OT: Is it me or is this just wrong???

[LastWarrior]

Is it me or is this just wrong???

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/cs-061123illini,1,2289862.story?coll=cs-home-headlines


Prep freshman commits to Illini
By Bob Sakamoto
Tribune staff reporter

With thoughts of getting burned by top recruit Eric Gordon still on his mind, Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber went out and secured an oral commitment from one of the top freshmen in the country.

Jereme Richmond, a 6-6½ 1/2 forward from North Shore Country Day in Winnetka, was offered a scholarship after Weber spent three hours at the school on Wednesday evaluating the 14-year-old phenom rated among the nation's top 30 freshmen by the Hoop Scoop recruiting service. ChicagoHoops.com rates Richmond as the top freshman in the state.

On Wednesday night, Jereme's father, Bill Richmond, called Weber and made the commitment. Gordon, the 6-4 Indianapolis guard rated among the top five seniors in the country, had broken a commitment made to the Illini last year and signed with Indiana.

This is the first time Illinois has received an oral commitment from a freshman.

"We are a committed and highly structured family that sticks to our word," Bill Richmond said. "I don't know what happened in the Eric Gordon situation. No offense to that family, but we don't think or act like them.

"Jereme has had the same dentist and pediatrician all his life. We aren't going to switch high schools, AAU summer teams or anything else. We aren't a switching kind of family."

Richmond, a 14-year-old who wears size-19 gym shoes and is still growing, had 34 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocked shots in his high school debut Tuesday as North Shore defeated Alden-Hebron 54-37.

"It has been Jereme's childhood dream to play for Illinois," said Mike Weinstein, who coaches the Rising Stars summer AAU team along with Matt Monroe. "Jon Scheyer was with us from second to eighth grade and all he could talk about was Duke. Jereme is the same with Illinois."

Bill Richmond said that besides Illinois, there was strong interest from Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, Wisconsin, Purdue, Marquette, Notre Dame, Louisiana State, Iowa, Georgia and other top programs.

Copyright © 2006, The Chicago Tribune

[spiral97]

Here you go Mr. and Mrs. Parents-Of-Future-College-Star.. the penthouse suite for your exclusive use for the week.  Just sign here promising to do your best to conceive a boy during the week and that the boy will join my basketball program at university of X if invited...  Thank you and good luck - you'll find the viagra on the nightstand if you need it!  We'll be in touch!

[dwaderoy2004]

not nearly as bad as this:

Jerry Wainwright DePaul Get Verbal From Class of 2009 Star Prospect Cully Payne


Chicago Hoops
July 2, 2005

Email Questions/Comments To brian@chicagohoops.com


Incoming high school freshman Cully Payne has made a verbal commitment to play his college basketball for Jerry Wainwright, and the DePaul Blue Demons. Payne rates as one of the top Class of 2009 basketball prospects in the state of Illinois.

Payne, a 5-10 point guard, will be a freshman this coming year at Burlington Central High School. He competes on the AAU cirucuit with the Illinois Spartans. Payne is both an outstanding shooter and ball-handler. He figures to step in, and make an immediate impact at Burlington Central.

Payne's father, Kent, is the head mens basketball coach, and athletic director at Elgin Community College. He also is the driving force behind the "Be The Best Skills Camp" which highlights basketball skills enhancement for grades 2 thru 8. Kent also produces the "Be The Best Skills DVD", which features Cully.

I read that wainwright offered without ever seeing the kid play, not to mention that he hadn't even played a singel high school game when he committed.  recruiting just keeps getting younger and younger...sad.

[SoCalstu09]

hmmm...I think these schools, like Depaul and Illini are worried that unless they cradle snatch, high profile schools like Duke, UNC, and mhmm Marquette *cough* will outrecruit them when the kids actually have an obvious future in Div 1.

I'd be interested to see if these kids end up at their verballed schools. I'm sure they will be approached by Coach K in a few years if they really are this good. What will they do then? Duke or Depaul???

[spiral97]

by then we'll have evened up our series with duke    it'll take something more than duke to lure them from such up and coming schools like depaul.. if coach crean were to come calling, however, they may have to practice the old Gordon backstep.

Course, with Izzo apparantly being considered for Michigan's football head coaching position (after reading that I'm still double checking the calendar to make sure it isn't april 1st) who knows what will happen in the basketball landscape for us ( ).

[tower912]

This is insane, a sign of desperation.   Izzo is NOT being considered for the MSU football job.   He has a foot ball background, was asked the question in a joking manner, and proceeded to rhapsodize poetic about his football past and how much he loves it and how he wouldn't mind being a football coach after he has accomplished everything he can in basketball.   It was daydreaming out loud, and he has admitted as much.   However, he does have input as to who will be hired.   It won't be him.     Which is good, because that is the one job I can see TC leaving for.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It might seem a little crazy, but don't forget that Crean offered Jon Scheyer a scholarship when he was in 8th grade. And how old was Christopherson when he committed? A sophomore?

[NYWarrior]

and DPU accepted a verbal from Cully Payne (sp) when he was a high school freshman, if memory serves

[dwaderoy2004]

no need to search the memory banks, i posted an article on cully payne and depaul above.  he committed before he was even enrolled in high school.

[mueron]

I'd have to agree with the Boriqua. Crean did the same thing with Sheyer and if we would have secured a commitment from him Crean would be hailed by us for recognizing great talent early.

[dwaderoy2004]

i would agree that most colleges, even marquette. has offered kids as young as 8th grade.  i guess the crazy part to me is that these kids are actually accepting this early.  who's making the decisions?  is it the parents or the kids.  i was not a D-1 athlete (shocking...) but it's too bad these kids are forced into making college decisions when they are 14 years old.  i changed and grew so much in high school, where i thoguht i would go as a freshman was WAY different than were i decided to go as a senior.  that's college basketball though...

[spiral97]

these articles were bringing up an interesting question so I added a poll to see how the board would answer it.  Plus it definitely brings it back into the realm of ON-TOPIC so I can strip off the OT in the header 

personally, I think it is better for the sport as a whole if the ncaa restricts contact and signing with/of players before a certain age or grade (kinda thinking something like a minimum of a Junior in high school).  My reasons:
1.) it gives the kid time to grow up in more of a vacuum and free from the college influence - who knows if the kid even WANTS to play b-ball.. or (gasp) what they want to major in.. I know I had no idea what I wanted to do until about midway through my high school career and even then it was sketchy at best.  imagine being pressured to commit to a big name university and then discover what you want to study (again, gasp) only to find out that university doesn't offer it and you have to pick something else.
2.) there are restrictions on when the NBA can contact the players, etc. All of these same reasons could almost apply to colleges contacting players.
3.) these verbals are fairly meaningless as they can be broken in a heartbeat.  let's focus on more important matters!  newspapers included..
4.) it brings the colleges back on more even footing recruiting-wise

[SoCalstu09]

Good point. What are these kids thinking all through high school?? They aren't worried about grades, they aren't worried about strutting their stuff on the HS bball court. They are already accepted! It also goes back to a much earlier thread when we were wondering where all the "well-rounded" student athletes have gone. Say what you want about James, but he does not act like your average superstar headed to the NBA. He's got a good GPA (better than mine!) and representing the university with class. How can a coach tell if a 14 yr old is going to do that??

[ZiggysFryBoy]

A better poll question:

What are the chances this kid ever plays a game for the U of I?

1)  Solid, he made his decision and and will stick to it.

2)  Slim and none.

3)  Slim just left town.

I say #3. 

[WashDCWarrior]

So let me get this straght.  At 14 a kid knows he has a scholorship waiting, needs to hit just minimal requirements in high school both academically and athletically, but everyone will be dissapointed when at 18, he doesn't have the maturity of a 30 year-old.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

[77fan88warrior]

It might seem a little crazy, but don't forget that Crean offered Jon Scheyer a scholarship when he was in 8th grade. And how old was Christopherson when he committed? A sophomore?

I was glad that someone mentioned this. I believe we also had a verbal from someone else in Christopherson's age group at a similar time. This stuff creates all kinds of ethical problems. I'm not sure that we were in the running for William Gates til he hurt his knee. I assume the top basketball factories won't honor these early offers if the kid gets hurt.

[dwaderoy2004]

yeah we had an early commit (sophomore?) from anthony green from beloit, although i believe he was actually supposed to arrive on campus this year.  he ended up going to a prep school.