Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 08/22/2011 at 9:48 AM News

The Popdust Files: diddy

Remember a few months back when Diddy tweeted out a football highlight package of his son Justin playing the cornerback position, in the hopes of snaring a recruit from a major program? Well, evidently someone was watching, as Justin now has his undergrad ticket punched—and by a decently respectable one, at that. The New York Post reports that Combs has received a scholarship offer from UCLA—an offer he appears to be weighing over similar pitches supposedly made by Iowa, Illinois and West Virginia, as Justin and Pops visited the LA campus last week.

Would he get much burn as a Bruin? Well, when Justin’s initial sizzle reel was posted by his father, we had a college scout evaluate the tape, and he said that while Justin “shows good skills,” his relative lack of size “will be a liability to getting on the field.” Still, our scout correctly predicted that no matter what his abilities, Combs would be able to attract interest from a Division 1 team on name recognition alone. “With 25 scholarships to give every year,” our scout explained, “Coaches aren’t afraid to burn one on a player that might not be set to crack the starting lineup simply for the ancillary benefits it might provide a program.” Like a new team yacht for post-game unwinding, perhaps? We’re just saying, Diddy probably has a couple to spare…

Anyway, congrats to young Justin, and we hope to see him getting in the heads of USC quarterbacks before too long.