Exploitation of a 13-year old
National Letter of Intent Day (or should I say weeks) is still continuing. I understand that high-school seniors are pressured, stressed, happy and hopefully mature to make the right decision for their collegiate future. But the talk of the sports world is a 13-year old who has committed to play at USC when he graduates from high school. Yes, tihs child has not played one down at the high-school level. How can a child make this type of decision when he is in the midst of puberty? I have a problem with this, not with the child but his parents and Lane Kiffin, Pete Carroll’s replacement. Was the commitment verbal or written? Will Pee Wee League players be the next ones scouted and recruited? Does the NCAA allow this type of action to occur? If the child gets hurt, then what? Is USC responsible to give this child at least a one-year scholarship. A Letter of Intent states that the university promises to award the athlete with a scholarship for one year. The penalty for not attending the institution results in losing one season of competition in all sports and having to wait one full academic year at the next institution before participating in intercollegiate athletics. Is that a fair deal?
What type of coach and leader is Kiffin? Should his efforts be focused on 2015 when he has not coached one game at USC? He has replaced a highly regarded and well-known coach and this type of antic is very suspect to me. I wonder what his current roster and new, of age recruits are thinking.
