upshaw recruited too late

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction Dept: Player
Recruited 21 Years Too Late--(June 23, 1999)

Today's LA Times carried an interesting article, proving that indeed, truth is absolutely far more weird than anything we can possibly make up. The story was also carried elsewhere and in other papers, but the Times rendition, by Mal Florence, was pretty succinct. Here's what happened:

Marc Upshaw, a former high school basketball star in Columbus, Ga., is pleased to know that Stanford coaches were interested in him--even if their recruitment letter arrived 21 years late. The letter, signed by then-Cardinal coach Dick DiBiaso, was dated May 5, 1978, but didn't arrive at Columbus High until this spring.

David McQuinn, consumer affairs clerk for the U.S. Postal Service in Columbus, said he had no idea where the letter was all those years. But because of its age, he said it most likely was stuck in a pouch used to store mail. "Maybe I need to send that in and they'll give me a scholarship," joked Upshaw, now a 38-year-old father of two who runs his own business in the Atlanta area.

Upshaw apparently had a distinguished college career playing at Rhode Island. Would he have considered Stanford if the letter had arrived on time? "You never know," he said. "Probably not. I think going to Rhode Island was the right decision for me."

The story was also carried yesterday in the Orange County Register, and here's the way they put it:

Mark Upshaw probably would have signed with Rhode Island anyway. Still, the former Columbus (Ga.) High School basketball standout is pleased to know Stanford coaches were interested - even if their recruitment letter arrived 21 years late.

The letter, signed by then-Cardinal coach Dick DiBiaso, was dated May 5, 1978, but didn't arrive at Columbus High until this spring. DiBiaso, who has been out of coaching for 17 years, doesn't remember sending it. But he said Stanford did recruit nationally because its tough academic requirements made it difficult to find enough players in California. The five-paragraph letter, mostly a sales pitch for Stanford, included a questionnaire and stamped return
envelope.

''Maybe I need to send that in and they'll give me a scholarship,'' laughed Upshaw, now a 38-year-old father of two who runs his own business in the Atlanta area. The letter's envelope has a Stanford postmark dated May 5, 1978, overlaid with one from San Francisco, also dated May 1978. A third postmark, from Columbus, is dated April 26, 1999.

David McQuinn, consumer affairs clerk for the U.S. Postal Service in Columbus, said he has no idea where the letter was all those years. But because of its age, he said it most likely was stuck in a cloth pouch used to store mail. The letter was addressed to Upshaw in care of Larry Oswalt, then the Columbus basketball coach, who was killed in a car accident several years ago. An office worker at the school gave it to Murphy Jenkins, a coach who has stayed in touch with Upshaw. ''I was just stunned when I saw the postmark,'' said Jenkins. ''I thought somebody was playing a joke. Then I realized, no, this is real. I decided I would open the letter and see what it said.''

Jenkins contacted Upshaw's wife, Debra, who relayed the message to her husband. ''She said something about a letter from a college,'' Upshaw said. ''I said, 'A letter from a college? I know I don't owe any tuition or anything.' I just found it kind of funny.'' Upshaw, who now lives in Conyers and owns Global Diagnostic Services Inc., originally signed with Georgia but changed his mind and went to Rhode Island, where his cousin, Claude English, was an assistant coach.