Earlier this week, it was reported that Lane Kiffin had (once again) offered a USC football scholarship to a kid (literally) who had yet to enter high school.
A couple of days later, the Trojans’ cross-town rivals have responded in kind.
Texas quarterback Lindell Stone confirmed to ESPN.com Wednesday that he has indeed received a scholarship offer to play football at UCLA. Stone, who just completed his middle school “career” a few months ago and would be a member of the Class of 2017, will hail -- once he, ya know, actually gets there -- from the same Southlake, Tex., high school that produced former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy and former Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.
Stone has not yet given a verbal commitment to any school, likely because he was grounded from the phone or something.
“I’m very grateful right now,” the 14-year-old told the website. “We’re really not focused on recruiting right now. We’re more focused on getting on the field at high school and helping a team win a championship, but this is big. It’s finally showing how hard I’ve worked.”
Stone added that, while he has not yet talked to the Bruins coaching staff, his father has spoken to at least one assistant as well as the director of football operations.
The offer to Stone continues a disturbing, take-a-shower-then-take-another-one trend on an ever-creepier recruiting trail. The Trojans offered an eighth-grade wide receiver recently, which came two years after the same coaching staff offered a scholarship to a 13-year-old quarterback who attended positional meetings and verballed to USC. Over the past handful of months, Alabama, LSU and Washington have offered scholarships to an eighth-grader as well.
As an aside, why again do people think football recruits have a sense of entitlement?