Mom Embarrasses Top Basketball Prospect on Court! when Should Mom Cut the Apron Strings?

According to Rivals.yahoo.com, Devonta Pollard is the nation's 2012 rising star basketball player. He is ranked as the No. 6 top college basketball recruit. Devonta is a small framed senior who is quickly becoming the top choice for coachs seeking their next star players. Devonta is being scouted to play on some of the major teams for schools such as Duke, Georgetown, Kentucky and numerous others.

During a recent tournament in which a bounty of the nations top recruting agents and many top college coaches were in attendance, Devonta's mother, Jessie Pollard, decided his making two consecutive on court errors while playing was enough to pull him from the game. She also decided to openly chastise him for those errors.

Jessie Pollard is not a coach, assistant coach nor does she have any position of authority as a subordinate coach on the team. She is simply, Devonta's mother. Jessie, however knows being the mother of Southern Phenoms AAU Squads most promising player gives her a bit of leverage. She figures it gave her the right to make such a drastic move?

Jessie literally walked out onto the court and pulled Devonta off the floor. The video showing Jessie removing Devonta from the game can be watched here.

She later was quoted telling a source from Prep Rally that "It's hard to play a whole ball game, so I had to take him out to calm him down."

Jessie Pollard is not completely unaware of the game and its challenges. She has some experience behind her. She was once the number 4 pick for now defunct Womens Professonal Basketball League. She also stands an imposing 6' 2 inches tall.

However, the question that should comes to mind here is when does a parent, a mother or father back away and allow a child to saddle the horse and ride independently? When should mom back off and allow children to grow up and become adults.

It's clear that Devonta was embarrassed by his mothers on court actions. It's also clear that the coaches and recruitors were wondering what in the world was this woman doing? Will this act have any affect on the college scouts selection process? Will it scare them off?

Devonta is quickly heading into adulthood. For all practical purposes and by American standards, he is a man. He has to be allowed to make his own decisions. He must be able to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. If he becomes upset because of a mistake made, he must learn to get over the mistake and move on. He is no longer a little one looking for mom to move in and kiss his finger for him and make everything alright. It's time for mom to back off and allow Devonta to grow up, stand on his own and become a man.

Her actions definitely made an impact. Whether that impact will affect Devonta's future prospects or not is at this point, totally at the discretions of the observers. However, Devonta's becoming a man and learning how to deal with his future problems is the question that needs to be addressed.

It does not matter whether Jessie has experience, a background in the sport or is 6'2 inches tall'l She overstepped her bounds. She is Devonta's mother. She is not his coach or assistant coach. She had no right to make any moves on the court. If she felt she wanted to guide her son, she should have waited until he returned home. Then, in the privacy of her home, she should have spoken with him, discussed and counseled him regarding his on-court performance.

It's time to cut the cord and let Devonta become a man. She has helped him become the young man he is today. She can be very proud of his accomplishments. However, his accomplishments can be diminshed if she does not back off now and allow him to make mistakes, learn from and correct those mistakes on his own.