In the Clear but Not Open : Van Buren Reclusive After Jail Stint and Supporters Fear He’s Dropping Ball Instead of Catching On With a College

Leodes Van Buren, the state’s all-time leading receiver while playing at Newbury Park High, impressed teammates and coaches in his four-year high school career with his elusiveness.

But that same quality off the field has raised concern among those closest to the star receiver.

It has been more than three months since Van Buren was released from Ventura County Jail after he served two-thirds of a six-month sentence on a weapons charge. On his release date, Dec. 16, Van Buren was met in the middle of the night by his wife, Marcie--herself a star softball player at Newbury Park and Moorpark College--and their daughter Andreya. The young family headed for Corona to begin the rest of their lives.

A central part of that future presumably is Van Buren’s collegiate football career. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound receiver who caught 269 passes for 4,446 yards had accepted a scholarship to play at Colorado before he was arrested last April on suspicion of firing a gunshot through the back door of Marcie’s home in Newbury Park.

By the time he was tried and convicted in August, the Colorado scholarship was withdrawn by mutual consent.

After settling in Corona in December, living in the same apartment complex as his mother, Annie Carter, Van Buren enrolled at Riverside Community College. But he has since withdrawn from school and finds himself between jobs. He is not living with Marcie and is no closer to hooking up with a four-year college than when he was released from jail.

Marcie could not be reached for comment. Her mother, Catherine James, said only that her daughter was not enrolled in school but still plans one day to continue her collegiate athletic career.

Van Buren, 19, talks about walking on at USC but says he has not contacted the school. His goal remains the same: play football and be the first in his family to graduate from college.

But when pressed to provide details about his work, school and marital status, he reveals little, saying only that he wants “to get in the flow of things.”

Back in Newbury Park, those closest to him fear that he is drifting, unwilling to ask for help they believe he needs. They worry that he has isolated himself in Corona, far from the support system that carried him through high school.

Van Buren said he would rely on Newbury Park football Coach George Hurley and school counselor Richard Intelkofer for help in his college search. But he has talked to them only once, a brief meeting during a Newbury Park girls’ basketball game.

“I get the impression he’s sitting at home waiting for Notre Dame to call him,” Hurley said. “He does desperately need adult help, advice and counseling. He doesn’t do well on his own.”

Perhaps the one who knows that best is Ken McGee, Van Buren’s legal guardian until last year when Van Buren turned 18. McGee, 54, is an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles who taught Van Buren in the sixth grade.

At Van Buren’s request, and with the blessing of his mother, McGee agreed to become Van Buren’s legal guardian when Leodes was 13.

Van Buren left his Los Angeles home for more-serene Newbury Park. But Van Buren’s relationship with McGee, has been anything but serene.

McGee enforced rules on a rambunctious Van Buren, who protested and often left home, only to return each time.

But Van Buren wanted to get far from Ventura County when he was released from jail, saying he had mixed feelings at best about his experience in Newbury Park. Although careful not to label his conviction unfair--he still insists it was a companion who fired the gunshot into the James home--he compared his case to the Ventura County jury that acquitted the police officers in the Rodney King case.

“The same thing happened to me,” he said. “But I accept (the verdict). I’m not talking down to it. But I don’t like Ventura County anymore. I don’t want to be there anymore. I want to get a fresh start.”

Van Buren still visits and stays with McGee. McGee says the football player is like many 19-year-olds searching for an identity and determined to make their own decisions.

“My best friend and I decided instead of buying new cars, we went to college. That’s how decisions are made by people that age,” McGee said.

Still, McGee worries about Van Buren’s ability to organize his life on his own.

“He wants very much to be on his own, but the part about going to school and pursuing football, I don’t know if he can manage it,” he said. “I don’t know if he knows how to get that done.”

In high school, Van Buren had a built-in support system. School counselor Intelkofer helped with Van Buren’s studies during the recruiting process. With the extra attention, Van Buren satisfied NCAA academic requirements and signed with Colorado.

Intelkofer wrote often to Van Buren when he was in jail but has talked to him just once since his release.

“There is such a solid person inside,” Intelkofer said. “He has tremendous potential. I’m not talking about athletics, but potential as a person. He needs guidance but I don’t think Leodes allows people to get to know him. He doesn’t let people get too close.”

Van Buren seems to agree, saying, “I don’t talk to anybody. I keep to myself.”

Keith Smith, Van Buren’s best friend in high school and the quarterback on the football team, can vouch for that. When the two got together recently at a Newbury Park playground to throw a football around, Smith was elated to see his friend.

“It was a blast,” Smith said. “To finally get him free and happy was great. I was always supportive of him.”

The two talked about lifting weights together and rehashed the 1993 season when Newbury Park was 14-0 and won the Southern Section Division III championship. But the subject of Van Buren’s life since his arrest was never broached.

“He didn’t bring that up and I would never mention it,” Smith said. “He keeps things to himself. That hasn’t changed. I just want him to know that I’m here for him.”

Smith, the most-prolific passer in state high school history with 9,971 yards, accepted a scholarship to Arizona but signed a baseball contract with the Detroit Tigers and played in the minor leagues last summer. He has since decided to return to Arizona to play football.

Smith hopes he will again throw passes to Van Buren.

“If we could wind up at the same school, that would be awesome,” Smith said.

College recruiters remain impressed with Van Buren’s athletic ability but are waiting to see how he handles his life after jail. Most schools have used all their scholarships, but some openings might develop this summer if current high school seniors fail to meet NCAA academic requirements.

In the meantime, in the minds of some recruiters, Van Buren is again on trial.

“He needs to do some things that can be an indicator that he has learned his lesson,” UCLA assistant Gary Bernardi said. “If he attended a (junior college) and could show a transcript with Bs and Cs in 12 units, that would help determine his dependability and reliability.”

Another recruiter, an assistant at a West Coast school, said the burden of proof rests with Van Buren.

“The school that gets him will get someone who can play anywhere in the country, but we recruit kids on character,” he said. “Whoever takes him is going to run a risk factor. It’s up to Leodes. He can’t go into seclusion.”

Hurley continues to pitch for Van Buren, reminding four-year schools about him. Junior college is always an option but Hurley thinks NCAA Division I schools offer a better fit.

“I’m afraid that a junior college might just use his skills and not prepare Leodes (academically) for the next level,” Hurley said. “Four-year schools have a better infrastructure to help Leodes.

“For some people, he does have baggage. But for the right coach, a caring coach, Leodes is worth the chance.”

For his part, Van Buren appreciates the concern among his friends and expects to provide a big finish to his football career.

“It’s up to me,” he said. “My goal is try to get my classes going and start it all over again. And if I become All-American, I’ll have a story to tell.”