Dae’Shaun Hurley, one of the best football players in the city, has been barred from playing this season.
Hurley, a senior who transferred from Morgan Park to Julian after veteran Morgan Park coach Lexie Spurlock was fired following last season, was ruled ineligible for the season Monday by Chicago Public League sports administration director Calvin Davis.
Davis said he determined that Hurley and another Julian football player transferred for athletic purposes, which is against Public League and Illinois High School Association rules. First-year Julian coach Jason Richardson was an assistant under Spurlock.
A 6-foot-1, 180-pound quarterback, Hurley is being recruited by several Division I schools.
While most recruiting evaluation is done during a player’s junior year, Hurley is an exception because colleges wanted to see him play defensive back this year.
“I’ve written and talked about how colleges wanting to look at early senior tape is bull 98 percent of the time. This is one of a handful of kids who certainly would have gotten some more looks,” recruiting expert “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran said. “The bigger schools are looking at him as a DB, and there is very limited film of him there as a junior.
“From that aspect alone it has an impact.”
O’Halloran believes Hurley will ultimately receive a scholarship but that he may have to settle for a Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA) school.
“I’ll be shocked if the I-AAs don’t come in and try to swoop him up,” O’Halloran said. “They try to split up scholarships at that level, 40 or 50 percent, but a kid of his ability, they could go full.”
Hurley did not return a message seeking comment.
