University of Kentucky offers a basketball scholarship to an 8th grader

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

Gillispie lands commitment from eighth-grader

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?