13 Year old QB commits to SUC...

[OU-HSV]

wow, Kiffin is a real go getter...If there's not some sort of recruiting violation involved with this...Kiffin still has 4 years to create one with this kid.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=4888515


Lane Kiffin really is getting a jump on recruiting.

No sooner had the Trojans new coach put the finishing touches on the Class of 2010 recruits, that he turned his attention to the Class of 2014.

That's right, 2014.

Thursday evening Kiffin received a verbal commitment from 13-year old wunderkind quarterback David Sills of Bear County, Del..

Too young?

Not according to his personal coach Steve Clarkson, who has mentored some of the game's best quarterbacks including current USC starter Matt Barkley.

"His skill set is off the chart," Clarkson said. "I've never seen anyone at his age do what he's been able to do."

The commitment, which was first reported by ESPN's Shelley Smith, has happened in college basketball previously, but is unprecedented for college football where it's harder to project how a player as young as Sills will develop physically. Clarkson says that won't be a problem.

"He's already six feet as a 13-year old," Clarkson said. "And he's breaking down NFL footage."

Clarkson said the scholarship offer emerged after he called Kiffin to discuss a quarterback recruit for next year's class.

Clarkson said that Kiffin asked him his opinion of the recruit and Clarkson said, "You might call me crazy, but you've known me a long time, right? And when I said if there was going to be a LeBron James of football it'd be Jimmy Clausen that turned out to be a pretty good prediction.

"And when I said Matt Barkley had the potential to be as good as Jimmy, he ended up winning Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior and starting at USC as a freshman, right?

"Well, I've got a kid now who is better than all of them and he's in Delaware. You gotta take a look at him."

Clarkson then directed Kiffin to a video of Sills that has slowly making the rounds on YouTube.

Kiffin watched it and called him back immediately.

"He was like, 'This kid is incredible. How old is he again?'

"I was like, 'That's the problem, he's 13.' "

A couple of hours later, the Sills family called Kiffin and they spoke for the first time. USC had always been Sills' dream school, according to his father, David Sills IV.

"I'm as shocked as anybody," Sillis' father said. "I was just talking with friends yesterday about what it'll be like four years from now when David goes through the recruiting process. I never expected this to happen so soon.

"But David's always wanted to go to USC. I mean, is there a better place to play football in the country? How can you pass up the best offer you're ever going to get?"

The younger Sills, who is an eighth-grader at Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear County, has been training with Clarkson for three years. They meet about once every six weeks at various locations around the country. Sometimes in California, where Clarkson is based. Sometimes in Delaware. And sometimes somewhere in the middle, if Clarkson is conducting a clinic.

"Steve and David hit it off immediately," David Sills IV said. "If there's ever anything David is doing wrong, Steve can fix it in like 10 minutes."

Still, 2014 is a long time from now. A lot can change.

"Well, we're going to be out to California in a few weeks and we'll meet Lane then," Sills' father said. "We're excited to meet him. And we're excited to verbally commit. Hopefully it all works out in the future."

Ramona Shelburne is a reporter and columnist for ESPNLosAngeles.com

[Soonerus]

That's just plain dumb...

[JLEW1818]

freak

[Collier11]

thats the way things have become unfortunately

[Soonerus]

thats the way things have become unfortunately

I think it is insane and may write a book about it...

[Collier11]

Title it 'bagging 13yr olds never gets you anywhere'

[OU-HSV]

thats the way things have become unfortunately

Isn't that the truth. I mean I'm obsessed with football like most of us on here, but wow...I mean 13 years old. This could be unfortunate for this kid. Could cause him to have a big head and get a cocky attitude and lose a grip on reality. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I picture this kid rolling up in a fancy ride like Jimmy Clausen's punk azz when he went to Notre Dame. Guess time will tell.

[rawlingsHOH]

That's just plain dumb...

yep

[Collier11]

Did bball player Kyle Hardrick commit to us as a 8th grader?

[King Crimson]

not sure Jimmy Clausen is a LeBron type.

good college QB maybe but not LeBron.

[Collier11]

Clausen isnt a once a decade type talent

[rawlingsHOH]

not sure Jimmy Clausen is a LeBron type.

good college QB maybe but not LeBron.

yep. if there was ever a football Lebron, it came one year after, and was named A. Peterson.

[John Kochtoston]

This kid will be on the pro surf circuit by 19. He's probably never been to McDonald's, either.

[sooner59]

Ten bucks says Kiffin won't even be coaching SUC when the kid gets there......if he stays solid for that long.

[setem]

YouTube video of the kid does not lie! He has heck of a arm and quick release. He will be a good one if he stays in the game.

[sooner59]

Let me clarify: "If he stays a solid commit for that long."

[rainiersooner]

That's creepy.

Although, no more creepy than 13 year old tennis prodigies I suppose.

[sooner59]

Mmmm......13 year old tennis prodigies....

OH! Wait, sorry, I was having flashbacks of Kournikova and Sharipova. And by 13, I meant 18. Totally meant 18.

[gaylordfan1]

Getting hyped at the age of 13 will cause a bit of a talent let-down by the age of 18! Who knows if he progresses as a player. Unless he is the next tiger!

[Collier11]

http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lgpp0095+tennis-kit-anna-kournikova-poster.jpg


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7k8PRJPOqNw/Sj_RJmzPVGI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/0VCF0p37KlA/s400/Maria-Sharapova-17.JPG

[Scott D]

Todd Marinovich part deux.

[OU_Sooners75]

Is this for real, or is this one of those hoax things that some coaches try to create that will throw off other recruiters?

At the age of 13, there is plenty of opportunity for the kid to fail miserably, or to outgrow what he currently is and become an Olinemen!

[Jacie]

That blind kid committed to being a SUC mascot and he is younger than 13.

[CincySooner]

This is basically a non-story for me. Lots can happen in four years.

He could fall in with the wrong crowd when he gets to high school and get into drugs.

USC might have sanctions placed on them.

The kid could get out-performed by someone else in the state in HS.

USC could lose four straight bowl games and the kid might waver on his committment.

Loooooooooots of things could happen.

[Breadburner]

There are kids that aren't even playing yet that will be better.....

[Clever Trevor]

not sure Jimmy Clausen is a LeBron type.

good college QB maybe but not LeBron.

THIS! I mean, c'mon people!


And when I said if there was going to be a LeBron James of football it'd be Jimmy Clausen that turned out to be a pretty good prediction.

No it didn't! [hairGel]
****ing laughable! Sam is more of a LeBron than Jimmy.

[badger]

Kiffie won't be at USC in 2014... pump and dump

[KantoSooner]

Somehow, Lane Kiffin has turned into more of a perfect USC coach than even Petey.

and that was hard to do.

[TopDawg]

I don't see what all the fuss is about...Isn't Kiffin just 13 himself?

[TopDawg]

It's also worth mentioning that my unborn son is committed to OU.

[badger]

It's also worth mentioning that my unborn son is committed to OU.

Sooner Parent: You can go wherever you want for college, but my money's going to OU.

:D

[Jello Biafra]

one hit away from being a back up on his current freshman squad.

see: sam bradford.

if he hasn't taken a shot from a varsity player yet, he hasn't taken a shot yet.

[47straight]

This is turning into basketball recruiting with de-facto agents like this "personal coach" of Kiffin's.

[OUMallen]

This is basically a non-story for me. Lots can happen in four years.

He could fall in with the wrong crowd when he gets to high school and get into drugs.

USC might have sanctions placed on them.

The kid could get out-performed by someone else in the state in HS.

USC could lose four straight bowl games and the kid might waver on his committment.

Loooooooooots of things could happen.

You're missing the point. The point is not whether the kid actually gets to USC.

[SoonerEMT]

USC did this exact same thing in basketball, when Tim Floyd offered a scholarship to an 8th grader. A few years later, Floyd is gone and the kid didn't develop as everyone thought, and they pulled back the offer...

Hopefully the Kiffin regime will turn out as well for USC as the Floyd one did...

[fossil]

:P Shoot, that ain't nuthin'. I joined the Army when I was only three. I wuz in the INFANTRY!!!

[Scott D]

USC did this exact same thing in basketball, when Tim Floyd offered a scholarship to an 8th grader. A few years later, Floyd is gone and the kid didn't develop as everyone thought, and they pulled back the offer...

Hopefully the Kiffin regime will turn out as well for USC as the Floyd one did...

Kiffin has access to deeper booster pockets than Tim Floyd did...s'why Floyd had to resign.

[SoCal]

Feb. 13, 2009
By Dennis Dodd
CBSSports.com Senior Writer


David Sills is available. Just in case there's a college coach who hasn't heard of the game's next great quarterback, let's review: Sills is captain of his team. Rocket arm. Mad smarts. Breaks down defenses like he's speed reading Dostoyevsky novels.

The most renowned QB teacher in the country says Sills "could very well redefine the quarterback position one day," and "is well on his way to becoming one of the most polished, pro-ready prospects ever to be recruited out of high school."

Just to be clear: David Sills is 12. A sixth-grader, three years away from even playing in high school.


David Sills, shown here at 11, has been making trips to work with Steve Clarkson since '06.
Is it fair to project anything for your average 12-year-old? College recruiters are about to answer that question. Before girls, puberty and that first car, David Sills of Bear, Del., is available to a school that wants to offer him a scholarship. That's not as silly or as far away as it sounds.

"He is being monitored (by colleges) without question," says Steve Clarkson, that quarterback mentor who "discovered" young Sills a couple of years ago.

Maybe more than monitored. David's father, David Sills IV, said the family received a questionnaire from UCLA. That was a year ago. They discarded it. It might have been a mass mailing for a camp. Maybe Rick Neuheisel was that desperate for quarterback help. Who knows?

There was nothing improper about it, but maybe it's time to ask if the David Sillses of the world need to be protected. The NCAA saw fit last month to consider legislation that would label seventh-graders in basketball as "prospects." It would make junior high players -- and recruiters -- subject to NCAA recruiting rules. Currently, players aren't labeled prospects until they are in the ninth grade.

"It's a little scary only because -- we talked about this -- where does it stop?" said Joe D'Antonio, chairman of the NCAA Division I Legislative Council. "The fact that we've got to this point is really just a sign of the times."

D'Antonio said there's a possibility that similar legislation could one day cover football. That would indicate a sea change in the sport. With football players getting bigger, stronger and faster at a younger age, some coaches, some day, will feel it is necessary to recruit middle-schoolers.

"I had never worked with a kid that young," Clarkson said of his initial impression of Sills, "so I wasn't really that interested in returning the call. But (the father) was persistent. Sometimes you have to guard yourself against parents who are overzealous. But I think he was on to something, he just didn't know."

Clarkson was sufficiently amazed to start working with the pre-teen prodigy. Sills isn't the only grade-schooler in the Steve Clarkson Quarterback Academy stable, but he might be the most promising for his age.

"It's going to be a lot easier for them when they are recruited," Clarkson said. "They're doing it at such a young age that they've become perfectionists at it. They talk to older kids. You have all the numerous outlets that cover recruiting. It just became easier to deal with."

College football hasn't quite reached the level of basketball where recruiters routinely have to go through a level of "handlers" to reach a prospect. High school coaches and families still have the most influence in football. But it might not stay that way for long. CBSSports.com and other outlets have chronicled Wichita's Brian Butler.

Remember when Chris Leak got a scholarship offer from Wake Forest when he was in the eighth grade? That was 10 years ago. Wake offered Chris at the same time it did his older brother, C.J. For tweens like Sills, similar attention is coming. It's just a matter of how he and his family handle it.

"Quite frankly, we'll leave a lot of it up to Steve," said Sills IV, a commercial general contractor. "Steve will know where it's appropriate for him to go. I don't think we ever want to get into the whole hoopla."

Clarkson is a 47-year-old former San Jose State quarterback who is arguably the most well-known and accomplished quarterback teacher in the country. Prospects would love to be invited to his academy based in Southern California. His list of clients includes Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor, USC's Matt Barkley and pros such as Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Leinart and Matt Cassell. He has worked with the offspring of Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana and Snoop Dogg.

"Dream Maker" isn't a frivolous label for Clarkson. It's the working title of a possible reality show. Three-thousand prospects will gather on May 16 in the Rose Bowl, American Idol-style, hoping to be one of six athletes who will be selected to be tutored by Clarkson. Two networks are interested, he said.

David Sills IV is no stage parent, but he was struck with the same sense of curiosity three years ago. The former VMI player (for one year) saw his then-9-year-old son developing and wanted an expert evaluation. A friend passed along Clarkson's name. Eventually father and son flew to Pasadena to meet their football future.

"My initial assessment on Day 1 was he was just a kid," Clarkson said of young Sills. "About the third day working with him ... I was going to drop him. I went to our workout with the intention of saying, 'Come back in three years.' That third day he responded to everything."

Now Sills is the 5-foot-8, 135-pound captain of the Red Lion Christian Academy middle school team in Bear. He spends approximately 40 days a year on both coasts being tutored by Clarkson.

The kid's website bio is accompanied by the headline: "David Sills: The Future of the Quarterback Position."

One observer gushed: "After watching an 11-year-old casually draw up a 'Trips Right, Roll 334, Z Tuck, Y Banger, Gap Flip, Action Gas, check with me,' on the washboard, I sat in my seat wide-eyed, tapped the shoulder of the person next to me ... said, 'Wait a second, what just happened here?' It was an extraordinary sight."

You may now catch your breath.

"I don't treat him like a 12-year-old," Clarkson said. "I treat him like a senior in high school. ... If he retains a quarter of what somebody six, seven years older is able to retain, then that puts him three times ahead of the competition."

That there is competition at age 12 is the astounding part. Sills is friends with other Clarkson savants around the country -- sixth-grader M.C. Poe of Nashville and seventh-grader Nick Heras of Boston. Clarkson raves about Kelly Hilinski, a 6-4, 14-year-old eighth-grader from Claremont, Calif., whose academics are so strong he was invited to the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference. His bio proclaims Hilinski might be "the first surgeon in history to spend his Sundays ... as a quarterback in the NFL." Like Sills, Hilinski has received correspondence from UCLA.

"I think they just wanted to say hi," Kim Hilinski said of her son.

Neuheisel might not be aware he has an advantage. Members of the family are already big Bruins fans. Doctors at UCLA replaced a defective aortic valve in Marc Hilinski, Kelly's father, with a bovine valve.

"We moo at him," Kim said.

The pressure and attention that go with a college scholarship haven't been much of a concern in youth football. That's because football's physiology didn't translate as well as it does in basketball. Plus, we think nothing of a teenager turning pro to pursue golf or tennis, but somehow there is concern if a middle-schooler is getting recruited in football.

"Football is difficult because you don't know how big they're going to be," Clarkson added. "In basketball, if they're a great individual player, that's all they need to know. One (basketball) player makes a huge difference for a team."

Things are changing, slowly, but they are changing. Former Washington coach Ty Willingham admitted last year he had offered a scholarship to his first high school freshman. Clarkson helped create the market long ago. Responding to an ad, he began tutoring Danny Klein, who became a record-setting high school quarterback in Carson, Calif. After a newspaper ran a feature story, 130 kids and parents showed up the next Sunday, unprompted, to be tutored by Clarkson.

Twenty years later, his reputation among high school and college coaches is spotless. Sure, he's profiting off teens and pre-teens. So are those private tennis and golf coaches.

"There is a reason people are making money on this stuff," Clarkson said. "There is a need. Colleges are constantly getting limited access to these kids. That also spurns the need for more of these services, more of the private training.

"Ultimately I can see a trend at some point. I do expect at some point to get the early signing day like they have in basketball. Once that becomes official, then I think you'll see a trend to have personnel at least monitor the youth programs. They'll (coaches) probably put a heavier focus on kids to come to their football camps to start the dialogue."

So how does David Sills project before he hits his teenage years? The average 12-year-old has the attention span of Robin Williams. Maturity is an issue. So are hormones. Kids become burned out.

Five-star basketball recruit Elena Delle Donne spent less than 48 hours on the Connecticut campus last year before leaving -- sick and tired of hoops. Delle Donne, 19, said that at age 13 she began doubting whether she wanted to keep playing. Her story resonates with the Sillses. Delle Donne is from nearby Wilmington, Del.

"I don't see (football) as a phase," Sills IV said of his son. "He just really, really loves what he is doing. It doesn't mean that three, four years from now he won't ...

"I don't think he completely understands it, but it doesn't faze him."

[goingoneight]

Kids even at the youngest ages nowadays aren't wasting their time learning the option or wishbone. The ones with big dreams are learing what they see on TV.

Now, the bone and option still work, but it's clear how the throwball style is creeping to even the lowest levels of the game. Even OSU is throwing the ball now. :P

[fadada1]

Todd Marinovich part deux.
beat me to it. thought the exact same thing. maybe this kid has seen mcdonalds and actually touched a bewb or two.

[Sooner13]

I just watched youtube video of the kid and wasn't impressed at all. Maybe I'm missing something....

[rawlingsHOH]

Yeah, WAY too early to call him anything right now.

If he's 6 foot, he looks about 140. Let's wait and see.

[47straight]

I just watched youtube video of the kid and wasn't impressed at all. Maybe I'm missing something....

You mean you are not impressed by him hitting wide open receivers?

[okiedokie]

if he is impressive then maybe we should go and recruit those wideouts? they must be impressive as well.

[OUDoc]

His parents must need a bigger home.

[soonerfan69]

i think it's naive of Kiffin to think he'll still be there in 2014

[setem]

Kids are smart these days! I went to Venezuela once and every kid down there speaks Spanish, that's a hard language!

[SoCal]

:D
Kids are smart these days! I went to Venezuela once and every kid down there speaks Spanish, that's a hard language!

[humblesooner]

:D

+1

[stoopified]

Ten bucks says Kiffin won't even be coaching SUC when the kid gets there......if he stays solid for that long.That was my first thought when I heard this story.

[oudivesherpa]

Title it 'bagging 13yr olds never gets you anywhere'

Yeah, just ask Roman Polanski about that.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

thank you little league world series

[Collier11]

im all for watching the US defeat those commie 13 yr old bastards on natl tv

[stoops the eternal pimp]

and watching a little kid's future messed up by some idiot adult making him throw changeups and curves..

[OU-HSV]

i think it's naive of Kiffin to think he'll still be there in 2014

ditto

[...sooner]

That blind kid committed to being a SUC mascot and he is younger than 13.

haha... kinda funny

[OUster]

And when I said if there was going to be a LeBron James of football it'd be Jimmy Clausen that turned out to be a pretty good prediction.

Right about here is where this guy lost all credibility. If he meant that Clausen would not win a championship, then maybe he was on to something. Other than that, methinks delusion rules inner part of his left lobe.

[MamaMia]

I don't know whats more ridiculous; a 13 year old kid making a commitment a half a decade early, or a school that would encourage such a thing.

[Bosley]

Yeah, just ask Roman Polanski about that.

and R. Kelly

http://tinyurl.com/l6e3sc

[Dan Thompson]

Are we talking TODD MARINOVICH?

[soonerfan28]

Isn't this a dead period for recruiting or does that not have to do w/the class of 2014?

[SoonerLB]

Right about here is where this guy lost all credibility. If he meant that Clausen would not win a championship, then maybe he was on to something. Other than that, methinks delusion rules inner part of his left lobe.

My thoughts exactly OUster! Wonder if he can take a punch like Clausen? ;)

[budbarrybob]

Clausen isnt a once a Year type talent

fixed. ;)

[Collier11]

and watching a little kid's future messed up by some idiot adult making him throw changeups and curves..

coaches fault or parents?

[stonecoldsoonerfan]

isn't usc recruiting a 13 year old the equivalent of child molestation? ;)

[OU-HSV]

And more today from ESPN..

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4891901


The whirlwind journey of David Sills from a 13-year-old middle school quarterback to the most talked about college recruit in the nation continued late Friday night as he boarded a train with his mother, Denise, father, David Sills IV and his two older sisters, Emma, 17, and Abby, 14, from their home in Wilmington, Del. for an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America.

Less than 24 hours ago Sills, who is a seventh-grader at Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Del., verbally committed to play at USC despite not being able to officially sign his letter of intent until 2015.

It was a decision that set off a firestorm of opinion around the country and caused YouTube clips of the teenage signal caller to air on ESPN. It all came as a surprise to Sills when he awoke Friday morning and turned on the television.

"I felt like I was in a dream today," Sills said. "It was so amazing to see my highlights on TV. It was on in the restaurants and sports bars and everywhere. I saw myself a lot on TV today."

News of Sills' commitment spread quickly after his father informed Red Lion Christian Academy coach Eric Day, who called The News Journal in Delaware. Soon after Sills' father was forced to turn off his phone, which was being inundated with calls when the story was picked up nationally.

"I was very surprised at how big this got," Sills said. "My dad told me it was going to be big but I didn't think it was going to be this big."

Sills actually didn't think his commitment was that big of a deal.

"USC has always been my dream school," Sills said. "If it was any other college I probably wouldn't have said yes but all it is really is a verbal commitment so I can get out of it if I wanted to."

The backlash following Sills' commitment has been severe. Most of the criticism has been directed at USC coach Lane Kiffin for offering a scholarship to a 13-year-old, Sills' father for pushing his son into the limelight and personal quarterback coach Steve Clarkson, who has pipelined many of his star pupils from Matt Leinart to Matt Barkley to USC over the years.

"I really don't care what people say about me," Sills said. "When people say something negative about me I just take it and work harder because it makes me want to push harder and train harder and work harder and prove them wrong. I just take whatever they say negative and turn it into a positive."

Sills' father wasn't surprised by the reaction, admitting the whole situation seemed odd to him at first glance.

"Even when I sit back and reflect on it, it's shocking, weird, bizarre, you name it," said Sills' father. "Quite frankly I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The rules are the rules and as long as you abide by the rules then you abide by the rules. If people don't like this they don't need to get mad about it and bash the dad and bash the coach and bash the kid, they should call up the NCAA and tell them that they don't like the rules. I'm a guy that follows the rules. Whatever the rules are, let's play by the rules. It's very difficult as a father to say my son shouldn't be getting recruited at 13 so I'm not going to let him have this opportunity."

Sills' recruitment had little to do with his father and everything to do with Clarkson and his relationship with Kiffin. Clarkson was the one who called Kiffin and told him about Sills.

"Steve called me and I didn't even take the call because I was at a job site," said Sills' father, who is a commercial developer and contractor. "So I called him back and he said, 'You're never going to believe it.' He was talking to Lane about some junior quarterbacks and potential recruits who were juniors and he said, 'Look, I gave you Matt Leinart, I gave you Matt Barkley, you trust me and we've known each other for a long time and if you really want to look at a kid you need to look at this kid from Delaware.' So Lane looked at the video, called Steve back and said, 'I'll offer that kid a scholarship right now.' Steve told us that he couldn't call us so we had to call him and gave us his number."

Sills sat down with his parents and discussed the offer before calling Kiffin. But it didn't long for them to decide that USC was the right school. It wasn't a surprise considering Clarkson, who has USC memorabilia throughout his office, had taken Sills to USC games, introduced him to Pete Carroll after watching spring practices and brought in Leinart and Barkley to work with him.

"He has more of a relationship with USC for all these weird reasons than any other school. If any other school had asked him to do this I would have told him to say no," Sills' father said. "He decided if he was a senior he'd pick USC, if he was a junior he'd pick USC, if he was a sophomore he'd pick USC, if he was a freshman he'd pick USC. So why not just pick USC now? You think about a recruiting process taking two years and this recruiting process took three hours."

While Sills' father said he wasn't surprised by the backlash, he believes people would have a different point of view if they were the father of a child being recruited by one of the most storied college football programs in the country.

"For the people that don't like kids getting recruited early, if it was their kid, what would they do? Would they hold them back?" Sills' father asked. "I understand people's opinions and I respect that everybody is allowed to have an opinion but I don't really have a problem with people young, old or in between getting recruited. I don't think it's a big deal. People talk about pressure and expectations but that's not who David is. He doesn't feel a lot of pressure. He loves football and he likes to have fun. I told him if it ever gets to a point where he's not having fun to stop and we'll play golf."

Sills' father believes the reaction would have been different if Sills were a prodigy pianist offered a spot in the Philharmonic Orchestra.

"The way I look at it is if David was a phenomenal mathematician and I held him back, wouldn't that be wrong? If he was a great piano player or a gifted child actor and I held him back, wouldn't that be wrong?" Sills' father asked. "There are a lot of things that people don't put a negative stigmatism to because they're considered prodigies and all I'm doing is saying David has been recognized as a decent athlete and I'm allowing him to fulfill whatever opportunities that he can. It's as simple as that. There's no pressure, there's gentle encouragement. He's the one that always says dad let's go to the gym and let's throw. It's what he enjoys doing. If he ever got to a point where he doesn't love what he does I told him to stop."

As Sills sat next to his dad on the train to New York for the first of what could be a series of interviews (Clarkson's publicist is working on getting him on variety of national shows ranging from Ellen to Oprah), he said he was as nervous as he was last night when he talked to Kiffin, shaking as he talked to him on the phone. Sills' father was also nervous for a different reason. He was still hoping their decision and the publicity that has come with it would be worth it for his son and his family.

"I'm just trying to give him every opportunity that I can," Sills' father said. "There are people who support the decision and people who don't support the decision and I'm just hoping that I'm making the best decision for my child and I hope he's making the right decision for himself."

Arash Markazi is a reporter and columnist for ESPNLosAngeles.com.

[OU-HSV]

It's amazing they're giving this 13 year old this much coverage

[SoonerLB]

Cinderella story, we'll see what happens at midnite. ;)

[freshchris05]

My thoughts exactly OUster! Wonder if he can take a punch like Clausen? ;)

I have throw downs for gas...

[recemp]

Title it 'bagging 13yr olds never gets you anywhere'
Ask Roman Polanski...

[recemp]

If they are going to seek out and recruit a 13 yr old, they should put a four year scholly on the table and not be able to back out if the kid decides he prefers botany over quarterbacking

[okiewaker]

Probably already been written but parents and USC coaches should go bite a hairy set.