March 20, 2008

Honolulu, HI (UWIRE) -- A high school football standout from Charlotte, N.C., is suing the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, alleging that the athletics department denied him a full athletic scholarship commitment made by then-coach Jeffrey Reinebold before June Jones' departure.

Daniel Smith, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound defensive back, alleges that the university withdrew his scholarship offer just weeks before "National Letter of Intent Day" - the day when football recruits officially sign their scholarship commitments. Smith's attorney, Mark Valencia, claims that UH's action of denying the oral commitment at the last minute severely disadvantaged Smith because, at Reinebold's urging, Smith passed on offers and inquiries from other schools.

"Because UH abandoned Daniel at the 11th hour of the recruiting process ... Daniel was unable to secure an athletic scholarship at another college or university," Valencia wrote in Smith's civil suit, filed Feb. 5, in the First Circuit Court.

In a response filed Feb. 27, UH denied all allegations, stating that Smith failed to provide sufficient information to "form a belief as to the truth or falsity of (his) allegations."

Smith seeks injunctive relief from the court, compelling UH Mānoa to honor its full athletic scholarship commitment or "damages in the amounts to be proved at trial."

He also alleges Reinebold offered him a full athletic scholarship on April 26, 2007, following Smith's unofficial visit to the UH Mānoa campus. Smith also states that Reinebold reaffirmed the university's commitment several times over the next nine months, including most recently on Jan. 3, following UH's Sugar Bowl defeat.

Court documents also show that:

* An article about Smith's acceptance of the UH scholarship offer was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on April 27, 2007, the day after the offer was made.

* ESPN.com identified the commitment made between Smith and UH on Dec. 4, 2007.

On Jan. 10, 2008, four days after Jones left UH for the head coaching position at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Smith claims Reinebold contacted him saying that, "due to the departure of coach Jones, all prior scholarship commitments ... had been revoked by UH."

UH offensive coordinator Ron Lee also contacted Smith mid-January and denied that a scholarship commitment had been made, court documents allege, and that Lee instead offered a "walk-on" role - meaning that Smith would have to try out for the team and pay his own college expenses.

In a second phone conversation, Smith claims Lee said that Reinebold "apparently made scholarship commitments that he did not have the authority to make ... (and) that UH did not have any available scholarships."

Smith cites "interference with prospective economic advantage" and "misrepresentation," among other complaints, saying that he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds and that he "had prospective advantage of expectancy of a full athletic scholarship from Portland State University."

Smith also says in his court filing that "Reinebold purposefully interfered with Smith's prospective advantage by instructing him to reject any and all potential scholarship offers" and that Reinebold should have known that his representations were false.

(C) 2008 Ka Leo O Hawaii via UWIRE