New Age of NBA Recruiting

The NBA isn’t just looking at incredible NCAA talent to draft to the Top Level anymore. High School recruiting is happening. It’s real. And it’s NOW!!!

The best 2 high school recruits in the country right now are Cameron Boozer, a Forward from Columbus High School in Miami, Florida, and Cooper Flagg, a Forward from Montverde Academy in Maine. Boozer is projected to be drafted in 2026 and Flagg in 2025. NBA Scouts are chomping at the bit as they watch these two young stars absolutely dominate the competition. Neither player has even committed to a college to play at yet, but their NBA dreams are already in the making. Each High Schooler has already been offered numerous endorsement deals since the new NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rules have come into play for non-professional athletes.

While scouts are combing through high schools throughout the country, they have stepped up recruiting practices even more.

On Thursday night, 29 NBA scouts sat in the bleachers at Rifkin Junior High School to watch the 8^th grade phenom, Darnell Washington score 74 points against St. Agetha Christian Academy in Lance Hollow, Georgia. Washington is a 5’ 11” 14-year-old with dreams of becoming an NBA star, as well as becoming an actor, professional musician/DJ, and Professional Wrestler. Washinton has been offered $1.1 Million to play on the Juniors Basketball Futures Team this coming Winter as they tour the US, but his parents have forbidden it as he is grounded for his poor grades and his insistence on dating Bridgette Lancely. Lancely is a 7^th grade cheerleader who, per Washington’s parents, is a “really bad influence and distraction” on their son. Washington told MPL, “My parents are kinda cool, but sometimes my mom can be such a bitch. And when she gets that way, my dad turns into Seargent Major DICK! They think they know everything. They don’t know everything. My mom thinks she is totally the boss of me. My girlfriend (Bridgette Lancely) gets me. She’s super cool. One time, she drank six Jell-O shots in 10 minutes at Robbie Townsends party. She got so busted. But it was still pretty cool. (Whispering) I almost got to second base with her, too. She’s pretty awesome, you know?”

Taking recruiting to an entirely different level, 23 scouts crammed into the Multi-Purpose Room at Willowbrook Elementary School to watch 5^th grader, Michael Rudolph put up 37 points against Dearborn Elementary on Wednesday afternoon, in Minot, North Dakota. Rudolph is a 4’ 7” Point Guard with a really good 15-foot outside shot and leads his team in assists averaging 12 per game. Rudolph told MPL that he doesn’t think about the NBA that much. He really likes Baseball and Professional Wrestling over Basketball. In the Minot North Baseball Little League, Rudolph plays for the Bob Cats. He is a Pitcher and Shortstop. He is batting .873 with 14 Home Runs and 30 RBI in 16 games. He told MPL, “Basketball is cool, I guess. But I LOVE the WWE. I’m Old School. I LOVE Goldberg. He’s my favorite. My dad loves wrestling, too. But he says it’s not like the Old Days. He said that guys used to bleed all of the time. That would be so cool. Have you ever seen Stone Cole Steve Austin go up against the Rock? That was so cool. That’s me one day (Rudolph flexes his biceps).” He has been offered $255 thousand to endorse a new line of shoes for kids called Cloud Nine Hoops shoes, but he said, “Those shoes suck, Man! I like my Air Jordans. They make you jump higher. It’s proven. It’s science.”

Taking recruiting one step further, twins Marlow and Leonard Kenilej, twin 5-year-olds from Los Angeles, California, play in the local Pleasant Hill Youth Basketball league at the Pleasant Hill Recreation Park and Gym. Neither has the upper body strength to make an outside shot, but when their father, Daniel Kenilej, puts them on his shoulders, their hoops shots are nothing but net. When asked about his future in Basketball, Leonard told us, “You have really bad breath… like doodie.” Then he laughed hysterically. Marlow followed suit laughing uncontrollably and yelled, “Doodie, doobie, doodie,” as he rans in circles around the gym. 3 NBA scouts watching the twins told us, “These are the types of athletes we are looking for. Not too serious, and willing to show how much fun being on the court can be. There are tentative offers on the table right now for the twins, though no dollar amounts have been disclosed. The endorsements are for a line of NBA themed overalls and pajamas for 4- to 6-year-olds. Their father told us, “Basketball is a lot of fun. They really like it. But they are in love with professional wrestling. I take them to the WWE matches when they come to town.”

And on a final note, Tracy and Michael Davis, in Las Vegas, NV, have been offered $50,000 from an NBA team (name withheld) for rights to the likeness of their 7-month-old embryo to plaster on the walls of the midway in their stadium as the next great baller to play there. The child is due in December. Per the Scout that initially touched base with the Tracy and Michael, “This kid is going to be a Star!”

Tracy and Michael told us that the child will be named Ric (if a boy) or Flair (if a girl). “We’re big WWE fans.”