possible Goncharoff had only worked to help the family find a place to rent in Bellevue.

During that conversation on Sunday, Freeman reaffirmed the other aspects of his account.

Among those, Freeman said Goncharoff directed him to attend the Academic Institute instead of studying at Bellevue. Students at AI – a school derided as a “diploma mill” by two former teachers – are still allowed to play on the Bellevue football team.

The parents confirmed in their letter that they received financial support, but said they properly requested aid from the school. The families of two other players have described how supporters of the football program had a role in coordinating scholarships for the players.

In 2012, Freeman was among 17 boys pictured in the sophomore, junior and senior pages of an Academic Institute yearbook reviewed by the Times. Of those 17 boys, seven were Bellevue football players.

Earlier this week,  the Bellevue School District requested an investigation of the football program by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs prep sports in the state.

Freeman’s parents criticized the Times reporters who wrote the Bellevue High story, saying they “hounded and harassed” their son and “tricked him” into saying things that he has no knowledge of.

Freeman met with a reporter on two separate occasions at a SeaTac restaurant. He openly shared details of his high school experiences, saying he felt like the program was putting kids in a poor position to succeed after high school and that he didn’t want to see the program have a negative impact on others in the future.

During one of the meetings with the Times, Freeman said he no longer had a relationship with his father.

Yusef Freeman did not return a call Friday seeking comment on his letter. Darien Freeman has not returned multiple messages left for him last week.