From 'BS High' to Louisville: Mario Agyen's journey from an infamous prep school to Cards

Mario Agyen felt like he didn't have any options.

Christians of Faith Academy was the only prep school he could get into after he graduated from New Jersey's Northern Highlands Regional High School in 2018. But the dream of using COF as a stepping stone for his college football aspirations quickly turned into what Agyen, now a running back at Louisville, called a traumatizing experience.

And he wasn’t alone. Christians of Faith Academy, better known as Bishop Sycamore, was later exposed as a fake school.

The football team became one of the biggest sports stories in 2021 after a 58-0 blowout loss to national powerhouse IMG Academy, televised on ESPN as part of the network's High School Football Kickoff series. In the days and months following the game, more details about the school and its head coach, Roy Johnson, came out. None of them were good.

Not only was Bishop Sycamore not a real school, but its team would play multiple games in a week and didn't have a training staff. Legal and financial discrepancies also surrounded the school, with Johnson at the center of it all. Some players have alleged Johnson pressured them to take out Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which were created to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson has denied those claims.

In June 2023, a documentary called “BS High” that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival offered a closer look at the rise and fall of Bishop Sycamore. The documentary is currently available to view on Max, formerly known as HBO Max.

Agyen was one of several former players interviewed for "the documentary "B.S. High" and is shown a few times describing his experience. And while his time at Bishop Sycamore was one of the lowest points of his life, Agyen said he wants his story to inspire others to be resilient and not give up.

“There's always a light at the end of the tunnel if you have faith in God and keep going, keep pushing," he said. “A lot of people tend to give up when things get hard. You've got to be mentally strong.”

Agyen was first introduced to Christians of Faith Academy when Johnson contacted him on Twitter, the social media platform now known as X. The coach was the only prep school representative to show interest, so he decided to leave New York in July 2018 and head to Columbus, Ohio, where the school was based.

It didn’t take long for Agyen to realize there was something wrong.

School was supposed to start on Sept. 1. Instead, Agyen said, the students spent the day playing paintball. They went to a library in Columbus once — it was supposed to be their classroom — but never went back.

Agyen said he saw coaches argue constantly and bus drivers complain about not getting paid. He and the other football players were also kicked out of the Belmont Inn where they were staying at one point and moved in with Johnson’s girlfriend, where Agyen said 60 guys slept on the floor.

Still, Agyen didn’t feel like he had the option to go back home. In his mind, what loomed back in the Bronx was worse.

“What would I be doing? I would just be high in the streets, going down the wrong path,” he said. He'd tell himself, “Let me just stay strong through it all and know that it's not going to last forever. Just get the film and get up out of there.”

Once he had some highlights on film, Agyen left Bishop Sycamore in November 2018. He had little to no luck getting looks from junior colleges, and his depression and anxiety heightened with each rejection. The aspiring college football player kept motivated by training alone and reciting Proverbs 24:10 from the Bible: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”

Agyen finally caught a break several months later, when he was taken in at Scranton, Pennsylvania's Lackawanna College. But even that came with a catch: after he redshirted in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Lackawanna postponed its season until the spring of 2021 and played only twice before canceling the remaining four games on the schedule.

Once again, feelings of hopelessness and despair crept in. Agyen said he had little help from his coaches at Lackawanna in finding a new school. So, he took matters into his own hands and started researching and reaching out to college programs.

Louisville director of recruiting Pete Nochta was one of the few that got back to Agyen and let him know about football tryouts. It was all Agyen needed to take a leap of faith and move to a state where he'd never been. He was accepted to the university in 2021 and tried out for the team but missed the cut, instead spending the 2021-22 school year training at the Swain Student Activities Center and preparing for his next opportunity.

Undeterred, Agyen tried out again in August 2022. This time, he made the team.

A month after the tryouts, Agyen was in a psychology class when he got an email from Carter Wilson, who worked in Louisville’s recruiting office and is now the director of scouting at Cincinnati, requesting that Agyen give him a call.

At that point, class could wait. Agyen said he left to call Wilson, who told him there was a spot on Louisville's football team waiting for him.

“I ran out of my class and I was crying because that was a big moment for me," he recalled. “Through everything I've been through in my life, it was just so surreal.”

Agyen never saw the field for the Cardinals in the 2022 season but was given the team’s Offensive Difference Maker Award, which he said “felt like my Heisman Trophy.” This season, there’s a new coaching staff and a loaded running backs room.

Agyen's first time hitting the field as a Cardinal was against Murray State last week but he didn’t log any stats. Contributing offensively is the goal — but for Agyen, stability and a safe environment are what really matter.

“I'm just grateful that God has put me where I'm at now,” he said.

Getting better: Louisville football is 2-0. With Indiana up next, here's what we learned vs. Murray State

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on 'X' at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football: How time at Bishop Sycamore shaped Mario Agyen