LeBron James Jr., the son of NBA superstar LeBron James, has reportedly already been receiving letters and scholarship offers from colleges.
James' son, who also plays basketball, has apparently inherited his basketball icon father's genes, which has made coaches from different colleges decide to try to recruit the 10-year-old boy early.
"Yeah, he's already got some offers from colleges," confirmed James in an interview with CBS Detroit before the game between his Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons last Feb. 24.
James added that the college recruitment offers being given to his son should be considered as a violation, as he believes that colleges should not be recruiting children that are only 10 years old.
James' son is not the first young athlete to receive college offers early on in their careers though. In college basketball, Connecticut guard Ryan Boatright made a commitment to USC before he reached high school and Marquette guard Matt Carlino received an offer from Arizona while he was still in elementary school. There is also the curious case of Michael Avery, who committed to Kentucky after receiving a scholarship offer from Billy Gillispie in 2008 when he was only in eighth grade.
Rules from the handbook of the NCAA state that students become prospective student-athletes for colleges once they reach the ninth grade, unless the college provides the student or his family with financial assistance and special benefits. Coaches, however, are allowed to monitor the development of students by watching the games where they play.
While the official laws of the NCAA try to prevent colleges from recruiting players before they enter high school, it has been difficult to enforce the rules in the underground of the recruitment pipeline, which is something that the NCAA will not be able to effectively and efficiently keep an eye on.
While James is against colleges attempting to recruit his son, he may have played a part in the hype surrounding Lebron Jr. as he tweeted a video of his son in an AAU tournament. The video captured flashes of brilliance in the basketball game of James' son, where Lebron Jr. was shown passing, penetrating and scoring just like James.
"He plays just like I did," James said to CBS Detroit. "He has great awareness, and he'd rather pass first and set guys up. Most kids nowadays just want to score."
There is still a long time between now and LeBron Jr. possibly entering the NBA, assuming that James' son does indeed continue on into a career in basketball. If LeBron Jr. does though and enters the NBA at 20 years old in 2024, it could be possible that James and his son will form the first father-son combination that has played in the NBA at the same time.
In 2024, James will be entering his 22nd season in the NBA, and he will be 39 years old. Nobody has ever played 22 seasons in the NBA, but there have been 35 other players that have played in the league at that age.
