Whatever happened to recruiting athletes from the hood?

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

Good articles

I think the best talent still comes from hood areas. They just get derailed along the way. Every pro athlete from a rough area always talks about 3-4 guys their age who were better.
Kids with more stable household and environment have better support system to nurture them.

Also, the hood used to protect kids with any kind of talent. Now guys who had the ability to be first round picks stay in the mix of street shyt, just like the kids with limited options do.

We used to run PAL track, and our star runner was from West Kinney Projects. We dropped him off once, mob swarmed him and said they wouldn't let him in his building if he didn't have a trophy. He pulled out the 1st place trophy and the ENTIRE block celebrated and carried him on their shoulders.

The "'hood" generally doesn't nurture talent ...the "neighborhood" does.

The periods when black city neighborhoods produced wonderful talent, largely occurred prior to the Crack Era (roughly pre-1990).

The Crack Era transforms black city neighborhoods into so-called "'hoods," where random violence and danger made "I Got Next" pickup games mostly obsolete.

You can drive around NYC/NJ today and see outdoor courts where crowds of games gathered 40 years ago, now almost empty, with maybe a handful of kids shooting baskets, and Latinos kicking the soccer ball around under hoops.

AAU has converted black bball into a system of elites: suburban black kids trained by their parents who themselves played college or pro ball; rare urban athletic marvels with size/speed; and kids imported from West Africa with size/speed who can pick up the game quickly (see the Paterson Eastside recruiting mess - Paterson Eastside recruiting scandal brought changes during past year -Paterson NJ Eastside recruiting scandal brought changes in past year).

In NJ, the Newarks, East Oranges and Irvingtons have mostly given way to the elite players from the suburbs like Karl Anthony Towns, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Anderson, Jahvon Quinerly, Ron Harper, Jr, Bryce Aiken.

 

[getmoney310cpt]

only exception is sometimes a good that’s an athlete from the hood can go to a camp and shine against the other talent... and they’ll see him late....

This is exactly how Wall got to the league, went to that Reebok exposure camp that anybody can pay to go to and killed, got invited to the top 100 camp and came out that number 1 player in country when was unranked before that..shyt had all of us in awe how fast he ascended after that lol

 

[concise]

I haven't been paying attention but I really don't know who the last Lebron single mother with no father around get out the mud type. I'm sure there is some but on draft night it seems like most these dudes have both parents in their lives and seems to come from stable homes.

Even then, I don't think Lebron counts for this discussion since he was found early, played AAU, and went to a private high school.

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

Playground Basketball Is Dying

Once and American staple, hoops on blacktops across the United States has all but faded away.
by Myron Metcalf and Dana O'Neill for ESPN
7.23.2014

Medcalf & O'Neil: Playground basketball is dying

AT RUCKER PARK in New York, people sat on rooftops and climbed trees to watch Julius Erving play. In Louisville, Kentucky, Artis Gilmore would pull up in his fancy car, still wearing his fancy suits, and just ball. Kevin Durant first measured the worth of his game on the D.C. playgrounds, and Arthur Agee chased his hoop dream in Chicago. The Philadelphia outdoor courts once boasted a who's who of the city's best ballers, and in Los Angeles, playground legends with names such as Beast, Iron Man and Big Money Griff played on the same concrete as Magic and Kobe.

That was then, a then that wasn't all that long ago.

Now? Now the courts are empty, the nets dangling by a thread. The crowds that used to stand four deep are gone, and so are the players. Once players asked "Who's got next?" Now the question is "Anyone want to play?" And the answer seems to be no, at least not here, not outside.

Playground basketball, at least as we knew it, is dying.

"That's gone now, all of it is gone," said former University of Maryland star Ernie Graham, who honed his game on the playgrounds of D.C. and Baltimore.

There is no single cause. The best players, young and old, want to be inside instead of out; they want organized games to showcase their skills, not pickup games to earn street cred. Violence has chased people off playgrounds and out of parks, and NBA and NCAA rules limit when and where guys can play in the offseason.

 

[Big Boss]

A lot of you guys are mentioning kids being taken out of the hoods and put into prep schools young and that's definitely true. But what I think also is going on is a lot of these top prospects straight up aren't hood kids at all. They're the kids of middle class and up former athletes. These people have the genetics, know how and means to provide top notch training, couching, and marketing to get their kids to the next level.

It seems like every recruiting cycle there's a child whose mother was a former ball player or father was a former ball player or father was a Lavar Ball type (with less notoriety).

RJ Barrett's mother was a former pro ball player. Andrew Wiggins folks were in the NBA and Olympics, Ja Morant's pops was a high school teammate of Ray Allen and played semi-pro, Marvin Bagley pops played in the AFL, Cole Anthony is Greg Anthony's son, Ball brothers, Ben Simmons father the NBL

I haven't been paying attention but I really don't know who the last Lebron single mother with no father around get out the mud type. I'm sure there is some but on draft night it seems like most these dudes have both parents in their lives and seems to come from stable homes.

Even lebron went to a private white high school

 

[Whips-n-Chains]

Draymond and D-Rose were from the hood and went to Saginaw Hill and Simeon which have produced many notable professional athletes.

but the era of someone going to a random hood HS and coming out a 5* is over with and has been for decades. Arthur Hill and Simeon are destinations for local talent compared to your average HS in the hood

there are some others that are more unknowns in HS like Chris Douglas Roberts. Went to Public Schools (Cass Tech is like Simeon and Arthur Hill tho with multiple pros)

 

[010101]

Playground Basketball Is Dying

Once and American staple, hoops on blacktops across the United States has all but faded away.
by Myron Metcalf and Dana O'Neill for ESPN
7.23.2014

Medcalf & O'Neil: Playground basketball is dying

AT RUCKER PARK in New York, people sat on rooftops and climbed trees to watch Julius Erving play. In Louisville, Kentucky, Artis Gilmore would pull up in his fancy car, still wearing his fancy suits, and just ball. Kevin Durant first measured the worth of his game on the D.C. playgrounds, and Arthur Agee chased his hoop dream in Chicago. The Philadelphia outdoor courts once boasted a who's who of the city's best ballers, and in Los Angeles, playground legends with names such as Beast, Iron Man and Big Money Griff played on the same concrete as Magic and Kobe.

That was then, a then that wasn't all that long ago.

Now? Now the courts are empty, the nets dangling by a thread. The crowds that used to stand four deep are gone, and so are the players. Once players asked "Who's got next?" Now the question is "Anyone want to play?" And the answer seems to be no, at least not here, not outside.

Playground basketball, at least as we knew it, is dying.

"That's gone now, all of it is gone," said former University of Maryland star Ernie Graham, who honed his game on the playgrounds of D.C. and Baltimore.

There is no single cause. The best players, young and old, want to be inside instead of out; they want organized games to showcase their skills, not pickup games to earn street cred. Violence has chased people off playgrounds and out of parks, and NBA and NCAA rules limit when and where guys can play in the offseason.

nyc summer scene the last real vibe left

the way we love hoops in the street is why thee.city is mecca

every corner a couple courts & few gyms young gawds breaking out the dance moves ha

*

 

[010101]

This is exactly how Wall got to the league, went to that Reebok exposure camp that anybody can pay to go to and killed, got invited to the top 100 camp and came out that number 1 player in country when was unranked before that..shyt had all of us in awe how fast he ascended after that lol

reebok not being a factor like they should don't sit right with me

they tied to too much history on every level of hooping

streets preps pros

they need someone to go & make that shyte right

*

 

[FukkaPaidEmail]

Draymond and D-Rose were from the hood and went to Saginaw Hill and Simeon which have produced many notable professional athletes.

but the era of someone going to a random hood HS and coming out a 5* is over with and has been for decades. Arthur Hill and Simeon are destinations for local talent compared to your average HS in the hood

there are some others that are more unknowns in HS like Chris Douglas Roberts. Went to Public Schools (Cass Tech is like Simeon and Arthur Hill tho with multiple pros)

I don’t think Cass really fits ..They’re a destination school that does their fair share of recruiting . More so football wise though

 

[Mr Hate Coffee]

Playground Basketball Is Dying

Once and American staple, hoops on blacktops across the United States has all but faded away.
by Myron Metcalf and Dana O'Neill for ESPN
7.23.2014

Medcalf & O'Neil: Playground basketball is dying

AT RUCKER PARK in New York, people sat on rooftops and climbed trees to watch Julius Erving play. In Louisville, Kentucky, Artis Gilmore would pull up in his fancy car, still wearing his fancy suits, and just ball. Kevin Durant first measured the worth of his game on the D.C. playgrounds, and Arthur Agee chased his hoop dream in Chicago. The Philadelphia outdoor courts once boasted a who's who of the city's best ballers, and in Los Angeles, playground legends with names such as Beast, Iron Man and Big Money Griff played on the same concrete as Magic and Kobe.

That was then, a then that wasn't all that long ago.

Now? Now the courts are empty, the nets dangling by a thread. The crowds that used to stand four deep are gone, and so are the players. Once players asked "Who's got next?" Now the question is "Anyone want to play?" And the answer seems to be no, at least not here, not outside.

Playground basketball, at least as we knew it, is dying.

"That's gone now, all of it is gone," said former University of Maryland star Ernie Graham, who honed his game on the playgrounds of D.C. and Baltimore.

There is no single cause. The best players, young and old, want to be inside instead of out; they want organized games to showcase their skills, not pickup games to earn street cred. Violence has chased people off playgrounds and out of parks, and NBA and NCAA rules limit when and where guys can play in the offseason.

This feels like an exaggeration. Playgrounds still poppin around here. Talent level might have went down tho.

 

[Whips-n-Chains]

I don’t think Cass really fits ..They’re a destination school that does their fair share of recruiting . More so football wise though

yea I get exactly what you saying. Same goes for Simeon and the Saginaw schools too. But Cass and Simeon are well known

 

[IsThatBrothaMouzone?]

Athletes don't even go to hood schools like that no more. Nowadays you got schools from the suburbs taking the talent out of the hoods/ghettos and bringing them to their schools. I know it happens a lot in Texas

Yep.

Used to be in Dallas that you could recruit Madison, Lincoln, Skyline and Carter high schools and pull a gang of athletes in South Dallas/PG/Oak Cliff etc.

Now, the children of that generation live in the nice southern burbs with other middle class blacks....DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Duncanville etc. All the hood talent from the 80s and 90s is black suburban talent now. The hood schools are underpopulated because blacks have moved away. Hood schools with lots of kids are mostly Mexican now. Playoffs in soccer and baseball in Texas but trash at football, track and basketball.

 

[ISO]

The "'hood" generally doesn't nurture talent ...the "neighborhood" does.

The periods when black city neighborhoods produced wonderful talent, largely occurred prior to the Crack Era (roughly pre-1990).

The Crack Era transforms black city neighborhoods into so-called "'hoods," where random violence and danger made "I Got Next" pickup games mostly obsolete.

You can drive around NYC/NJ today and see outdoor courts where crowds of games gathered 40 years ago, now almost empty, with maybe a handful of kids shooting baskets, and Latinos kicking the soccer ball around under hoops.

AAU has converted black bball into a system of elites: suburban black kids trained by their parents who themselves played college or pro ball; rare urban athletic marvels with size/speed; and kids imported from West Africa with size/speed who can pick up the game quickly (see the Paterson Eastside recruiting mess - Paterson Eastside recruiting scandal brought changes during past year -Paterson NJ Eastside recruiting scandal brought changes in past year).

In NJ, the Newarks, East Oranges and Irvingtons have mostly given way to the elite players from the suburbs like Karl Anthony Towns, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Anderson, Jahvon Quinerly, Ron Harper, Jr, Bryce Aiken.

bullshyt the courts stay packed in the summer

I do agree with “hood” vs. “neighborhood” component and the pre-crack era argument though.

The hood’s influence is overstated what it’s mostly given us is legendary talented knuckleheads and could have beens.

Most of the All-Time greats have come from the prep, Catholic school pipeline even players from the hood and specific powerhouse public schools (Lincoln, Simeon). The suburbs been producing talent and a good chunk of the leagues best players in the 80’s and 90’s were from rural areas (Jordan, Pippen, Bird, Barkley, Malone, Robinson).

 

[UserNameless]

Brandon Ingram did all four years of high school at Kinston High.

Kinston stand up

 

[ReturnOfJudah]

Kid from a gutta public school in BR
Le'veon Moss, Istrouma Senior, Running Back