Kentucky lands commitment from eighth-grader
Wildcats coach saw California youth at Ohio event
JERRY TIPTON
The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader
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<!-- END /pubsys/production/story/story_assets.comp -->One day. Two games. An eighth-grader competing against players 15-years-old and younger.
Those factors made for perhaps the most surprising commitment in the history of University of Kentucky basketball. UK Coach Billy Gillispie noticed Michael Avery, an eighth-grader from Lake Sherwood, Calif., while attending a youth basketball event sponsored by LeBron James last weekend in Akron, Ohio.
Less than a week later, Avery accepted Gillispie's offer of a scholarship to play for the Wildcats ... beginning with the 2012-13 season.
"Oh my goodness," recruiting analyst Brick Oettinger said of the commitment. "A school taking a commitment from someone that young -- there's no telling what will happen."
In four years of high school (by the way, Avery has not yet decided what high school he will attend), the 6-foot-4 guard could get injured. He could have peaked physically, meaning he could be surpassed athletically by other players who mature later.
And who's to say Gillispie will be Kentucky's coach in 2012?
"We're taking things one day at a time," the player's father, Howard Avery, said on Thursday. "Right now, (Gillispie) is there and he's a terrific coach. Without a doubt, Kentucky is a terrific program. Factors change. I'm not going to worry about 25,000 different things when I'm trying to get through this day."
When news of the commitment reached a meeting of the UK Athletics Association Board of Directors on Thursday, it stunned school President Lee T. Todd Jr.
"An eighth-grader?!" he blurted out.
After noting that plenty of time remained for such an early commitment to be rescinded, Todd expressed his wish that Kentucky not regularly seek a college choice from a child who had not yet entered high school.
"Not that you'd tell people not to ever do it," Todd said, "But I'd hope there aren't very many eighth-graders thinking of playing at a specific college. ...
"I'm much more of a proponent of getting kids through high school in Kentucky and then make college choices."
While saying he understood why college coaches might offer a scholarship to an eighth-grader, Todd added, "I'd hope there's not a huge number of those."
Oettinger, who analyzes recruiting for the Prep Stars service, has not seen Avery play.
"All I've got to say is he must have played awfully well" to prompt Gillispie's scholarship offer, Oettinger surmised.
Actually, Howard Avery said his son, who came off the bench for the Indiana Elite AAU team, did not "light it up" the day Gillispie happened to be watching. But the father got word that the UK coach liked what he saw. So he tried to call Gillispie once on Saturday and twice on Sunday. When he didn't get a reply, "I just figured he didn't have interest or was just being nice," the elder Avery said.
Avery, a tax accountant and CPA in Santa Monica, Calif., called again from home on Monday. This time Gillispie answered, and explained that NCAA recruiting rules prohibited him from calling the father.
That out of the way, Gillispie confirmed his interest in Michael Avery. "I like him so much, I want him to come and I'll give him a scholarship," the elder Avery remembered Gillispie saying.
To which, Howard Avery replied, "You're joking, right?"
"No," Gillispie said, "I'm serious."
After consulting with people wise in the ways of basketball, Howard Avery gave his son permission to consider Gillispie's offer.
Michael Avery, so absorbed by basketball that his father said he doesn't have "a lot of spare time to go to movies," is well aware that Kentucky rates among the elite college programs.
"Of all those schools, Kentucky is where I'd want to go ... " Howard Avery said in quoting his son.
"I know people say, why would you do that now? We could get 150 more (scholarship offers). But we only want one good school and one good coach. It's an absolute blessing we have both of them with Kentucky."
The elder Avery noted how the decision has risks, but also an upside. For instance, it takes the pressure off his son to try to seek exposure, endure the recruiting process or prove on the high school level. His son can concentrate on getting better and having fun.
But first, Michael Avery must decide what high school he'll attend. He's considering Crespi High in Encino, Calif., and a private school in Culver, Ind.
Former UCLA guard Rod Foster and ex-BYU point guard Chris Nikchevich tutored Avery. Though he played last season for Ascension Lutheran Middle School in Thousand Oaks, Calif., his father dismissed that experience. "He could go out and score 50 points, if he wanted to," the elder Avery said. "I wouldn't even count that. That was just for fun."
By contrast, a college commitment is serious business. That Avery committed to Kentucky surprised his AAU coach, Dinos Trigonis.
When asked to appraise Avery, Trigonis paused and said, "He's a young player. Very skilled. A lot of court instinct. But to be quite honest, not just for him but for anybody, it's somewhat premature."
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Wildcats coach saw California youth at Ohio event
JERRY TIPTON
The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader
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<!-- END /pubsys/production/story/story_assets.comp -->One day. Two games. An eighth-grader competing against players 15-years-old and younger.
Those factors made for perhaps the most surprising commitment in the history of University of Kentucky basketball. UK Coach Billy Gillispie noticed Michael Avery, an eighth-grader from Lake Sherwood, Calif., while attending a youth basketball event sponsored by LeBron James last weekend in Akron, Ohio.
Less than a week later, Avery accepted Gillispie's offer of a scholarship to play for the Wildcats ... beginning with the 2012-13 season.
"Oh my goodness," recruiting analyst Brick Oettinger said of the commitment. "A school taking a commitment from someone that young -- there's no telling what will happen."
In four years of high school (by the way, Avery has not yet decided what high school he will attend), the 6-foot-4 guard could get injured. He could have peaked physically, meaning he could be surpassed athletically by other players who mature later.
And who's to say Gillispie will be Kentucky's coach in 2012?
"We're taking things one day at a time," the player's father, Howard Avery, said on Thursday. "Right now, (Gillispie) is there and he's a terrific coach. Without a doubt, Kentucky is a terrific program. Factors change. I'm not going to worry about 25,000 different things when I'm trying to get through this day."
When news of the commitment reached a meeting of the UK Athletics Association Board of Directors on Thursday, it stunned school President Lee T. Todd Jr.
"An eighth-grader?!" he blurted out.
After noting that plenty of time remained for such an early commitment to be rescinded, Todd expressed his wish that Kentucky not regularly seek a college choice from a child who had not yet entered high school.
"Not that you'd tell people not to ever do it," Todd said, "But I'd hope there aren't very many eighth-graders thinking of playing at a specific college. ...
"I'm much more of a proponent of getting kids through high school in Kentucky and then make college choices."
While saying he understood why college coaches might offer a scholarship to an eighth-grader, Todd added, "I'd hope there's not a huge number of those."
Oettinger, who analyzes recruiting for the Prep Stars service, has not seen Avery play.
"All I've got to say is he must have played awfully well" to prompt Gillispie's scholarship offer, Oettinger surmised.
Actually, Howard Avery said his son, who came off the bench for the Indiana Elite AAU team, did not "light it up" the day Gillispie happened to be watching. But the father got word that the UK coach liked what he saw. So he tried to call Gillispie once on Saturday and twice on Sunday. When he didn't get a reply, "I just figured he didn't have interest or was just being nice," the elder Avery said.
Avery, a tax accountant and CPA in Santa Monica, Calif., called again from home on Monday. This time Gillispie answered, and explained that NCAA recruiting rules prohibited him from calling the father.
That out of the way, Gillispie confirmed his interest in Michael Avery. "I like him so much, I want him to come and I'll give him a scholarship," the elder Avery remembered Gillispie saying.
To which, Howard Avery replied, "You're joking, right?"
"No," Gillispie said, "I'm serious."
After consulting with people wise in the ways of basketball, Howard Avery gave his son permission to consider Gillispie's offer.
Michael Avery, so absorbed by basketball that his father said he doesn't have "a lot of spare time to go to movies," is well aware that Kentucky rates among the elite college programs.
"Of all those schools, Kentucky is where I'd want to go ... " Howard Avery said in quoting his son.
"I know people say, why would you do that now? We could get 150 more (scholarship offers). But we only want one good school and one good coach. It's an absolute blessing we have both of them with Kentucky."
The elder Avery noted how the decision has risks, but also an upside. For instance, it takes the pressure off his son to try to seek exposure, endure the recruiting process or prove on the high school level. His son can concentrate on getting better and having fun.
But first, Michael Avery must decide what high school he'll attend. He's considering Crespi High in Encino, Calif., and a private school in Culver, Ind.
Former UCLA guard Rod Foster and ex-BYU point guard Chris Nikchevich tutored Avery. Though he played last season for Ascension Lutheran Middle School in Thousand Oaks, Calif., his father dismissed that experience. "He could go out and score 50 points, if he wanted to," the elder Avery said. "I wouldn't even count that. That was just for fun."
By contrast, a college commitment is serious business. That Avery committed to Kentucky surprised his AAU coach, Dinos Trigonis.
When asked to appraise Avery, Trigonis paused and said, "He's a young player. Very skilled. A lot of court instinct. But to be quite honest, not just for him but for anybody, it's somewhat premature."
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