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Ohio State’s Thad Matta says 9-year-old LeBron James Jr. ‘will be’ on his recruiting radar

Wisconsin v Ohio State

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Getty Images

A quartet of four-star recruits have given their verbal commitments to The Ohio State University for next fall. While that’s a talented incoming class for Thad Matta, he may be looking down the road at another prized recruit. Way down the road.

Thursday was Ohio State’s media day, as the Buckeyes prepare for the post-Aaron Craft era. Matta can’t comment on his current commits that didn’t stop him from talking about recruiting.

From Eric Seger of theozone.net:

Thad Matta said LeBron James, Jr. “will be” on his radar for recruiting. The kid is 9 years old.

— Eric Seger (@EricSeger33) October 2, 2014


LeBron James Jr. doesn’t turn 10 until next week, though, there are plenty of his highlights up on YouTube, most recently from his team’s trip to Lexington, Kentucky for the AAU Nationals this past summer. Given his return to Cleveland, it’s obvious LeBron still loves his home state, even if he never did attend OSU. However, LeBron showed up to Columbus a few weeks back
to speak with the Buckeyes football team before their home opener.

Whether he’s serious or not, Matta better be careful when discussing potential recruits, no matter how young. Just last month, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma was hit with a secondary recruiting violation for calling Mo’ne Davis after her dazzling performance in the Little League World Series. Auriemma was reported by an unnamed school.

Based off the YouTube videos -- and the fact that his father is the best player in the NBA -- I’m sure LeBron James Jr. will have his share of options by his senior year of high school, which will be the 2021-2022 season.

[h/t ProBasketballTalk]

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