Lebron James on son's recruitment

[Eja117]

One has to admit Bron is probably the only guy on the planet that gets annoyed about his kid getting routine offers of a $200K value.

You're cool with colleges recruiting 10 year olds?  Offering non-binding commitments 7 or 8 years before a kid is going to graduate?

I'm 100% cool with it.  I don't see any reason I wouldn't be.

Okay.  I try to keep sleazy people away from my kids as much as possible, and a lot of college recruiters (and associated agents, coaches, etc.) fall into that category.

I have to plead some ignorance here. What do you think is the worst thing that can happen here? With any kid for that matter? That a decent parent can't intervene and disallow? I mean if he is getting offers frooomm...idk...South West Witchita State which isn't accredited then I can see the problem. But if he gets a letter from UCLA or a call from a coach on Coach K's staff or a recognizable alumni goes to the game and applauds, or he gets a t shirt in the mail or a package of college related materials I don't see the issue.

I have had my kid thinking of college since birth. I've taken him to many college campuses and have college stuff hanging on his wall for a reason.  To have a reputable college contact him would be a dream come true.

and then your 10 year old gets his heart set on that school, but doesn't progress enough and at 17 they pull the scholarship offer they made when he was 10. 

It is a business of sleaze and 10 is way too early for an athletic scholarship.  Now sure if your kid is brilliant that MIT, Stanford, etc. are recruiting him for his mind at 10, that is a bit different as you don't tend to get dumber as you get older, athletics are just a far different thing.

So kids can't aspire to things because they might get their hearts set on it and fail?  I wish more kids aspired to achieve. To go to a school on a basketball scholarship they'll have to at least be eligible. Lebron and Kobe were good students. You'd think he'd be encouraging his kids to think of this. Maybe he's just a bad parent.

come on this is a ridiculous argument.  10 year old kids should not be recruited.  It is a sick disgusting business.  The fact that anyone doesn't see a problem with it is quite astonishing really.

Could you just please be slightly more clear? What is ridiculous about my statement? What about college recruiting is a sick and disgusting business?
Parents should be very involved with this process whether they are 8 or 18. I have gone out of my way to take my kid to USC, UCLA, Duke, UNC, NCSt, BC, PSU, Yale, Arizona, Arizona St.  He's 7 and a half. Should I not have taken him? Should he be unaware that there are colleges where you study and where there are sports?  If we got a letter from Coach K should we not open it? I'm not gonna pay hundreds of dollars for him to go to a sports camp any time soon. It's called parenting. I'm not sure Bron has a great concept of it because he didn't have a normal life growing up himself.

or maybe Lebron going through it and seeing what a sick and disgusting business it is, realizes that 10 year olds have no business being recruited

Lebron is a hypocrite. He loved being the Chosen One when he was 14 and 15, but his ten year old can't get recruited by a college. He loved it when his mom bought him a hummer when he was 18 immediately destroying his eligibility but his ten year old can't get recruited. Loves hanging out at Ohio State and wearing OSU gear and pretending he would have liked to go but God forbid they recruit his kid. Clearly he wants his kid to go the Brandon Jennings route. Because they need the money.

This goes out to you Lebron....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJWZSEkCrAM

[D.o.s.]

One has to admit Bron is probably the only guy on the planet that gets annoyed about his kid getting routine offers of a $200K value.

You're cool with colleges recruiting 10 year olds?  Offering non-binding commitments 7 or 8 years before a kid is going to graduate?

I'm 100% cool with it.  I don't see any reason I wouldn't be.

Okay.  I try to keep sleazy people away from my kids as much as possible, and a lot of college recruiters (and associated agents, coaches, etc.) fall into that category.

I have to plead some ignorance here. What do you think is the worst thing that can happen here? With any kid for that matter? That a decent parent can't intervene and disallow? I mean if he is getting offers frooomm...idk...South West Witchita State which isn't accredited then I can see the problem. But if he gets a letter from UCLA or a call from a coach on Coach K's staff or a recognizable alumni goes to the game and applauds, or he gets a t shirt in the mail or a package of college related materials I don't see the issue.

I have had my kid thinking of college since birth. I've taken him to many college campuses and have college stuff hanging on his wall for a reason.  To have a reputable college contact him would be a dream come true.

and then your 10 year old gets his heart set on that school, but doesn't progress enough and at 17 they pull the scholarship offer they made when he was 10. 

It is a business of sleaze and 10 is way too early for an athletic scholarship.  Now sure if your kid is brilliant that MIT, Stanford, etc. are recruiting him for his mind at 10, that is a bit different as you don't tend to get dumber as you get older, athletics are just a far different thing.

So kids can't aspire to things because they might get their hearts set on it and fail?  I wish more kids aspired to achieve. To go to a school on a basketball scholarship they'll have to at least be eligible. Lebron and Kobe were good students. You'd think he'd be encouraging his kids to think of this. Maybe he's just a bad parent.

come on this is a ridiculous argument.  10 year old kids should not be recruited.  It is a sick disgusting business.  The fact that anyone doesn't see a problem with it is quite astonishing really.

Could you just please be slightly more clear? What is ridiculous about my statement? What about college recruiting is a sick and disgusting business?
Parents should be very involved with this process whether they are 8 or 18. I have gone out of my way to take my kid to USC, UCLA, Duke, UNC, NCSt, BC, PSU, Yale, Arizona, Arizona St.  He's 7 and a half. Should I not have taken him? Should he be unaware that there are colleges where you study and where there are sports?  If we got a letter from Coach K should we not open it? I'm not gonna pay hundreds of dollars for him to go to a sports camp any time soon. It's called parenting. I'm not sure Bron has a great concept of it because he didn't have a normal life growing up himself.

Good thing you didn't take him to Penn State.

[Moranis]

One has to admit Bron is probably the only guy on the planet that gets annoyed about his kid getting routine offers of a $200K value.

You're cool with colleges recruiting 10 year olds?  Offering non-binding commitments 7 or 8 years before a kid is going to graduate?

I'm 100% cool with it.  I don't see any reason I wouldn't be.

Okay.  I try to keep sleazy people away from my kids as much as possible, and a lot of college recruiters (and associated agents, coaches, etc.) fall into that category.

I have to plead some ignorance here. What do you think is the worst thing that can happen here? With any kid for that matter? That a decent parent can't intervene and disallow? I mean if he is getting offers frooomm...idk...South West Witchita State which isn't accredited then I can see the problem. But if he gets a letter from UCLA or a call from a coach on Coach K's staff or a recognizable alumni goes to the game and applauds, or he gets a t shirt in the mail or a package of college related materials I don't see the issue.

I have had my kid thinking of college since birth. I've taken him to many college campuses and have college stuff hanging on his wall for a reason.  To have a reputable college contact him would be a dream come true.

and then your 10 year old gets his heart set on that school, but doesn't progress enough and at 17 they pull the scholarship offer they made when he was 10. 

It is a business of sleaze and 10 is way too early for an athletic scholarship.  Now sure if your kid is brilliant that MIT, Stanford, etc. are recruiting him for his mind at 10, that is a bit different as you don't tend to get dumber as you get older, athletics are just a far different thing.

So kids can't aspire to things because they might get their hearts set on it and fail?  I wish more kids aspired to achieve. To go to a school on a basketball scholarship they'll have to at least be eligible. Lebron and Kobe were good students. You'd think he'd be encouraging his kids to think of this. Maybe he's just a bad parent.

come on this is a ridiculous argument.  10 year old kids should not be recruited.  It is a sick disgusting business.  The fact that anyone doesn't see a problem with it is quite astonishing really.

Could you just please be slightly more clear? What is ridiculous about my statement? What about college recruiting is a sick and disgusting business?
Parents should be very involved with this process whether they are 8 or 18. I have gone out of my way to take my kid to USC, UCLA, Duke, UNC, NCSt, BC, PSU, Yale, Arizona, Arizona St.  He's 7 and a half. Should I not have taken him? Should he be unaware that there are colleges where you study and where there are sports?  If we got a letter from Coach K should we not open it? I'm not gonna pay hundreds of dollars for him to go to a sports camp any time soon. It's called parenting. I'm not sure Bron has a great concept of it because he didn't have a normal life growing up himself.

Good thing you didn't take him to Penn State.

Not exactly sure how he equates a parent taking a kid to colleges as anywhere near the same thing as being recruited. 

[D.o.s.]

Hey I'm just trying to make potentially off-color jokes here.

[Eja117]

One has to admit Bron is probably the only guy on the planet that gets annoyed about his kid getting routine offers of a $200K value.

You're cool with colleges recruiting 10 year olds?  Offering non-binding commitments 7 or 8 years before a kid is going to graduate?

I'm 100% cool with it.  I don't see any reason I wouldn't be.

Okay.  I try to keep sleazy people away from my kids as much as possible, and a lot of college recruiters (and associated agents, coaches, etc.) fall into that category.

I have to plead some ignorance here. What do you think is the worst thing that can happen here? With any kid for that matter? That a decent parent can't intervene and disallow? I mean if he is getting offers frooomm...idk...South West Witchita State which isn't accredited then I can see the problem. But if he gets a letter from UCLA or a call from a coach on Coach K's staff or a recognizable alumni goes to the game and applauds, or he gets a t shirt in the mail or a package of college related materials I don't see the issue.

I have had my kid thinking of college since birth. I've taken him to many college campuses and have college stuff hanging on his wall for a reason.  To have a reputable college contact him would be a dream come true.

and then your 10 year old gets his heart set on that school, but doesn't progress enough and at 17 they pull the scholarship offer they made when he was 10. 

It is a business of sleaze and 10 is way too early for an athletic scholarship.  Now sure if your kid is brilliant that MIT, Stanford, etc. are recruiting him for his mind at 10, that is a bit different as you don't tend to get dumber as you get older, athletics are just a far different thing.

So kids can't aspire to things because they might get their hearts set on it and fail?  I wish more kids aspired to achieve. To go to a school on a basketball scholarship they'll have to at least be eligible. Lebron and Kobe were good students. You'd think he'd be encouraging his kids to think of this. Maybe he's just a bad parent.

come on this is a ridiculous argument.  10 year old kids should not be recruited.  It is a sick disgusting business.  The fact that anyone doesn't see a problem with it is quite astonishing really.

Could you just please be slightly more clear? What is ridiculous about my statement? What about college recruiting is a sick and disgusting business?
Parents should be very involved with this process whether they are 8 or 18. I have gone out of my way to take my kid to USC, UCLA, Duke, UNC, NCSt, BC, PSU, Yale, Arizona, Arizona St.  He's 7 and a half. Should I not have taken him? Should he be unaware that there are colleges where you study and where there are sports?  If we got a letter from Coach K should we not open it? I'm not gonna pay hundreds of dollars for him to go to a sports camp any time soon. It's called parenting. I'm not sure Bron has a great concept of it because he didn't have a normal life growing up himself.

Good thing you didn't take him to Penn State.

read it again. More carefully this time.  Although I didn't take him to Syracuse. I give you that.

[D.o.s.]

Hey I'm just trying to make potentially off-color jokes here.