David Sills, a seventh grader from Delaware, called USC Coach Lane Kiffin on Thursday and accepted his offer – he will play for University of Southern California in 2015. Hardly a difficult choice for Sills, who calls USC his dream school – but quite a step for a major player in the college football scene.
Schools have been reaching out to younger athletes of late, but is 13 just too young? Not according to Sills private football coach Steve Clarkson, who has mentored some of the best in the game including Matt Leinart, Jimmy Clausen and Matt Barkley. Clarkson told ESPN that “[Sills'] skill set is off the chart. I’ve never seen anyone at his age do what he’s been able to do.” At 13, Sills is already six feet tall and weighs 145 pounds. Not big enough to safely play college ball yet, but his coaches have no doubt he will be when he’s ready to graduate high school.
Sills came to Kiffin’s attention after Clarkson mentioned him casually on a phone call between the two coaches. Kiffin had called Clarkson to ask his opinion on another potential recruit. Clarkson said, “You might call me crazy, but you’ve known me a long time, right? And when I said there was going to be a LeBron James of football it’d be Jimmy Clausen and that turned out to be a pretty good prediction… …Well, I’ve got a kid now who is better than all of them and he’s in Delaware. ”
After looking a video of Sills on YouTube, Kiffin was sold. He offered Sills a scholarship hours later. 2015 is a long ways away, a lot can change. But for now, David Sills is living the dream.
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