Basketball recruiting is a spectator sport these days. It was not always so. Back when I was a spry young lad we waited until we had seen a player play on the freshmen team before forming judgments.
We didn’t have much else to go on. Where did Bob Verga rank in the high-school class of 1963? How many stars did he have? Darned if I know. No one else knew either.
A few top prepsters gained national attention; Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry Lucas, Lew Alcindor, Tom McMillen. But not many.
Then came freshmen eligibility, the McDonald’s All-America team and game, AAU travel squads, recruiting experts, paid recruiting sites and all the rest.