College hoops....less is becoming more!
Think about it.....the talent gaps are narrowing, and parity is becoming evident everywhere in college basketball. College hoop coaches recruit from all over the world. There are millions of kids playing basketball in the streets , gyms and playgrounds in this country alone...many dreaming of being NBA players when they grow up. By the time they get to High School---- many have aready been to summer basketball camps where they further develop skills and understandings of the game. If they are among the small percentage who demonstrate the talent in HS to play on the higher collegiate level most don't want to get "stacked" behind High School All-Americans at the Kentucky's, Kansas, Michigans', Duke's,and North Carolinas of the world so they go to the Al-Birms, the Nevadas, Xaviers, Manhattans, St. Joe's, E. Tenny States etc etc etc. and play at lesser recognized "hoop colleges" and conferences which (none-the -less) develop some outstanding teams with great individual players. The college recruiters "pitch" them that the pro scouts will find them if they are "seen", and they need to play to be "seen". They guarantee them they will play in their program! They'd rather play at Boston College or New Haven than sit at Connecticut. This is part of the process a kid goes through when deciding where he'll go to school, and this is why gaps are being closed between talent levels of teams and conferences-------and made especially evident in tournaments played on neutral courts like this NCAA "Big Dance". More and more "upsets" will be evident in these tourneys as time moves on because of the redistribution of the player talent that's been in progress. . The "top programs" in the country can only start 5 players at a time, and we all know some of the best high school players never even make it to college these days. "Hoop dreams" are alive and well, and represented in more colleges and conferences than ever before. When college teams that haven't bumped heads before------ meet on a neutral floor------ don't ever be too shocked by what the outcome might be

  by Thinkwin, 03-22-2004 -

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