NationalHSFootball.com
In the wake of Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech quarterback Jaryu Campbell being sentenced to jailtime, probation, and community service the Technician program can move forward knowing it will be without, perhaps, its best player.
Respecting the sensitive nature of the charges and the legal system, the question still turns to what will the team do?
With Campbell, Cass Tech won its first two Michigan Division I state championships and advanced to the semifinals during the last three years. It has been 32-5 in that period, going 11-3 in 2011 ranking No. 45 in the HSFB100; 12-2 and ranked No. 81 in 2012, and it was inside the Top 25 nationally late into the 2013 season after an undefeated start but fell to Novi (Mich.) Catholic Central finishing 12-1 and outside the HSFB100 but No. 4 within the state.
Without him, the questions pile up.
The team is likely to turn to rising-sophomore quarterback, Rodney Hall.
Hall is a 6-foot-2, 195 pound, left-handed prospect who had played in the playoffs but will now be asked to lead a program that was set to enter the 2014 season No. 2 in the state and on the fringe of the HSFB100.
Cass Tech will now rely on a massive offensive line and running back Mike Weber to make the transition easier. It will also have one of the better defensive units in the state.
The strength at quarterback for other top programs will shuffle the rankings.
Birmingham (Mich.) Brother Rice enters the year as the No. 1 team with Alex Malzone returning for his senior season.
Clarkston (Mich.) High and D.J. Zezula will will battle with DeWitt (Mich.) High and Jake Johnson for the next spot in line.
Macomb (Mich.) Dakota, Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary’s, Catholic Central and Cass Tech will all be defensively led and in the group between No. 4 and No. 7 to start the year.
Hall told local reporter Brenden Hunter that he was getting ready for the opportunity.
“Mentally I have been getting my mind right, catching the reality that I have to get ready to play this year,” he said. “Physically I’ve been in the gym working out a lot, trying to get bigger, and stronger.
“I’ve also started to speak up more, and I’ve really been stepping up, and taking that leadership position.”
Campbell was already scheduled to miss the first game of the season stemming from a suspension handed down by the Detroit Public Schools association after he was found to have punched a player during the handshake line against Central Catholic.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny sentenced Campbell to 60 days in jail, 15 months probation, 75 hours community service, random drug testing, as well as participation in psychological counseling and anger management treatment following a guilty plea in his assault case. Campbell admitted to having body slammed a school security guard after the security guard asked Campbell to remove a hoodie while inside the school.
Both incidents were captured on video.
Campbell was ordered to turn himself in at the Wayne County Jail on July 28 following the completion of his summer school classes on July 23.
The timeline could be truncated if Campbell is released on good behavior but if the entire 57 remaining days on his sentence are served he would be released on Sept. 23, return to school on Sept. 24, and potentially make the first available game Friday, Sept. 26.
By most accounts he would be on the sidelines with the team and not in the huddle however Michigan does not have rules stipulating how many days of practice a player must complete before returning to game action.
He is currently with the team in the weight room as well as participating in conditioning drills and is expected to be back in school following his sentence.
Cass Tech coach Thomas Wilcher said that the sentencing did not go as he expected and added that football is now his secondary concern for the 17-year-old.
“I was hoping it would be different,” Wilcher told The Detroit News . “It’s sad. It’s a bad day to see what he has to go through. We’ll work through it. He’ll stay positive. He’ll stay positive in the community. He’ll stay positive in school.
“Football is not the most important thing. We are trying to produce a productive young man. He could be a writer, for instance. A teacher. You have a young man who can contribute to society. The most important thing is his life, not football. He’ll learn a whole new mentality (in jail). He’ll go in and have to defend his honor. Is 60 days good? Who knows? Will we lose another young man?”
Cass Tech is a four-year university prep school in which middle school grades and entrance exams must be passed for admission.
Once enrolled a student must select a curriculum path — similar to choosing a college major — and maintain a 2.5 grade point average to retain enrollment. The school scores an average of 21 on the ACT tests — four points higher than Detroit Public Schools — and has a list of alumni that includes professional athletics, US House of Representatives members, CEOs, a Miss USA winners, and famed sculptors.
The Detroit Catholic schools director of athletics spoke out against the jail sentence as well.
“That’s not fair,” Vic Michaels told the newspaper. “He’s 17 years old. He goes to Cass Tech. There are tests you have to take to get into Cass Tech. It’s not like any ordinary (Detroit Public) school. That’s not right.”
Campbell is currently a verbal commitment to Michigan State to play football. According to NCAA rules the Spartan staff can not comment on players prior to their signing with the school but by the most public way possible the college has stood by Campbell by not rescinding his scholarship offer.
During the sentencing hearing Campbell read an apology to the security officer — who chose not to be in the courtroom. Campbell admitted his faults and expressed his sadness.
“My split-second actions have impacted both of our lives and our families,” Campbell said. “I’ve learned more than I expected to learn from this incident.
“I know now that I would have handled and responded to our encounter differently. … I ask that you accept my apology.”
Under the Holmes Youthful Training Act, which permits criminal records to be erased after successfully completing his sentence, Campbell will not have this situation trail him outside of the court of public opinion.
The judge said that he would have granted the records be erased whether Campbell was a football star or ‘the most quiet kid in school’ and added that he used a stiff penalty as a wake-up call.
“I think that this will help Mr. Campbell as he becomes, hopefully, much more grounded as a young man,” Kenny told the Detroit Free Press.
The Varsity Board: What will Cass Tech/Jaryu Campbell do in the coming months?
