By KYLE ITO 
Staff Writer
In December, 2014, superstar NBA player of the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James tweeted a video of his son, LeBron James Jr. competing at an AAU basketball tournament. The world has been amazed at Lebron James Jr.’s ability to shoot, score, and pass just like his father.
Despite being only ten years old, LeBron Jr. has already received multiple scholarship offers from college coaches.  After hearing about this, LeBron expressed his unhappiness with the situation as he feels that his son is too young to be offered college scholarships for basketball. Yet, according to NCAA rules, it is not against the rules for college coaches to monitor young players.
Although it seems ridiculous, there have been similar situations in the past regarding colleges recruiting young players. For example, Ryan Boatright of Connecticut University committed to USC before he entered high school. Although LeBron Jr. is undoubtedly talented and may excel at basketball in the future, he is receiving special attention because his father is LeBron James, NBA All-Star.
LeBron said that he wants his son to stay a kid for as long as he chooses to, and does not want to rush his maturation. I believe that his son is currently too young to be given scholarship offers from universities because he should not feel rushed or pressured to choose basketball as a career.
Offering a fourth grader a scholarship for basketball is ridiculous. Young kids should not be burdened with the thought of college when it is an unnecessary stress at that age. Obviously, many universities will be backing off due to LeBron’s criticisms. This incident will hopefully change how colleges consider handling youth athletes in the future.