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Location: Los Angeles, Calif. | Founded: 1880 | Enrollment: 32,836 | Colors: Cardinal and Gold
Stadium: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Capacity: 92,500 | Coach: Lane Kiffin
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USC gets commitment from 13-year-old QB

Feb. 5, 2010
CBSSports.com staff and wire reports

USC has received a verbal commitment for the Class of 2015, multiple outlets reported.

Column

Dennis Dodd
Sills, brash and young? Yes to latter, but it's Steve Clarkson and Lane Kiffin who are audacious. Read more
Links

L.A. Times: USC's first commitment ... for '15

Delaware News Journal: Sills commits to USC

Feb. 13, 2009: Dodd: Sills' ascent under way

Quarterback David Sills, 13, has been highly touted since beginning training with renowned QB coach Steve Clarkson in California. Sills currently is a seventh-grader at Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Del.

"It's always been my dream to go to USC," Sills told the Los Angeles Times.

Coach Lane Kiffin reportedly offered the scholarship just before Sills pledged to be a Trojan.

The Times said the offer came about by way of Steve Clarkson, a private quarterbacks coach who tutors Sills and also has coached Matt Leinart, Jimmy Clausen and Matt Barkley, among others.

Clarkson said he phoned Kiffin on Thursday to inform him that one of his other pupils had received a scholarship offer from Florida.

"While we were talking, I said, 'I'm going to give you the scoop on a kid,'" Clarkson told the newspaper.

 
 

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Talk Back
stuckio
Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Mar 16, 2009
February 7, 2010 7:59 pm
Score: 165
Why again is this worthy of reporting
Ok so what that a 13 year old has committed to play at USC in five years.  Great who cares?  In five years he might have blown his ACL, had Tommy John surgery or decided he does not like football anymore.  I am not wishing this kid ill, but why do all the major sport outlets ever run this story.  Hey guess what my nephew who is 3 wants to play for Ohio State!  He will be t ...(more)
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Cheeze
Reputation:96
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 15, 2009
February 6, 2010 10:20 am
Score: 132
The thing I don't like about this
This one quote says a whole pile about why this is not such a good idea:

"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.

Now, what is the difference between your 13-year-old child maki ...(more)
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UF-USF
Reputation:96
Level:Superstar
Since:Oct 16, 2007
February 7, 2010 9:36 am
Score: 123
This is silly
This story isn't worth the silicon bits it's stored on. Who cares about a 13 year old who has proven nothing at the high school level. This was just a publicity stunt by that media whore**** and weasel, Lane Kiffin. It's also publicity for the kid or the kid's dad one or both of whom is also apparently obsessed with media attention. Don't ...(more)
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NSaneNMaine
Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Jan 6, 2010
February 5, 2010 10:46 am
Score: 128
Wet dreams, algebra, high waters and acne
It is difficult enough being 13 years old without the added pressure (either self- or parent-induced) of committing publicly to something five years in the future. 

I don't know anything at all about this kid or about his parents.  He may be an academic, athletic superstar who sings lead in "Fiddler on the Roof" and will eventually marry his middle school sweethea ...(more)
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Havdizzle
Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 25, 2008
February 6, 2010 8:45 am
Score: 121
NCAA should make rule to enforce this offer
If USC really did offer a scholarship to a 13 year-old when they have no ideas how his high school academic career will turn out (let alone his athletic career), then I'd like to see these scholarships become 100% guaranteed in that the NCAA goes ahead and chalks it up against their limits if the kid goes or not.

The fact is this is just another Lame Kitten attempt at grabbing ...(more)
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badgergopher
Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 17, 2008
February 5, 2010 2:02 pm
Score: 154
Tim Floyd
I have a foggy recollection of Tim Floyd, when he coached USC, getting a similar commitment from somebody who had not played a high school game yet.  Is this an LA thing that the rest of us don't understand?  

Also, what do these verbal commitments actually mean?  I know that the player can decommit, but does this contractually bind the school in any w ...(more)
Reply to this thread (1 reply)
quitewhite1
Reputation:93
Level:All-Star
Since:Apr 5, 2007
February 5, 2010 11:21 am
Score: 147
Why are we acting like this has never happened...
Everyone here is bashing Kiffin but you are all hating someone for doing something MANY others have done before. Anyone remember Chris Leak getting offered a scholarship at Wake Forest when he was in the 8th grade? How about David Sills? No one has offered him a scholarship but they are all over him, and have been ever since he was 11. A couple of examples have been mentioned in other posts but no ...(more)
Reply to this thread (4 replies)
Uctfay
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Mar 22, 2007
February 5, 2010 1:46 pm
Score: 183
Prep School Scholarship....
This is good for the kid and his family for one reason.... Prep schools are going to come knocking. If the kid has th dream and desire; Why not provide him with the opportunity. It seems his parents have him working with the right coach and get the attention he needs to get out of Delaware to a competitive state that produces Div. 1 players on a regular basis and where his talent will flourish thr ...(more)
Reply to this thread (3 replies)
Andybacca
Reputation:95
Level:Superstar
Since:Nov 30, 2009
February 5, 2010 3:59 pm
Score: 116
13 Year old commit is NOT A BIG DEAL
 First off, this is just a verbal commitment from a kid who is a fan.  He is in no way obligated to go to USC.  Lane Kiffin was just making a kid's day.  Who knows what he will do once he turns 18.  His friends may not go to USC and he will want to be with them.  He may have some crazy possessive girlfriend that drags him to whatever college she goes to.  He may ...(more)
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astromanic
Reputation:96
Level:Superstar
Since:Aug 30, 2006
February 5, 2010 10:07 am
Score: 112
Thank you USC...
...for stealing Lane Kiffin from UT. Gone are the top 5 recruiting classes and nationwide publicity, gosh darn, we're gonna miss him, but with the NCAA investigations already in house, he's a better fit for your top-flight west coast program. Man, I'm so jealous I could drink a glass of water. We'll be reading about yall, take care.
Uh...about all those roads tore up coming into Knoxville fro ...(more)
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csphillips
Reputation:90
Level:All-Star
Since:Nov 24, 2009
February 5, 2010 9:39 am
Score: 107
wow
Good work Kiffin. Why is he even using his time looking at 7th graders? I think he should be getting himself well known with the program and its players but apparantly he is running around middle schools looking to sign guys who barely have hit puberty.
Reply to this thread (1 reply)
bobtilton
Reputation:95
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 8, 2007
February 5, 2010 12:00 pm
Score: 147
Why wait?
If this kid's so good, why doesn't a team in the CFL use a late draft pick on him right now, pay him the league minimum, and develop him on their own?  After all, the CFL has no minimum age.  They could lock him up for a significant amount of time because the NFL requires a player to be 3 years removed from high school - by the time the kid gets a H.S. degree or his GED, which may be 3-5 ...(more)
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1Shot2many
Reputation:95
Level:Superstar
Since:Dec 13, 2007
February 5, 2010 5:44 pm
Score: 136
The rest of the story...

"It's always been my dream to go to USC," Sills told the Los Angeles Times. Coach Lane Kiffin reportedly offered the scholarship just before Sills pledged to be a Trojan.

Sills continued, "Lane came up to the playground fence during recess, and just blurted out 'I don't want to be super-secret best friends anymore, you can come to my school and we ca ...(more)

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kbuddkev
Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:Aug 22, 2006
February 5, 2010 10:58 am
Score: 100
Say so long to life little boy...
Can you say "Todd Marinovich"? 

All parties involved should be laughed at mercilessly.  Including the child.  Thirteen is old enough to know that if he's going to be good enough to play someday, he should wait until an approproate age to make that decision. 

Oh, and Lane Kiffin is a douche.
Reply to this thread
JHwaker
Reputation:89
Level:All-Star
Since:Oct 31, 2009
February 5, 2010 8:59 pm
Score: 97
Why is this news
In this day and age schools can't even keep commitments from players that will enroll during the next semester, so why is CBS even reporting this nonsense.  I'll bet that if USC isn't still a major player in 2015, this kid will have a "Change of Heart" about his desire to play for USC, that is if he himself is still highly touted, because USC will obviously revoke the offer if he is ...(more)
Reply to this thread (1 reply)
 
 
 		 
 
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