A well-off California couple allegedly paid roughly $250,000 in Facebook stock to have their daughter admitted to UCLA as a soccer recruit.
Lauren Isackson is listed on the 2017 UCLA women’s soccer team roster, despite no record of her having any playing time, according to a report published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times. Lauren never played soccer before being admitted to UCLA as a recruit for the elite women’s team.
Lauren’s parents, Bruce and Davina, have both been charged in the same nation-wide college admissions scandal that Hollywood actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were charged in. (RELATED: Olivia Jade Allegedly Didn’t Fill Out Her Own College Applications)
Her fellow freshmen on the team included the top recruit in the country, a member of the Canadian national team and five players on the U.S. youth national team.
She did not play competitive soccer before going to UCLA. From @MatthewOrmseth & @LAcrimes : https://t.co/UBrQuUfA1A
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 20, 2019
Bruce and Davina allegedly paid the Facebook shares to college admissions scammer Rick Singer. Singer then created a fake soccer recruit profile and paid off former college coaches in order to get Lauren admitted to UCLA, according to court papers.
The team Lauren was “recruited” to was considered the second-best recruiting class in the nation and her teammates included the top recruit in the country and a member of the Canadian national team.
UPDATE: UCLA confirms that head soccer coach Jorge Salcedo has been placed on leave following his arrest in the admissions bribery scheme. https://t.co/khzghfndSE pic.twitter.com/1IF871DFKu
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) March 12, 2019
UCLA spokesperson Tod Tamberg told the Los Angeles Times that he was not able to speak on individual students but said that UCLA athletic teams were composed of “student athletes with varying levels of athletic achievements.”