LeBron James Jr Getting College Letters At 10 Years Old, LeBron James Sr Not Happy About It
ByRecruiters major college basketball and football programs are already giving serious looks at middle schoolers, so what kind of attention is LeBron James' 10-year-old son getting?
The Cleveland Cavaliers' star told CBS Detroit recently that his son, nicknamed "Bronny," has received some letters from colleges. James is outspoken about his son's impressive skills, but was not happy about the attention from colleges.
In Oct. 2014, when Bronny was 9, Ohio State's men's basketball coach Thad Matta indicated he would be paying attention to James' son as a potential recruiting target, For the Win reported at the time.
"Yeah, he's already got some offers from colleges, it's pretty crazy," James told CBS Detroit. "It should be a violation, you shouldn't be recruiting 10-year-old kids."
Bronny is going to attract attention just for being James' son, but he really does appear to be a gifted baller. A highlight video posted to YouTube displays James Jr.'s recent performance at the John Lucas All-Star Weekend. The video has more than four million views and has resulted in several comparisons between the two Jameses.
"It's crazy, he plays just like I did," LeBron James said. "He has great awareness and he'd rather pass first and set guys up. Most kids nowadays just want to score."
Both father and son previously made headlines during an AAU tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. And yes, University of Kentucky head men's basketball coach John Calipari watched James Jr. play.
Recruiting Bronny is worthwhile from a publicity standpoint alone, as there are already several highlight videos on the Internet. The school that potentially lands James Jr. is also getting the benefit of having James Sr. around the team from time to time.
Additionally, the NCAA essentially permits the recruiting of pre-high-school players and would have a hard time monitoring and regulating such practice anyway, ESPN noted.