So. Carolina offers scholly to almost-8th grader

[HuskyNan]

She just finished 7th grade. Now hometown standout has offer from Dawn Staley, Gamecocks

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley isn’t afraid to extend an offer to a recruit regardless of age.

www.greenvilleonline.com

 

[SECbbfan24]

No one should be offering kids in junior high

 

[Carnac]

No one should be offering kids in junior high

She’s just trying to get the kid before Jeff Walz (Louisville) does. Walz will offer a kid in nursery school if he thinks the kid can help him win.

 

[Mam4720]

She just finished 7th grade. Now hometown standout has offer from Dawn Staley, Gamecocks

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley isn’t afraid to extend an offer to a recruit regardless of age.

www.greenvilleonline.com

I think the ncaa should restrict this kind of stuff. The girl is just a 7th grader. So much can happen in 5 yrs

 

[SCspur]

Don’t see the big deal here.... Azzi got her first offer in 6th grade and so did Zia. Edwards averaged nearly 15 points 5 rebounds and 3 assists as a seventh grader playing on varsity so she’s definitely worth the offer. Besides there are plenty of kids who receive early offers/interests so if Dawn wants to offer them early I’m definitely on board. That said did this article happened to pop up at across the social media timelines or did we do some digging to just make a new topic??

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Don’t see the big deal here.... Azzi got her first offer in 6th grade

I was just going to say this. Nobody complained when Brenda offered Fudd in 6th grade and everybody knew how great she was before the ACL injury.

 

[meyers7]

She just finished 7th grade. Now hometown standout has offer from Dawn Staley, Gamecocks

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley isn’t afraid to extend an offer to a recruit regardless of age.

www.greenvilleonline.com

Eh I can kind of see that. Local girl, coached by a former Gamecock.

 

[SCspur]

I was just going to say this. Nobody complained when Brenda offered Fudd in 6th grade and everybody knew how great she was before the ACL injury.

Exactly. They’re not offering these kids just because they’re bored, they obviously see potential and would rather get in on them early. I don’t see a problem at all..

 

[SCGamecock]

Players that coaches think are going to be really good usually get offered by their local/area colleges and universities at a young age.

As it's already been mentioned.. The Terps offered Fudd at a young age, Georgetown offered Angel Reese in middle school, the list goes on. This isn't out of the norm. You only hear about it from schools like Louisville and South Carolina because those programs actually get media coverage. The State, a widely circulated newspaper in SC, actually has a reporter that solely covers WBB in depth. How many programs have that? Like 4 or 5?

 

[tchalla1]

I'm sorry but if you can't see the potential harm in commoditizing 6th and 7th grade girls, you're no doubt missing the stories on the many busts and fade outs of supposed "can't miss" athletes which SI and ESPN often do their investigative pieces. Many of their parents in these situations often say that they regret letting their child become an "object" before they actually matured and developed the appropriate life perspectives to handle all that goes into being a stellar athlete at such a young age...

 

[mbr33ct]

This leads me to ask the question, If Geno offered a "scholly" to Mo'ne Davis when he called her on phone...would that have still been an NCAA violation?

 

[DaBball]

Wow, Dawn offered another rising freshman. Does that make four in-state offers between 2022 and 2024? Must be some pretty darn good rising talent in SC for an elite coach/program to be able to offer that many that young!

 

[Vowelguy]

I think the ncaa should restrict this kind of stuff.

How?

A scholarship offer at this point amounts to a statement. "When you are eligible, we'd like to offer you a scholarship." Nothing is binding on either side. And you can be sure if the kid ends up being a dud in the next 4 years, no actual scholarship offer will materialize.

 

[SCGamecock]

Wow, Dawn offered another rising freshman. Does that make four in-state offers between 2022 and 2024? Must be some pretty darn good rising talent in SC for an elite coach/program to be able to offer that many that young!

Definitely a wave of upcoming elite talent in SC. The instate talent comes in waves... some years we produce a lot of instate talent (2010-2014.. gave us Sessions, Welch, Dozier, Coates, Wilson).. right now we’ve been in a lull the last few years. SC hasn’t produced a top 30 player since Wilson prior to this year’s Loyal McQueen. But 2020-2024 are definitely about to be some good years in SC. Hopefully Dawn can capitalize again since her program is better now than it was in 2010-2014.

I’m fully expecting rivals to be all over SC just to keep some of these players from becoming Gamecocks.

 

[SCspur]

Definitely a wave of upcoming elite talent in SC. The instate talent comes in waves... some years we produce a lot of instate talent (2010-2014.. gave us Sessions, Welch, Dozier, Coates, Wilson).. right now we’ve been in a lull the last few years. SC hasn’t produced a top 30 player since Wilson prior to this year’s Loyal McQueen. But 2020-2024 are definitely about to be some good years in SC. Hopefully Dawn can capitalize again since her program is better now than it was in 2010-2014.

I’m fully expecting rivals to be all over SC just to keep some of these players from becoming Gamecocks.

You can definitely expect the top coaches to be in SC these next several years... Watkins, Fulwiley, and Cooper are already being pursued by the top coaches in the country. Good thing Dawn has built a relationship with them early because that’s going to payoff big time when it’s time for them to make their decisions.

 

[Shmermerer]

Exactly. They’re not offering these kids just because they’re bored, they obviously see potential and would rather get in on them early. I don’t see a problem at all..

I agree there really is no harm in getting offers early. I started receiving my offers at around that age. It motivated me to get better. Gave me goals to try and get more offers from P5 schools.