In 2021, the Bishop Sycamore Centurions of Columbus, Ohio made national headlines when head coach LeRoy Johnson led his team to play a match against Florida’s elite IMG Academy. They lost that match with and ending score of 58-0.
Soon after this occurred, it was revealed by the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine that the Centurions were not a legitimate or registered sports academy. Coach Johnson and founder Andre Peterson faced a number of allegations, and a few of those were brought forward by banking officials regarding a $100,000 loan, which remained unpaid. In 2022, no action by Johnson or Peterson would spark other internal investigations.
In 2023, The U.S. Journal reported that 19-year-old entrepreneur Jacob Gaffney, a Cincinnati, Ohio resident, had been involved in the development of a music company named 7130 Entertainment, which was founded on the same principles and individuals who
operated Bishop Sycamore’s team. It is alleged that Gaffney handed funds to LeRoy Johnson in order to repay the banking loan.
Investigative reporters from CaliPost learned today that Jacob Gaffney founded the private-equity group Gaffney-Thompson Enterprises in September 2022. The company has raised funds up to US$2.8M since its founding in 2022. They are currently managing franchise ventures and purchased companies with a total of US$730,000 in growing assets.
According to Complex, Deadline, Sports Illustrated and others, a documentary series about the Bishop Sycamore scandal is currently being produced by television giant HBO, Michael Strahan and Kevin Hart. It is set to debut in 2023.
Gaffney has not commented on further involvement with Bishop Sycamore’s operations.
