CENTENNIAL, CO (KCNC/CNN) - A Colorado high school student focused on getting onto a college baseball team has touched base with dozens of schools.
Texas Wesleyan head coach Mike Jeffcoat responded to one of Gavin Bell's emails, but it wasn't what the 18-year-old expected.
"He said, 'Thank you for the interest' in the school, but they do not recruit out of Colorado anymore because of people not passing drug tests from their teams," Bell said. "And he said, 'You can thank your liberal politicians' for that."
Presumably, Jeffcoat was referring to Colorado's legal marijuana and laws that were passed by voters more than 5 years ago.
"Back then I wasn't even 18 to have any say in this, and now it's being brought on me," Bell said.
Bell's concerns prompted him to share the email with his teacher and coaches. One of them decided to take it a step further and share it publicly.
"That's not what I'm about," Bell said. "I'm about playing baseball and getting grades in school."
Now it's just about everywhere. Bell said the response has been overwhelming but not at all what he was intending.
"My intention really wasn't to do anything to hurt anybody or get anybody fired, it was just me talking to my coaches and my loved ones about what do I do with this," he said.
Texas Wesleyan University issued a response Wednesday, saying, "We are aware of the email sent by our baseball coach, and the comments he made are in no way a reflection of Texas Wesleyan University, its values or its recruiting practices."
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