NC State offers 13-Year-Old basketball scholarship
By Will Perry
This week the NC State women’s basketball team offered a scholarship to 13-year-old Jada Peebles, who is the first official commit for the class of 2019. She hasn’t even started the eighth grade but already has her college plans figured out.
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Both of her parents attended the university, making the decision much easier.
In an interview with Releigh’s local ABC station, Peebles said, “It was really shocking because I didn’t think that it could actually happen.”
Her commitment begs the question of whether or not she’s too young to be thinking about college and where she will play.
Women basketball players stay for four years in college unlike the men, meaning she has nine years before she can take her talents to the pros.
The news brings up the debate whether college athletics programs should be able to recruit kids at such a young age and ask them to make big commitments so early. Big-time programs can easily sway kids at such a vulnerable age.
But according to the report, Peebles has been a die-hard NC State fan her whole life which leads you to believe this in this particular case, State is a great fit for her and her family.
Check out some her skills and the original report here.
What do you think? Should colleges face recruiting restrictions, or continue to be able to seek kids out at a young age for their future teams? Leave a comment below.