Canadian high school basketball star may actually be 29-year-old refugee

He stunned high school basketball fans with his prowess on the court, his 6ft 9in, 202lb frame towering over the other players.

On Thursday, Canadian border services suggested Jonathan Nicola might have had a slight advantage over his peers – alleging that the teenage refugee from South Sudan may in fact be a 29-year-old man.

Since arriving in Canada six months ago, Nicola attended a Catholic high school in Windsor, Ontario, as a 17-year-old grade 11 student. He quickly became the star player on the senior boys basketball team.

Border officials arrested him this week on allegations that he misrepresented his date of birth on his application to study in Canada. His initial application for a study permit listed his age as 17 years old, the Canadian border services agency told the Guardian in a statement.

“When he recently applied for a US visitor visa, it was determined by fingerprint match that he was the same individual who had made a previous application to the US using a DOB of November 1, 1986,” they said. The second date of birth would suggest Nicola is 29.

The Catholic school board where Nicola was registered refused to comment on claims that a grown man may have been posing as a high school student in one of its schools. “Generally speaking, if we felt at any time that there is any kind of threat to any of our students at any of our schools, then we would act appropriately,” spokesman Stephen Fields told the Windsor Star.

In January the Windsor Star ran a feature story describing Nicola as a “kid who stands out in the crowd”, pointing to his size 16 shoes and 7ft 4in wingspan. He was living with the high school basketball coach through a program that arranges homestays for foreign students.

The coach raved about Nicola’s level of talent. “I think this kid will have a chance at the NBA,” Pete Cusumano said. “I have never said that about any kid from Windsor.”

The paper also spoke to Nicola, who detailed the travails of obtaining a Canadian visa. “With the war going on, terrorism and all this, they make it real double hard,” he said, pointing to the many trips he had made from the South Sudanese capital of Juba to the Canadian high commission in Kenya to obtain his visa.

At Nicola’s first hearing with the immigration and refugee board on Wednesday it was decided he was a flight risk and should remain in custody. Another hearing is scheduled for early next week.