NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Sneaker deals. Recruiting scandals. Nationally televised games in front of a full house of fans and pro scouts. High school sports is becoming a big business.

And because of the potential money at stake - to schools, to athletes, and to the sporting industries' broadcasters and other suppliers - there's likely no putting the genie back in the bottle.

LeBron James is surrounded by media after leading his high school team to victory in a nationally televised game Thursday.

Just look at the game last Thursday night in Cleveland where LeBron James, the star high school basketball player heralded as the next Michael Jordan, led his team from Akron to a victory over the nation's No. 1 team from Virginia. The contest was nationally televised on ESPN2.

James' St. Vincent-St. Mary's high school team has uniforms and sneakers provided by Adidas, has guaranteed fees for appearing in road games around the country and has some of its games broadcast pay-per-view on Ohio cable systems.

James has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and USA Today, and is expected to be the National Basketball Association's No. 1 draft pick, with an $11 million, three-year contract and millions in shoe and other endorsement contracts, ahead. You can already buy LeBron James bobblehead dolls on eBay for $103. Four tickets to an upcoming game were going for $300 on eBay as well.

The school doesn't seem to be faring too badly either, although St. Vincent-St. Mary Principal David Rathz denies the school is seeing a huge windfall from the LeBron James experience. He says the school only moved games to a 5,000-seat college arena and agreed to pay-per-view broadcasts in order to grant the access demanded by fans. He said that this was the first year the school requested and received the guaranteed appearance fee for road games, and that it has yet to see any money from the cable broadcasts.

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Yet the $5,200 a year school now has more applicants than positions available in its incoming class, something that wasn't the case before James. But Rathz denies James is the major factor for the increased interest and says its admissions standards have not changed.

"Having someone that much of a superstar is an attraction to a lot of little kids, alumni who want to get an autograph," he said. "In terms of bringing kids to school, don't think he has been an attraction. Attention he's gotten outside these five counties does us no good (in terms of attendance)."

But with the attention has come criticism from some who see high school sports sinking into the dollar-driven morass of college athletics.

"It's so outlandish, it's ridiculous," said Ohio High School Athletic Association Commissioner Clair Muscaro, who admits he's powerless to stop any of the moves towards commercialism he's seeing in his state.

"I think the young man is being exploited," he said. "And my concern is also for the thousands of wannabes out there. You've got parents counting on their sons or their daughters getting scholarships or signing a $1 million contract. It's amazing to me the number of transfers that take place for athletic reasons."

Thursday's basketball court battle is only one sign of the dollars involved. Another is a federal court battle about 500 miles to the south in Nashville. Brentwood Academy, a private high school considered to be an athletic powerhouse, is challenging rules from the state association on contact with middle school athletes.

Brentwood is accused of recruiting eighth graders. Academy officials insist they were only contacting students who had already signed to attend the school about spring football practices.

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"The issue is not whether there should be recruiting," insists Headmaster Curt Masters. "This rule was overly vague. We want a better rule, one that controls the things you're concerned about and I'm concerned about."

But Brentwood has fought this legal battle over five years at a cost of $2 million, already taking the case once to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Indiana University Professor Murray Sperber, a leading critic of major college sports, is an expert witness for the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association in the case. He says that if Brentwood wins, it establishes legal precedents that make it far more difficult to control recruiting of promising middle school and high school athletes.

"Other high school associations are watching it very closely," Sperber said. "This case might not do it by itself. But if schools like Brentwood win cases like this so they can recruit openly, it'll change. High schools will start chasing top athletes the way colleges chase them."

Sperber and other critics worry the threat will become even greater if school choice advocates win widespread use of school vouchers to allow students to select schools outside their own community or neighborhood.

"You're going to see a big push in metro areas for open enrollment, magnet schools, whatever you want to call it," predicted Bowling Green State University Professor Dean Purdy, who teaches a course on the sociology of sports. "There are positive arguments to be made for this, but it will be driven by athletics coaches who bend rules to gain an advantage."

There are many positive things from the college experience that can be introduced to high school. But just because the money is available for big-time sports programs doesn't mean that should be one.