What former high school basketball star hasn't daydreamed about reliving his glory days?

For most people, that's where it stops, as a reverie. Not so for Guerdwich Montimere, however. The 22-year old was arrested in Odessa, Texas for posing as a 16-year old "Jerry Joseph."

As such, he enrolled as a homeless Haitian youth at Permian High School and was a standout on its basketball team.

As well as he should have since he was older than some NBA players and was a high school basketball star in Florida in his prior high-school incarnation.

Montimere was found out when he played in a basketball tournament in Arkansas where some Florida coaches recognized him.

An excerpt from the Odessa American which, incidentally, says Montimere was released from jail after someone posted bail:

After being confronted Tuesday, Montimere, a star basketball player this year at Permian, admitted the deception and was arrested and charged with presenting false identification to a peace officer. Montimere was arrested at Permian and taken to the Ector County Detention Center. At press time he was in a holding cell awaiting booking.

"I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks," ECISD athletic director Leon Fuller said. "In my 50 years in education, I've never heard of anything like this."

Montimere graduated from Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2007 after leading Dillard to the Class 5A state semifinal basketball game. Montimere then moved to Freeport, Ill., where he had signed a scholarship to play basketball at Highland Community College.

(All Things Considered looks at the deception, too.)

 

After a few months, he dropped out and moved back to Florida, Highland basketball coach Pete Norman told USA Today last week.

No one heard from Montimere until he moved to Odessa under the name Jerry Joseph in February 2009. He enrolled at Nimitz Junior High as a 15-year-old, claiming he was living with his half-brother Jabari Caldwell. Caldwell — who is not actually related to Montimere — was enrolled at UTPB on a basketball scholarship. Caldwell and Montimere were teammates at Dillard High School.

Caldwell moved back to Florida in the summer of 2009, and Montimere moved in with Permian basketball coach Danny Wright.

"He was a family member and that is devastating to my family," Wright said. "This affected a lot of people. The whole school of Permian embraced that kid. He deceived us and played on everyone involved's emotions.

There's evidence that the difference between Montimere's stated age and his actual age didn't go unnoticed. Another Odessa American story quotes the preacher at the church Montimere attended:

Skelton said Montimere's arrest came as a shock, but he acknowledged that he always had a hard time believing he was only 16.

"He had the body of a much older guy, but he acted a bit younger," Skelton said. "When he first told me how old he was, I was like, 'Wow,' and we kind of joked about it."