Is he the best 5th grade basketball player in the country? - Chicago Tribune

College and high school coaches are circling, inviting him to games and camps. He has established himself on the all-important AAU circuit. And he has already worked out with the Knicks and with the Bulls' Derrick Rose.

Fleming is regarded by some as the most talented 10-year-old basketball player in the country.

The 5-foot-1 fifth-grader is more restrained: "I'm a humble kid who's trying to achieve a goal."

The push to get kids involved in sports at an early age is nothing new. Nor is the practice of high schools and colleges pursuing young athletes. (In February, DePaul offered a scholarship to a Rosemont eighth-grader.)

But this activity usually begins no earlier than at the sixth-grade level, when scouts start ranking players. Fifth grade is off the radar. So for a kid still in elementary school to get this type of attention is remarkable.

Not everybody says it's a good thing.

"When you start discussing contracts, recruitment and commitment, you're mapping out a life when it should be a time for exploration," said Dave Czesniuk of Northeastern University's Sport and Society center. "Hopefully, this doesn't limit his experiencing everything a 10-year-old should be experiencing."

"It's crazy," St. Joseph High School coach Gene Pingatore said. "The fact that Jaylin's getting all this publicity so early means that the sharks are out there, whether it's colleges trying to set this kid up for future recruitment or agents.

"The good thing is that he has a family that's going to protect him. But think about the kids who don't have a solid family background. They're susceptible to a lot of stuff — offers, money under the table, you can't imagine the stuff that goes on."

Jaylin's father said he knew his son was special the moment he was born.

"All the doctors and nurses noticed (his hands)," John Fleming said. "They were incredibly huge, and I was praying and asking God, what would Jaylin be, what would he do with those hands?"

The answer came seven years later. Jaylin tagged along while his dad and older brother shot hoops with future Marquette point guard Maurice Acker, John Fleming's godson. When his dad left the gym, Jaylin copied Acker's drills.

via articles.chicagotribune.com

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