BOSTON – In the wake of recent announcements by high-schoolers Amare Stoudemire and Lamar Cooke, Mike "Mikey" Cole, a student-athlete at Philips Elementary School, has decided to skip his third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth grades, and his Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years of college, and make himself eligible for the NBA Draft.

"I want to be like the basketball men," Cole, 7, said at a news conference in between running and hiding behind his parents, Tom and Sheila Cole. "Um, I like the basketball and, um, it is fun and last year I wanted to be a fireman because, um, firemen get to ride in the big trucks and ring the bells and make the sirens go really loud but, um, now I like the basketball game and hope to make a million trillion zillion dollars."

Hearing this last statement, agent Richard Brady of Laguna, CA-based IMG, smiled, gave the boy a mini Butterfinger bar, ruffled Mikey's hair, and added, "But it’s not about the money for Mikey, folks. He’s in it for the love of the game."

Cole, a 3’ 6" guard on the St. Paul’s CYO team, doesn’t scream when the ball comes near him, and can sometimes lift the heavy ball high enough onto his shoulder to get a shot off after ten running steps. "He’s the most elite athlete in the eight-and-under league," said St. Paul's Coach, Tom Sprague. "He knows which uniforms his teammates are in. He runs around in fast circles without getting to dizzy. And he usually shoots the ball within six or seven feet of the rim with a good heave-ho."

Sprague shook his head in obvious admiration. "It’s time for Mikey to take it to the next level. You know, after skipping the next fourteen levels."

While the NCAA recently altered its eligibility rules to allow high school players to be drafted, provided they have a diploma, there have been no such amendments regarding grade-schoolers. Not yet anyway, according to Brady. "We think Mikey’s drafting will open the door for other prepubescent, mentally- and physically-undeveloped children to make the leap straight to the NBA," he said.

"Mikey’s the Kevin Garnett of the ‘Teletubbies’ generation."

With six high school stars drafted in 2001, and four of them -- Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and DeSagana Diop – chosen in the top eight picks, it’s clear the NBA is experiencing a youth movement. And Mikey is excited to join them. "Mommy and daddy said I can have ice cream after I talk to the microphones, but my stupid sister Jenna can’t because she’s not a basketball star and, um, I’ll only sign a guaranteed deal for K.G. money and Phil Knight better be tossing me some monster endorsement ducats or else I'lI sign with Adidas for some serious bling-bling, yo."

Mikey dribbling more or less in the right direction during a recent 6-2 victory.

Just one of the many treats that Mikey daydreamed about during his press conference.