[Stardust]

I'm not sure what you are getting at. It's hard to imagine too many 8th graders being physically mature enough to compete, but if they ware better than the talent that is there, then play them NOW. There is nothing worse than stunting the potential of very good athletes by not playing them at the competition level that gets them to excel. If there are 8th graders head and shoulders above the 8th grade competition he is playing against, you are hurting that player! In small schools this is done all the time and it creates no problems at all! I'd also dare say that most every Division One player also was on their respective High School team as an 8th Grader. I remember well watching Chris Lofton as an 8th Grader for Mason County. I was very fortunate to see one of Chris's last High School games when he came Campbell County High School to play while Rick Pitino sat and watched. During that game, I got to see Darius Miller come off the bench, as an 8th grader, and he was the 2nd best player on the floor that night.