Video: 9-year-old girl courted by college basketball team
A 9-year-old girl who is super skilled in basketball is being scouted by the University of Miami Coral Gables. Jaden Newman, who is in the fourth grade, currently plays on her local high school’s varsity squad.
She was sent an official recruitment letter and has already toured the campus.
“They showed me their basketball court and they showed me their campus,” Jaden told local ABC affiliate WPLG. “It was nice.”
Jaden, who at 4-foot-5 is a long way from her first dunk, first made headlines in January when she made the varsity team of her local high school, Downey Christian School, as point guard.
She began playing basketball at the age of 3 with her father Jamie Newman, who is now his daughter’s trainer.
Newman says he is both not surprised that his daughter is being recruited at the collegiate level nor worried that a college is looking at such a young player.
“If it’s a 9-year-old prodigy math whiz and he’s taking college courses, it’s okay,” Newman said. “So when it comes to athletics, it’s the same thing.”
Check out Jaden in action:
Jaden averages 14.8 points per game and 7.5 assists. Top level college sports teams have been increasingly looking at elementary schools for talent. They’ve even made offers to kids who have yet to decide which high school to attend.
“I just feel like a pretty normal fourth grader,” Jaden told WPLG. “I’m just going to keep practicing hard and keep doing what I’m doing now.”
Phenomenal!
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