Memo to Top 100 Harvard Basketball Recruits: Why?

Several decades ago (give or take one, perhaps), I had a conversation with a friend who was a very good Ivy League basketball player. He had mentioned that his high school, a basketball powerhouse, had a player who had succeeded him at his position and who was drawing national attention. North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA, to name a few, were hot after this player. My friend also offered another tidbit: "And the thing of it is, his grades and scores are better than mine."Which drew the following automatic response from me: "So why doesn't he go to your school?"My friend laughed. "If you could really play, why would you play where I do?"I tried to talk about the benefits of an Ivy education, that sometimes an Ivy school could have a breakthrough, perhaps get to the Round of 16, but my friend wasn't buying what I was selling. He had gone Ivy and done well, but he lacked foot speed and a jumper to go to a big-time school, despite the reputation of his ...