Colleges target early bloomers

Charlotte 49ers basketball coach Bobby Lutz has experienced the early recruiting phenomenon from a parent's perspective.

His daughter, Christine, is a highly recruited soccer player who had college scholarship offers as a sophomore at Hickory Ridge High last year.

"You would be amazed (at how early girls are recruited)," Bobby Lutz said.

Nonetheless, men's basketball is the champion when it comes to the depth and sophistication of the early recruiting process. Young basketball players in extreme cases have committed to colleges before choosing a high school.

"There are some other sports that do have early recruiting, but not like men's basketball," Arkansas senior associate athletics director Jon Fagg said. "... It is a unique set of circumstances, in my opinion."

Michelle Lee, N.C. State's director of NCAA compliance, said she hasn't heard of another sport where athletes are committing as early as men's basketball. She said women's soccer and women's lacrosse are the two other sports noted for early recruiting.

"I think women's soccer and women's lacrosse, they're committing at the beginning of their junior year," Lee said. "They're committing at the end of their sophomore year."

College football had a rare instance of extremely early recruiting when Chris Leak committed to Wake Forest in 1999. Leak was 14, a freshman quarterback who hadn't played a down yet on Independence High's varsity. He went on to help quarterback Florida to a national title in 2006.

In general, football is experiencing earlier offers and commitments now than in the past.

But the sport is so sophisticated and physical that it's difficult to identify middle school standouts. So scholarship offers before players reach their junior year are rare in football.