High school sports: Transfer students landing at Jordan

Jordan Principal Bob Dowdle didn't think the demise of USC at Woodland Hills would have much to do with him or his school.

Then, about two weeks ago, he had a half dozen boys, all former students of USC, show up at school asking to transfer to Jordan High. The paperwork was filed and the transfers were approved by the Utah High School Activities Association.

But last week six more students showed up, including the son of USC's owner Bob Jones, and there began to be rumors of recruiting or of some organized effort to stay together.

"It's difficult," Dowdle said. "When I sniffed that there could be any kind of migration, I sat down with my coaches and had a very frank discussion. I told them that we would obey all of the UHSAA rules and if I found out there was any (impropriety) I would deal with it immediately."

UHSAA executive director Dave Wilkey said he felt Jordan High had done everything they could to surmise why so many football players chose to transfer to Jordan after USC closed it's doors in August.

"It's a concern to everybody," said Wilkey. "But Jordan has done an excellent job of trying to determine true motives, including individual interviews with students and parents. They're asking all of the right questions to find out why they're there. So far, there is no real evidence of athletic transfers."

Wilkey said it wasn't until the second six boys applied for eligibility at Jordan that anyone thought the transfers might be athletically motivated.

"When the initial group came through, there was nothing that indicated anything unusual," said Wilkey referring to the first six who transferred at the beginning of the school year. "I just got the second group of six this morning, and we'll make a decision later this week."

Dowdle said one of the issues that was raised was that of the players' relationship with Jordan assistant coach Antwoine Sanders. The former University of Utah and NFL football player coached at USC until he and Jones had a falling out this summer. Jones told the Deseret News in early August that he had "released" Sanders and that he knew he was working at Jordan High. Apparently Sanders was hired to be an assistant at Jordan before USC told students the school would not be open this school year.

But none of the boys said Sanders had anything to do with their decision to transfer to Jordan. Dowdle said it's been a difficult situation to deal with, especially because the students are in a tough spot.