Hargrave recruit turned away by USF

TAMPA - Hargrave Military Academy defensive tackle Khyri Thornton was preparing to report to summer school at the University of South Florida in two weeks to begin his career with the Bulls.

That is, until Friday, when he received a call from USF offensive coordinator Mike Canales indicating that Thornton, who had met NCAA qualifying standards, had not been approved by USF’s academic committee.

“I was more frustrated than anything,“ said Thornton, rated the nation’s 16th-best prep school recruit by Rivals.com. “It kind of shocked me.“

Thornton is at least the fifth football or men’s basketball recruit who was denied admission into USF by the academic committee, which was formed last year. The committee must approve any academically-borderline recruit before USF’s coaches are supposed to offer them a scholarship or sign them to a national letter of intent.

It’s unknown if USF coach Jim Leavitt received the committee’s approval before signing Thornton in February.

Thornton said Canales told him that “five or six” football recruits were not approved by the academic committee. Canales could not be reached for comment. USF signed 29 players in February, and so far at least three are not coming to USF this fall.

Thornton said he was not told by USF’s coaches about the academic committee until March, a month after he signed with the Bulls. Thornton said he thought the committee would only determine if he would enroll in the fall or be “grayshirted,“ delaying his enrollment until January. Because he met NCAA qualifying standards, he said he was not aware he could be denied admission into USF.

“If I had known there was a [academic] committee, I would have kept my options open,“ said Thornton, who signed with USF over Tennessee, Arkansas, Clemson and Syracuse.

Thornton said USF’s coaches want him to attend a junior college this year and then try and return to USF in 2010. Since learning he couldn’t attend USF, Thornton said he has heard from coaches at Southern Miss, Florida Atlantic and N.C. State.

Thornton said he’s now undecided where he will attend school.

Last year, Palm Beach Gardens offensive lineman Justin Green was the first USF football recruit denied admission in the first year the academic committee was formed. Green was notified the day before National Signing Day by a USF assistant that he had not been approved by the committee. Also last season, USF basketball recruits Teeng Akol, Dwan McMillan and Eugene Teague all were denied admission into the university by the academic committee, even though they all had signed with USF.