INLAND FIELDHOUSE

It looks as though there may be more news coming in the Norco High sports scandal.

A week after the worst-kept secret in Inland Area soccer finally saw some light, rumors are circulating that Norco athletic director Josh Cameron may soon be fired.

A source with ties to the program said about Cameron, “He could go any day. Somebody let these kids down.”

If the rumors are true, it would follow more than a week’s worth of turmoil for the Cougars.

As reported by The Press-Enterprise’s Kyle Glaser, Norco High School’s boys soccer coach Carey Rosenbery resigned on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016.

Girls soccer coach Clint McDaniel resigned on Friday, Jan. 29, after being suspended following concurrent investigations into ineligible players this season.

Rosenbery, in his first season as Norco’s boys coach, said he was asked by Norco administration to either resign or be fired.

“The AD came to me and told me and my entire staff have to go,” Rosenbery said. “I don’t agree with Norco’s decision.”

In a mostly off-the-record conversation on Wednesday, Jan. 27, McDaniel, in his fourth seasons as Norco’s girls coach, contradicted that he had been suspended, saying he “was asked not to coach” the Cougars’ game later that day while further determinations are made by Norco’s administration. His official statement was “no comment” as he seeks legal representation.

So there’s a lot to unpack here and loads of speculation, half-truths and mud-slinging to wade through before any truth can be told.

There are still holes to fill, but this is what I’ve gathered from more than two month’s worth of rumor-mill cultivation:

First, the ineligible boys players.

It seems as though there were a handful of boys, maybe six, who played together at a local club and had transferred into Norco before the season. Rosenbery said he did his best to facilitate the necessary CIF paperwork but admins dragged their feet before an investigation led to the forced forfeiture of three nonleague victories.

Rumors have it that the players all used the same address rather than simply wait the 30-day period. This is obviously ridiculous, but if true a coordinated act. But by whom? Anyway, it should have been red-flagged directly by Norco’s athletic director.

Rosenbery refuted the rumor, calling it “way off” and saying all players addresses were verified by home visits. He also said he has in his possession eligibility sheets that clear all players as of Nov. 20, 2015, but why then were they all ruled ineligible? Rosenbury said it was for violating CIF’s “undue influence” rules, the specifics of which are confidential.

Second, the ineligible girls players.

There are two, neither of whom have played this season for Norco, who transferred from Riverside King during the offseason. They weren’t frontline-type talents, McDaniel said in a prior conversation, but good players who would’ve helped provide depth.

And it may be the girls players who are the lynch pins of an issue that probably involves grudges and has definitely affected the high school careers of several young athletes.

The details aren’t all here — what follows is speculation — but it’s thought that the two left King’s new girls varsity coach, Bryan Kuderman, to play for McDaniel. And Kuderman has beef with McDaniel going back to when Kuderman applied for Norco’s boys varsity job and was passed over for Rosenbery.

So Kuderman, now upset twice by McDaniel, had incriminating information about Norco’s group of new boys transfers and reported it to CIF’s section offices. And Rosenbery’s paperwork, to which he thought he was getting cleared, got a second look by compliance officials and didn’t pass the eyeball test.

Who let this all happen? Was it Cameron?

That’s what I’m being told.