On paper, Renardo Sidney looks like a star…The next big thing.  ESPNU has the McDonald’s All-American power forward from Fairfax High School ranked as the #7 player in the country.  A 2007 Sports Illustrated article even predicted Sidney to be the first pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.  In the last few weeks, this high school phenom hit some roadblocks in his path to becoming an NBA powerhouse.  Recruited heavily by UCLA and USC, the 6′9”, 265 pound forward had verbally committed to accepting a scholarship to play for USC, but towards the end of April, both schools pulled out from recruiting Sidney.  After the two California schools backed out of the race, Sidney signed a letter of intent with Mississippi State, possibly the only other recruiter offering anything at that point.

Anonymous sources at both UCLA and USC told the L.A. Times that they did not want to take the risk of attracting NCAA scrutiny because of sketchy issues with his family and camp.  The family moved several times to upscale homes while Renardo was in high school, despite purportedly having a limited income.  Sonny Vaccaro, a name familiar in the basketball world, admitted to financing the family’s move to the Los Angeles area.  At the time, Sonny was still working for Reebok, but now is no longer with Reebok or in a favorable position with the Sidney family.  Renardo’s AAU team, which happens to be coached by Renardo Sr., also raised some questions.  The team was given some financial backing by Reebok and current Reebok rep Chris Rivers, but the overall financial situation of the team added to the list of concerns.  Perhaps the most troubling issue was the rumor that Renardo Sidney Sr. was expecting some compensation for his son’s services.

While most of the claims against the Sidney family have yet to be substantiated, they’ve caused a lot of problems for the young player.  The Sidneys hired Alabama-based sports attorney Donald Jackson to help them through these troubling times.  No stranger to dealing with athlete controversies, Jackson has denied the existence of any wrong doing or NCAA violation by Renardo or his father.  In fact, he claims that USC and UCLA didn’t stop recruiting Sidney, but that the high school star notified them first of his intent to sign with Mississippi State.  I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Jackson at a Sports Law conference several months ago, and he seemed like a pretty stand up guy.  My personal feelings aside, the veteran attorney has had years of experience in dealing with these sorts of controversies, and is well prepared to give due diligence to Sidney’s problems.  Mississippi State is also being extremely careful in dealing with the Sidney situation.  After the young hoops star committed to attending the university, the school retained sports attorney Mike Glazier who has aided several other schools during NCAA investigations.  Glazier currently leads the Collegiate Sports Practice Group at the Kansas office of law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, LLP.

Renardo will enroll at Mississippi State in July, just a few weeks after graduating high school.  Assuming he doesn’t run into any eligibility problems, this young man could make Mississippi State a contender in the SEC and possibly the NCAA tournament.  Will he be a one-and-done, or allow his skills to develop thoroughly under Coach Rick Stansbury? Either way, UCLA and USC might be missing out on a great opportunity if this controversy turns out to be nothing.  I watched Sidney’s Fairfax High School play on ESPN2 several months back and this kid is dynamite.  In an 86-47 victory over San Diego High School and Jeremy Tyler, Sidney put up 28 points and 10 rebounds.  He’s been compared to players like Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber.  If he plays his cards right he could become an NBA great in the future.

That recent post on the 8th grader signing

Tom Van Riper of Forbes.com, writes, One surprise: Unlike other kids their age, most teenage athletes haven’t capitalized on YouTube and other Web forums to create their own buzz. Van Riper obviously did not research hard enough for his article. I get an email about once a week from parents of a kid named Jashaun Agosto (pictured right). Jashaun is not an 8th grader…he is 11 years-old! His father created a YouTube account to display Jashuan’s game. The title reads, Best Basketball Prospect in the U.S. How about other Web forums? Jashaun has over 500 friends on his MySpace page.

The kid has ridiculous skill. Van Riper was talking about teenage athletes not capitalizing on YouTube and other web forums. I guess he is right…they are using new technologies to market their skills at an even younger age. There are two ways to look at this.

1. Jashaun already has a strong following, rooting for him to eventually be a star in the NBA. He has been featured on ABC World News Tonight, a local news station, CBS sports, Good Morning America, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Corporations will start to take notice, if they have not already done so…and so will universities and agents. The work that Jashaun’s parents are putting in now may eventually lead to big bucks.
2. Can it get too be too much, though? Will Jashaun get overwhelmed by it all before he has a chance to truly show his skills on a large stage? Only time will tell.

In the mean time, his family is generating some great press for their talented son. I would love to have the chance to represent a kid with that type of talent once he becomes of age. While I will maintain an ethical position and refrain from offering incentives to Jashaun and his family, will all agents do the same? I am optimistic and hope that agents will keep their distance and Jashaun’s family will be wise enough to put up a barrier in order to protect their son’s future.

What good can come out of this scenario? Initially, it seems like Michael Avery and his family will get some good press. How long it lasts is another question. I doubt any shoe companies are calling him to endorse their products…he may get a single high school game on TV if ESPN2 thinks he is special. And I am sure that a few agents will start hawking Avery’s parents, which cannot be a pleasant thing when your child is 15-years-old.

So why do this? I would try to reach Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie, but he is unable to respond because of NCAA rules…the same NCAA rules that ridiculously allow a college program to grant a scholarship offer to an 8th grader.