Oregon deserves hit in credibility department

The sweltering heat that has affected Southern California this week could be the sign of a long, hot summer ahead for high school athletes, and I’m not only referring to what’s happening on the field.

The college football recruiting world is buzzing about how Oregon messed up badly in withdrawing a scholarship offer for Ventura St. Bonaventure defensive back Xavier Ramos only days after he had committed. The fact he was given a scholarship offer in writing adds to the intrigue.

It provides rare insight into a little-discussed aspect of recruiting: That these written offers sent by colleges to prospects mean nothing. It’s the signing of a letter of intent that’s binding, and there are escape clauses in that, too.

It’s hardly noteworthy when a prospect changes his mind. But when a school suddenly backtracks, that’s news, and it produced outrage from St. Bonaventure Coach Todd Therrien, who’s not ready to welcome Oregon recruiters any time soon.

“I still don’t feel good about the situation,” Therrien said Saturday. “The whole system needs to be fixed on both sides.”

Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti went into damage control on Monday, issuing this statement: “We acknowledge this is an unfortunate aspect of recruiting and always feel bad for any feelings that are hurt. Another young man committed to us earlier at the same position, and we didn’t feel we could accept both of them.

“There were breakdowns in communication resulting in the situation not handled as we would have preferred. We always feel it is best to notify all parties involved of our intentions early while they still have options to pursue other opportunities rather than wait until February when their options are limited.”

There’s an implication that Oregon did Ramos a favor by giving him plenty of time before signing day in February to find another school. Sorry, but that doesn’t pass muster. The Ducks made a simple decision they wanted someone else. That’s their right. But they also deserve to take a hit in the credibility department.

And they have because what happened has circulated to places far and wide thanks to the Internet.

“It’s the Wild, Wild West,” said Troy Starr, the former director of football operations at Florida who’s now the coach at La Mesa Helix. “The Internet has changed recruiting completely.”

Let’s hope this embarrassing episode isn’t repeated.

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Oaks Christian entered this week with six quarterbacks competing for a starting spot, but the Lions appeared to find a starter Saturday night when senior Tony Macarena guided the Lions to the championship of the Saugus passing tournament.

Oaks Christian defeated Canyon Country Canyon, 32-18, in the final. A more impressive victory was 14-6 over Long Beach Poly in the semifinals.

The Lions have lots of talent defensively and showed off junior linebackers Malcolm Jones and Zack Stout and senior cornerback Brian Owusu. Tight end Chris Coyle was effective catching passes.

Macarena was accurate rolling out and avoiding interceptions.

Canyon senior quarterback Jordan Adamczyk had a productive two days.

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Harbor City Narbonne, led by senior quarterback Josh Moten, won the Beverly Hills tournament championship with a victory over Roosevelt in the final. Narbonne’s Byron Moore Jr. caught four TD passes.

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Requiring players to use mouthpieces and headgear for seven on seven competitions might be the way to go considering the potential for injuries from collisions.

Los Angeles Lincoln Coach Albert Carrillo has done just that after a collision between defensive backs earlier this month resulted in Jerry Meza having to undergo surgery for a broken jaw, fractured cheek bone and lost teeth. The other player, Oscar Gladden, required 21 stitches to repair a gash in his forehead.

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After watching passing tournaments at USC on Thursday, at Central Park in Saugus on Friday and at Beverly Hills on Saturday, I can say the most impressive quarterback I saw as far as arm strength, technique, size and leadership skills was junior Brandon Connette of Corona Santiago.

He’s 6 feet 2, 195 pounds and is a straight-A student. It’s scary how many good quarterbacks there will be in the Inland Empire this fall.

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At the Saugus tournament, Palmdale unveiled a 6-4, 245-pound sophomore tight end-defensive end in Steve Dillon.

“I thought he was a grown man when he walked into my office,” Coach Jeff Williams said. “I think he’s going to be an exceptional defensive end.”

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Oaks Christian is known for having freshmen become impact players, and the Lions could have another top freshman contributor in receiver Jordan Payton, who caught three consecutive passes Friday in his first appearance in a passing tournament.

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Newhall Hart lost a top wide receiver several years ago when Taylor Embree had to move to Kansas City when his father took a job as an assistant coach with the Chiefs. He’s now a freshman at UCLA.

But Coach Mike Herrington was beaming Friday because of the arrival of 6-3 senior Patrick Abbott, who played briefly on Hart’s varsity as a freshman in 2005, then moved to Chapin, S.C., until returning this week.

Abbott also is a point guard in basketball, and Herrington said, “I know he’s pretty good.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com