The quest for the next basketball superstar begins early—very early…as in middle school. Recruiters for top private high schools in and around Washington, D.C.—where many top college and professional basketball athletes are groomed—routinely attend middle school basketball tournaments, their eyes peeled for the next Kevin Durant. “It’s kind of flattering,” says Marvin Lykes, whose 13-year-old son has been heavily recruited, “but it’s kind of weird, too.” While the NCAA has enacted several rules to protect high schoolers from being courted too aggressively by colleges, high schools haven’t done anything to protect middle schoolers. As a result, some of the kids are pelted by calls from insistent recruiters, although these recruiters know full well that a prepubescent star might never make it past junior varsity once his voice changes. (New York Times)
