Aaden Baldwin wants other high school football players to beware of an ongoing scam in recruiting. He received a suspicious phone call from an unknown number that was pretending to be Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham.
It was not.
Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens more often than it should in the modern era of college football recruiting. Athletes often share their personal information on the internet, which sets them up to be contacted by people who are not who they say they are.
Who is Aaden Baldwin?
There were not many freshman who played better than Aaden Baldwin in 2025. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound 15-year-old plays for Deltona High School in central Florida. It is located about 45 minutes north of Orlando with a total enrollment of ~1,700 students.
The Wolves compete in Class 4A, District 6. They went 5-6 last year.
However, Baldwin was a serious bright spot during his first season. He ran for 439 rushing yards on 46 carries (9.5 yards per carry) out of the backfield and finished with more than 1,000 all-purpose yards. He also made 34 tackles with four forced fumbles.
Although Baldwin is only going to be a sophomore in the fall, schools all over the country have him on their radar. Florida State, Syracuse, Bethune Cookman and Samford already extended scholarship offers. They see the potential and wanted in early on his recruitment. That list of offers will only continue to grow if he can continue to produce these same kinds of numbers over the next two seasons.
In the meantime, he must be prepared to weed out the scammers. It sounds like he is already 1-for-1.
Kenny Dillingham did NOT offer him a scholarship during a college football recruiting scam.
Aaden Baldwin, like many top prospects, has a page on social media that is singularly dedicated to recruiting. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of his parents or guardians helps to run the account, as is often the case with this kind of thing.
Nevertheless, Baldwin lists his personal cellphone number in his profile bio. Anyone can call him up at any time.
That includes the con artists.
Baldwin received a phone call from a number he did not know on late Tuesday night. The person on the other end of the phone said that he wanted to offer him a scholarship after seeing his film on X and claimed to be Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham. When the Florida-based athlete pushed back on the caller, he got cussed out.
Mind you, Dillingham would not be calling from an 818 area code, which is attached to the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. Nor would he be calling a rising sophomore.
College football coaches are not allowed to make contact with a prospective student-athlete until the 15th of June after their sophomore season. Dillingham would’ve been in violation of NCAA rules if it was really him who called. It wasn’t. It was a scam.