Despite CIF recently easing restrictions on transfer rules, football player Antonio Hull was dealt an old school punishment today. The rising junior, whose transfer from West Covina to Diamond Bar in February was ruled athletically motivated by the CIF-Southern Section, lost his second appeal today, according to Diamond Bar football coach Ryan Maine.
Hull will not be permitted to join the team until Nov. 16, eight days after the end of the 2013 regular season. He can play on the junior varsity in the interim, but only if Diamond Bar reaches the playoffs and wins its first-round game will Hull be able to suit up this season for the varsity.
One of the rising stars last season on a West Covina team coming off consecutive CIF-SS championships, Hull split time between quarterback and running back. He would have joined a Diamond Bar offense that returns a trio of juniors including a 2,000-yard passer and two receivers, each with multiple Pac-12 scholarship offers.
West Covina challenged Hull’s transfer, providing an email from his father with apparent proof that it was athletically motivated, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune’s Aram Tolegian. His appeals bid may have been compromised by the fact that an assistant CIF-SS commissioner who had previously been rejected for the Diamond Bar athletic director position was handling the case.
“We know that we need to respect the decision that CIF made,” Maine said. “We just hope (the CIF assistant commissioner) wasn’t holding anything against Diamond Bar that effected Antonio.”
CIF wasn’t the only one who’s integrity came into question. The lawyer for the Hull family, Chris Prussak, was surprised, to put it lightly, with West Covina’s treatment of Hull, according to the Trubune.
“I’ve never seen a high school go after a kid like this,” Prussak told the Tribune. “It was like a girlfriend being dumped. The bottom line is that West Covina had an ax to grind with Mr. Hull. They put CIF on alert this transfer was happening way before it was done. Shame on West Covina High School when you have these adult coaches going after a child like this.”
