Kiffin Gets Verbal Commitment From 7th Grader

So I know I said I wouldn't blog about this idiot, but this topic has has stirred up a lot of discussion today and so I really wanted to get my two cents in. 

It's been less than a month since Kiffin left Tennessee and to take the job of head coach at USC and he's already thinking about the incoming Class of 2015.

Like he won't have bolted for another job in 5 years.
 
Sorry, he is not the point of the post but I needed to get that in there.  Anyway, last night, Mr. One-and-Done received a verbal commitment from 13 year old 7th grader, David Sills.  Sills, who plays QB and lives in Bear, Delaware, is already 6'0" and is expected to get to around 6'5"..you know, when he finally reaches puberty.

I think I should mention that Kiffin only became aware of this kid yesterday.  He was on the phone with Sills' personal coach, Steve Clarkson, discussing another recruit when Clarkson told him to check out a video of the kid:



Kiffin watched it, called Clarkson back, and a few hours later, the Sills family called Kiffin.  Apparently USC was Sills' dream school and they couldn't pass up the offer so little David verbally committed.  

According to his coach Steve Clarkson, "his skill set is off the chart" and "he's breaking down NFL footage" and blah blah blah.  That's great and all but what about in 5 years?  That's a rather long time and lots of things can happen between now and then.  Luckily, verbal commitments aren't binding and so when this poor kid decides he hates football and USC is no longer his "dream school," he isn't bound to some decision he (and his parents) made before he was old enough to drive. 

Also, what happens if it he peaks at the age of 13.  What if he breaks his arm or tears ligaments in his knee?  What about academics?  What if he decides not to work during high school and gets awful grades?

While the schools don't have to uphold what was offered originally, which would allow USC (most likely sans Kiffin) to renege, I feel that revoking a scholarship you offered a naïve 13 year old is really messed up.  The kid won't fully grasp that this is not a guaranteed thing and that he still has to work (both as an athlete and student), no matter how much you try and explain it.  Why?  BECAUSE HE'S A KID!  Kids, especially teenagers have extremely selective hearing. 

Dangling a scholarship in front of someone at the age of 13 is reprehensible.  I'm actually surprised that the NCAA stepped in yet.  Well...maybe not surprised, but I really feel as if they really ought to do something to restrict college coaches from approaching a player until they are a certain age (or grade). 
13 year old boys are barely capable of deciding what kind of cereal they want, let alone what school they want to go to 5 years from now.

In my opinion, it doesn't really matter how talented a kid may be, middle school athletes should be focusing on the same thing that other boys their age are, like how to take a girl's bra off, not where they are going to play in college.