Dallas man, 25, arrested after posing as a 17-year-old to play high school basketball

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

A 25-year-old Dallas man was arrested last week after masquerading as a 17-year-old Hurricane Harvey refugee to play for a high school basketball team, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley enrolled at Skyline High School under the name of "Rashun Richardson," the newspaper reported, before transferring to Hillcrest High School, where he joined the basketball team. Gilstrap-Portley was arrested Friday night on one charge of tampering with government records, according to multiple reports.

"Rashun Richardson" attended Dallas high schools for nearly nine months and was even voted District 11-5A offensive MVP in March. His facade fell apart, however, when one of his former high school coaches informed the Hillcrest basketball coach that "one of my former players who graduated a time ago is playing for you," Dallas Independent School District spokesperson Robyn Harris told The Morning News .

Gilstrap-Portley's father, Sidney Portley, told Dallas' WFAA-TV that the 25-year-old has a child and live-in fiancée and chalked the scheme up to "mischanneled determination."

"He made errors. There was no ill intent," Sidney Portley told the television station. "We apologize for that happening. It was mischanneled determination. His passion is basketball. He tried to push 'rewind' in his life."

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