Opinions abound on recruiting youth

Damon Bailey received his first recruiting letter (from Syracuse) as a seventh-grader. The following year then-Indiana coach Bob Knight made him the poster child for premature hype by saying the eighth grader was better than any IU guard (see the book Season on the Brink).

So who better to ask about an eighth-grader committing to a college than Bailey?

"It's probably not the right thing because, with these kids, a lot of things can happen in four or five years before they get there," said Bailey, who committed to Indiana as a 10th-grader. "In certain cases, it probably gives false hope."

With early commitments, colleges are in a no-lose situation, Bailey said. If the prospect does not develop, the college withdraws the offer.

"I don't think it's a good thing," Bailey said. "I really don't. But, again, it's part of life now."

Bailey, who starred for Bedford High in Indiana, said an early commitment can make it difficult for a player to maintain a healthy perspective. Jealousy from peers can be a problem.

"The most difficult thing is your peers," he said. "How you're perceived by friends and who you think are friends and who you find out aren't friends."

Bailey had a successful career at Indiana. He started four seasons and became a 1,000-point scorer.

Then there's the case of Taylor King. He committed to UCLA as an eighth-grader, then re-opened his recruitment two years later. He signed with Duke and now is transferring to Villanova.

Reluctant to label his son's commitment to UCLA a mistake, Steve King said, "I'd just say it wasn't well-informed. In retrospect, more emotional than pragmatic."

King's father disagreed with two supposed benefits of an early commitment: it removes the hassle of the recruitment process and eases the pressure to impress recruiters.

"I think kids need to go through the (recruiting) process," Steve King said. "It creates a chance to process things and make their own decision informatively."

As for easing the pressure, Steve King said, "The pressure just shifts. Now the pressure is to live up to the hype."

Father knows best

The father of Michael Avery, the eighth-grader who committed to Kentucky earlier this month, adamantly believes the decision was wise. He likens it to any parent seeking to provide for an offspring's college education. Saving and planning would start long before a son or daughter becomes a college freshman.

"I do feel very strongly it's a no-brainer," Howard Avery said. "That any kid that is offered a scholarship at any point in time from a school of his choice, I don't care if you're in the third, fifth or eighth grade, it doesn't matter. You take that scholarship.

"I'm still waiting to hear a valid negative (against) a kid accepting a scholarship, free education, at an early point in his life."

To further sweeten the scenario, the scholarship offer came from Kentucky, the elite of the basketball elites, Howard Avery said.

"If you've got something really good, why try to upgrade it?" the elder Avery said. "That's the way I see it."

Jeff Orleans, the commissioner of the Ivy League, is a critic of early commitments. He saw making a college choice at an early age as putting undue pressure on children. At earlier ages, children should focus on being children, he said. "There's more to growing up than basketball," he said.

But Avery's father countered by saying children attend "elite" schools at a young age to better their future. He noted how happy the commitment to UK made his son. "He's on Cloud 9," Howard Avery said.

Into the glass, darkly

All sides acknowledge the difficulty in projecting the talents of a player four, five or more years into the future.

Bill Russell, the winningest player in the history of team sports, did not start on his high school team until his senior year. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team as a sophomore.

Of more recent vintage, Stephen Curry signed with Davidson because the powerhouse programs were not interested in a 6-foot wing. Then he grew and led Davidson to this year's Elite Eight.

Then on the down escalator is Demetrius Walker. As an eighth-grader in California, he was the subject of a glowing reference in the Jan. 24, 2005 issue of Sports Illustrated.

The magazine noted how his mother brought a birth certificate to games to be ready to prove her son (then 6-3 and 175 pounds) was only 14 years old.

Or as Sports Illustrated wrote, "This kid is 14 going on LeBron."

Three years later, Walker is nowhere to be found at the top of the lists of prospects in his high school class of 2009. Analyst Brick Oettinger of the Prep Stars recruiting service considers Walker "a marginal top-100 player" on the national level.

"He peaked early," Oettinger said. "He hasn't grown, maybe an inch, since then. He really hasn't improved his game that much."

Jury of peers

Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, put the recruitment of eighth-graders in the context of a public relations problem for his constituents. "For those who want to be critical of college coaches, it provides fuel," he said. "We as coaches are so focused on winning. We don't take academics seriously."

So Haney expects the NABC's Ethics Committee to meet to provide "cover and direction" for coaches.

Reggie Minton, the NABC associate executive director, heads the Ethics Committee as a non-voting chairman. He called it "a reach" to recruit eighth-graders. "This is getting like an arms race in the sense of: are we going to take them younger and younger?" Minton said.

The NABC cannot dictate how its members behave. It depends on peer pressure.

The familiar names on the 14-member committee of coaches includes Bruce Pearl of Tennessee and Bill Self of Kansas.

In a recent interview with a Kansas-based newspaper, Self offered his opinion about colleges getting commitments from eighth-graders.

"I would take Lew Alcindor. I'd take Wilt, Danny and Lew," Self said of former UCLA great Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) as well as Kansas stars Danny Manning and Wilt Chamberlain, whose talents as players were well-known at an early age.

Self, a mentor of UK Coach Billy Gillispie, commented after it became public knowledge that two 15-year-olds -- eighth-grader Michael Avery of Lake Sherwood, Calif., and ninth grader Vinny Zollo of Greenfield, Ohio -- had committed to Kentucky.

"I think it's too young," said Self, who suggested that such commitments would not occur "in a perfect world."

But Self cautioned against any attempt to ban such commitments.

"I don't think we should necessarily have a knee-jerk rule because USC and Kentucky have gotten a couple," the Kansas coach said. "College coaches are not asking all eighth-graders to commit. What are we going to do? Make it (a new rule) the first day of their ninth-grade year?"

Gillispie scoffs

UK Coach Billy Gillispie scoffed at the notion of a prospect being "recruited over," in recruiting parlance. That means the player commits or signs with a school, then sees the school later recruit more players at his position.

The many early commitments received by UK (Michael Avery, Vinny Zollo, G.J. Vilarino, K.C. Ross-Miller) leave plenty of time to acquire new talent. For instance, two players of the same size and position, forwards Dakotah Euton and Dominique Ferguson, committed in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

"People who want to play at the University of Kentucky want players to play with so they can win national championships," Gillispie said.

If being recruited over bothered a prospect, Gillispie said, "You probably want to try to go in a different direction and get a guy who says, 'Hey, coach, bring in the best players you can. We want to try to win a championship.' Because it takes more than one good player, more than five good players."

Fearless leader

When asked about the possibility that Billy Gillispie would no longer be Kentucky coach when her son, Vinny Zollo, graduates from high school in 2011, Robyn Curry said:

"He doesn't fear the negativity of Lexington people as much as Tubby (Smith) used to. He doesn't seem to get rattled by negativity."

Hands off

Malume Moye, who coached Michael Avery in middle school, says his former player could outshoot any player on UCLA's varsity. Right now. He says Avery will be a fine college player.

But Moye has second thoughts about any eighth-grader committing to a college.

"I don't fault the eighth-grader," he said. "I fault the (college) coaches who go after them. We, as adults, (should) keep our hands off. Let them play in high school."

No escape

Vinny Zollo, the ninth-grader who committed to Kentucky last week, is thinking about sports law as a career. Coming from a family of teachers, he's been committed to academic pursuits long before he committed to UK. His mother, grandmother and an aunt are or were teachers. His grandfather was a superintendent of schools.

"He can't escape us," Zollo's mother, Robyn Curry, quipped.

Big Blue Auctions

Bidding closes on Monday in the Big Blue Auction, an on-line fund raiser benefiting the UK Alumni Association Student Scholarship Fund.

The more than 200 items range in price from $5 to $10,000 and include UK basketball and football packages, tailgate packages, a billiard table, one-on-one tutor sessions with former UK All-Americans Kyle Macy and Kenny Walker, and use of condos in Hilton Head and Panama City.

Fans can participate on the Web site www.bigblueauction.net.

Injury update

During a Saturday news conference, UK Coach Billy Gillispie gave an encouraging update on the recoveries of Patrick Patterson (ankle surgery) and Jodie Meeks (pelvis surgery).

Patterson had the cast removed from his surgically repaired ankle on Thursday, the UK coach said. Patterson will use a walking boot for the next four to six weeks.

An X-ray on Thursday revealed "much more" healing than the medical staff expected, Gillispie said. The surgeon is expected to do a follow-up exam on Patterson this week, the UK coach said.

As for Meeks, he's progressing nicely, Gillispie said.

NBA invites Hood

The NBA has invited Madisonville's Jon Hood to its Top 100 Camp next month in Charlottesville, Va.

Analyst Bob Gibbons of the All-Star Sports recruiting service rates Hood as the top player in Kentucky for the high school class of 2009.

Happy birthday

To former UK guard Layton "Mickey" Rouse. He turns 90 today.

Rouse and his wife, Betsy, live in Madison, Ind. One of their daughters, Dorothy Meng of Lexington, said the family planned a birthday celebration today that will include her sister, Mary Louise, six grandchildren and three great grandchildren. The festivities will include a bottle of Layton champagne bought in Great Britain when one of the granddaughters attended the London Business School.

As a senior in the 1939-40 season, Rouse was UK's captain and an all-Southeastern Conference selection. In each of his three varsity seasons, Kentucky either won the SEC regular-season or post-season tournament titles. His jersey is among those hanging in the rafters of Rupp Arena.

By the way, a cartoon character inspired the nickname of Mickey. Mickey Mouse beget Mickey Rouse.

Rouse grew up in Ludlow. His father was a dentist. Rouse and a brother both became dentists.

During World War II, Rouse served as a dentist repairing teeth on troop carriers crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean. After the service, he worked as a dentist in Carrollton until retirement.

Rouse continues to follow Kentucky basketball and root for UK.

Jerry Tipton covers UK basketball for the Herald-Leader. This article contains his opinions and observations. He can be reached at jtipton@herald-leader.com.