[DALE]

That 1998 Tiger team seniors played in quite a few national tournaments during their 4 years in high school. The 1996 State Title team that went 28-10 played in Vegas against Mike Bibby(Arizona), they played in Delaware against Tayshaun, Lexington Catholic's tournament when they were able to get teams with players like Elton Brand(Duke), David Graves(Notre Dame), Harold Swannagan(Florida State lean but ended up at Notre Dame),St. Louis and also played one season at Vanderbilt. I'm sure JR has a much better list of venues and teams that they were able to play against but these are just a few off the top of my head. But when you play against those type of teams at high profile invitation only tournaments across the country, it had to help out in his recognition I believe. Being 6'10, playing on a top ranked state team for several years even at times ranked in the Top 20 in the nation, winning a state championship and state tourney MVP at a young age, winning the Gatorade KY Player of the year twice and being a Parade Magazine All-American didn't hurt either in winning Mr. Basketball. That's one thing you can say about Coach Runyon, when he had the horses in the stable, he took them across the nation and state to showcase the kids talents. Being in high school when JR was there at the open gyms, during school, or at games you could find Bob Knight, Billy Donovan, Rick Pitino and other high profile coaches at that time around watching these kids play. I must say during this era it was one of the best times in my life.

If a coach thinks a kid is flying under the radar he should take the team out of the area and play some of the better teams that have highly regarded players on them. Scouts at those games may take notice of the player's abilities and the buzz will start to get around. I would take my teams to the larger cities with college programs as often as I could in hopes that a scout would be there as well watching a local kid or team.