USC recruiting eighth-graders
Just when you thought college sports couldn’t get any seedier, along comes Southern Cal basketball coach Tim Floyd, who for the second straight year has offered a scholarship to an EIGHTH-grader.
Ryan Boatwright, described as a speedy, 5-10 point guard from Illinois, hasn’t even decided where he’s going to high school this fall. Aurora West or Aurora East. Let’s hope he’s taken official visits.
But Boatwright attended Floyd’s camp this summer and now says he’ll become a Trojan in 2011.
“They were the first one to show interest in Ryan,” said Boatwright’s father.
Well, I should hope so.
The father wasn’t through. “A lot of people have said Ryan isn’t that good, but he went to USC’s camp and played well.”
Huh? Who is saying an eighth-grader isn’t that good? A middle-school coach? The kid across the street? A cousin visiting from Joliet?
There’s no way this can end good. Bobby Knight offered eighth-grader Damon Bailey a scholarship years ago, but give Knight credit: he can keep a kid’s head on straight. No way Tim Floyd is Bobby Knight. No way can this help Ryan Boatwright.
“I’m tremendously concerned,” said the kid’s father. “It could get ugly as far as kids getting jealous. I also don’t want it to get to his head. I want him to stay humble.”
Sorry, pops. That ship has sailed.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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[...] when kids can participate in pee-wee basketball leagues? No, I don’t see six-year-olds being recruiting by Tim Floyd either, that’s not the [...]