The University of Tennessee extended a scholarship offer to 6-foot-5, 255 pound Daniel Hood of Knoxville Catholic High School. Hood has solid grades, a great ACT score, hasn't gotten in trouble in high school, and is a three-star recruit. There's just one problem: At the age of 13 he was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and the rape of his first cousin with a toilet plunger after covering 70 percent of her body with duct tape. Hood later appealed the conviction, which the appeals court rejected.On Tuesday, Hood signed scholarship papers with Tennessee, and the university immediately began the public relations campaign to justify his admission. University president Mike Hamilton, coach Lane Kiffin, and the head of public relations for the university all issued statements on the signing. So did officials at Knoxville Catholic High School and Daniel Hood. But Hood's conviction raises a couple of intriguing questions, can you do something so bad at 13 that you don't deserve a second chance? And do sports really even qualify as a second chance? Especially when playing sports for the University of Tennessee is a privilege, not a right.
(Warning: Court transcripts after the jump involve mature language.)
