In reading through this article today I kept thinking that it was too young.  Starting out this young causes all kinds of problems in my mind.  Our society already puts way too much pressure on young kids (which is exactly what they are) to perform at unrealistic levels.  I can't imagine what kinds of pressure will be put on a 12 year old to get to a level that will cause them to be noticed by College Coaches. Also, what does this do to the High School Basketball landscape?  When a kid is in the 7th Grade and being recruited by college coaches, how does this impact which High School he attends?  What happens if the college coach strongly hints that if this kid went to a certain private school that he kid would have a stronger chance of making it at the college level. Do the parents put their kid into that school?  All of the sudden it's possible that a small handful of schools become more so of a Basketball powerhouses, leaving the other programs to limp along. What happens if the coach is fired or moves on from the college that the kid is being recruited to?  Too many things can dramatically change from the 7th grade to their Junior and Senior years. I realize that most of what I'm saying can be extremes, but if it were my kids, I would tell the coaches to come back in 4 years when my kid is a bit more mature and ready for what the coach is about to talk with him about.