Driving to work this morning, all they were talking about was 13-year-old football player Evan Berry verballing Tennessee
A 13-year-old football player commits to Tennessee, "It's the only college I know right now and it seems the best for me," Evan Berry told Rivals.com. "My dad went there and my brother is there now. I know I can do the same things there. I have a real friendly relationship with the coaches there. I know I don't know them too well but I know I will have plenty of time to get to know them."
Fred says: Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, there are six, seven and eight year olds training four and five hours a day in skating and gymnastics all over the country in hopes of making Olympic teams ten years from now. There are kids the same age working vigorously to be the next 16-year-old Wimbledon sensation. There are child actors working more than you and me and going to school. It's just a verbal, nothing is binding until his junior season. The kid will probably change his mind 100 times before then, so I don't see the need to get all worked up over this. Now, coaches recruiting kids at his age is a different story entirely, but a kid making a verbal when he's 13 because his dad and brother went to school there is not a big deal at all.
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Miguel Melendez's prep blog
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San Bernardino Sun Preps
LA times Varsity Blog
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Dyestat Track and Cross Country
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College Level Athletes
Steve,
Actually by NCAA rules there is nothing wrong with them offering him a scholarship at that age. The rules apply for High School athletes only, so there are no restrictions on what Tennessee can or can not do. Lane Kiffin has already created tons of waves out there, why would you expect anything else?
The kid wants to keep the family tradition, I'll bet he does it.
73,
So far as I know Mr. Toad is still winding in the Willows.
My little joke was referring to Magic Kingdom visits in 1975(76) when they had the ride down for months while they worked on it. Ya see, I was dating this girl from Sunny Hills High who worked at Disneyland and . . .
Maybe we should catch this one up in the parking lot before a game.
Don,
Are you serious . When did they close Mr Toad's wild ride. My grandkids loved that ride.
“FBFan said:
Don,
You mean to tell me that my 16 year old nieces dream to marry her current boyfriend of 2 months will not come true. How dare you not live in fantasy land!”
Dude, I moved out of Fantasyland when they closed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Your niece? No guarantees, although I think it's safe to say that her current marriage plans are about as likely as Lane Kiffin still being at Tennessee when Evan Berry graduates High School.
I agree with Steve. I'm sure there wasn't even anything remotely close to Tenessee recruiting this kid. If I had my guess, maybe he went to visit older brother on campus and a coach may have said something along the lines of: "Hey little buddy, wouldn't you want to be a Vol when you get older?"
I have a 6 year old nephew who has verbally committed to USC, but I don't think Pete Carrol knows about it. I also know that he prefers to be drafted by the Cowboys, but that's only if they will understand that he will be finishing off his season with the Dodgers during the first 8 weeks.
The real problem with this is that I would imagine that the kid's ego can become rather inflated if it already hasn't. Whenever a kid is constantly being told how great he is, the results can be detrimental.
I don't think its even possible that Tennessee "offered," per NCAA rules, so this is just a kid saying where he would like to go. It's nothing for the pundits to weigh in on. It doesn't even become binding until he signs his letter during his senior year.
But heck, Bill Walton kind of committed to UCLA when he was 11-years-old. He once said in an interview that after watching UCLA win the 1964 NCAA baseball title, he decided that's where he wanted to go, so I guess he still holds the record!
Don,
You mean to tell me that my 16 year old nieces dream to marry her current boyfriend of 2 months will not come true. How dare you not live in fantasy land!
Verbal commitments have as much to do with scholarships as the feverish whispers of teenagers in the back seat of mom's car do with marriage vows. That is to say, nothing. I mean, why do they even call it a commitment? The kid can walk away, the school can blow it off, where exactly is the commitment? What's more these things usually seem to come up about a month before the season starts. Odd that.
As far as this particular case goes, the 13 year old, (actually Dad) needs to have a reality check and consider whether Vol's Coach Lane Kiffin will be anywhere near Knoxville five years from now.
Fred,
It's a slow newsday