Tough start for top quarterbacks 

Updated: September 8, 2011 10:14PM

It’s still early, but this has not been a good football season for elite quarterbacks in the Public League.

Simeon’s Robert Gregory provided some good news when he committed last week to Arkansas, where he’ll get to work with offensive guru Bobby Petrino. But a lingering collarbone injury kept Gregory from even making the trip to East St. Louis for the Wolverines’ loss to Jefferson City, Mo., on Sunday and his status for Saturday night’s game against Morgan Park is uncertain.

Out for at least two weeks, and possibly more, is Curie’s Maurice Fleming, who has committed to Iowa as a defensive back. Fleming suffered a sprained knee ligament in last Saturday’s loss to Sterling and the earliest he’s expected back would be Sept. 24 vs. Simeon.

Then there’s the strange case of Julian’s DaeShaun Hurley. Unlike Gregory and Fleming, he isn’t hurt. And unlike them, he has yet to play a down this season. Therein lies a somewhat twisted tale.

Hurley starred last season for Morgan Park and he’s being recruited by a variety of major-college programs including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Arizona and West Virginia. But if those recruiters are looking for senior-year video of Hurley, they’re out of luck so far. Though he’s been attending classes at Julian, Hurley has neither practiced nor played for the Jaguars because Morgan Park refused to sign off on his transfer.

Hurley is one of several Morgan Park athletes and coaches who decided to leave the school when long-time football coach Lexie Spurlock was let go last spring. None of the former Mustangs are playing this fall, according to Public League director of sports administration Calvin Davis. Two of them landed at Julian, where former Morgan Park assistant Jason Richardson was hired as head coach. Such movement is hardly unusual in the Public League, where Davis said he processes “hundreds” of transfers every year in all sports.

Some of the athletes who transfer don’t get to play for their new school immediately if their former school objects to the move and Davis agrees. That was the case for basketball players Asante Smiter and Andre Arrington, who had to sit for a year after going from Curie to Foreman in 2010. But both were underclassmen and were able to get back on the court last spring.

The clock is ticking for Hurley. After all the paperwork for the transfer finally was assembled, Davis held an eligibility hearing on Thursday. He said via email that a decision on Hurley will be made as early as today or by Monday “at the latest.” If Davis rules Hurley eligible today, then the quarterback can make his season debut vs. Hales on Saturday. Otherwise, he stays in limbo.

Even Davis isn’t sure why this transfer application is being dealt with during the third week of the season, instead of sometime over the summer. “I wish they had it in at the beginning of the season, but I guess there was a disconnect,” he said.

There does seem to be something of a leadership vacuum at Morgan Park. Beryl Shingles, the principal who made the decision to get rid of Spurlock, has since left for South Shore. According to Davis, at least two other administrators have been involved in processing Hurley’s transfer request. But an attempt to reach a Morgan Park official for comment was unsuccessful.

Julian athletic director Kurtis Ellison was willing to talk and said Hurley’s move was by the book. “There was no [undue] influence on the kid’s transfer,” Ellison said. “It’s the family’s decision. There were other issues that factored into his transfer. Athletics is not the reason for his transfer.”

Davis said Julian probably should have tried to get Hurley’s paperwork approved sooner. And given Morgan Park’s opposition – which could have been predicted – that’s probably true.

Hindsight doesn’t help Hurley get on the field. But it may be a lesson for other Public League athletes not to expect swift justice if they decide to go from one school to another.

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