Issue Date: June 22, 2003
Where to look for the next LeBron James
Remember when college was a rite of passage for pro athletes? Sure, a few rogues such as Daryl Dawkins would skirt the system, but most players enrolled in classes a few years and proved themselves on the collegiate level.
Ever since Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant went directly from fitting a prom tux to fitting an NBA cap, it's been more difficult for hoops aficionados to glimpse rising stars. So where do you go now for stats on the next LeBron James, the phenom whose name surely will be the first called at Thursday's NBA draft?
I combed the Internet for high school all-star camp footage, game highlights and heavy analysis on hot prospects. My first stop was prepstars.com, a site loaded with recruiting info. Find out what colleges are fighting for whom and which players are considering the pros. There's even some streaming video, "but it's tough to get good high school video footage," says the site's editor, Rob Harrington. "The gyms are dark, video crews are expensive, and it's tough to be all over where these guys are playing."
That proved true as I dribbled around other amateur recruiting sites, such as rivals.com and hoopscooponline.com. They lacked video footage but did have a plethora of stats and insightful speculation. (By the way, these sites charge a fee.) Looking beyond Lebron, I found some 11th-graders who could make the leap. Keep an eye on Al Jefferson, a 6-foot-8 wide body from Mississippi; Sebastian Telfair, a lightning-quick point guard from Brooklyn; and LeMarcus Aldridge, a lanky 6-foot-11 center from Dallas. You may never get to check out these guys' moves during March Madness.
-- David Lipschultz
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