Everyone is aware by now that John Calipari's successor at Memphis, Josh Pastner, is young. He's 31. He looks about 23. But few probably know what Y! Sports writer Jason King reported in today's profile of Pastner. Get this: Pastner recruited Stephen Jackson when he was 14. No, not when Jackson was 14. When Pastner was.

After traveling 90 minutes to watch Stephen Jackson play in a ninth-grade game, Pastner approached the future NBA star’s mother in an attempt to convince her to let her son join his AAU squad, Houston Hoops.

“Well, ummm …,” a confused Judy Jackson said, “are there any adults involved? Where are your parents?”

Reasonable questions, to be sure. Pastner was only 14.

By the time he was 16, Pastner was given total control of Houston Hoops. He assumed the role of player/coach and was put in charge of fundraising, scouting, and team trips. His father trusted him to the point that he stopped going on trips with the team. Are we computing this? Is everyone getting this? This is nuts! This is one of those Bill Gates stories that begins with some nine-year-old wunderkind and ends with everybody in the world using Windows 95. Pastner is, apparently, that sort of prodigy.

Anyway, the whole story is worth a read, so go read it. There's plenty more insane anecdotal detail where that came from.

Related: C-USA Basketball