Written by: Prospect-Central --Boys HS Basketball: Ranking Every No. 1 Recruit of All-Time (c/o 1949-2020) In early 1891, the Canadian-American Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball at a YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1892, just one year after Naismith invented the sport, the first women'sbasketball game was played at Smith College in North Hampton, Massachusetts. In 1896, the first women's high school basketball game was played in Chicago, Illinois between Chicago Austin and Oak Park high school. For the first few decades of its existence, the rules of the game of basketball were quite different for women than men and in 1895 the first official rules for women's "Basquette" were published by Clara Gregory Baer. In 1901, Spalding issued another variation of women's basketball rules, establishing 3 zones with 5-10 players per team. The initial reasoning behind these variation of rules was the full court game was thought to be too strenuous for young females (smh).
Senda Berenson Abbot: Pioneer of women's basketball
Women have fought many uphill battles in society throughout time, and being allowed to play competitive basketball was no different. Wisconsin banning girls basketball from 1927 to 1967 is just one example.
In 1924, the Olympics included women's basketball, only as an exhibition event however. Two-years later in 1926, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) held the first national tournament for women's basketball, with 6 teams participating. In 1929, the AAU selected its first women's All-American team. By 1938, the three zones in women's basketball was reduced to two in all competition, but it would still take a few years before all of women's basketball was played 5 v 5. In 1955 the first Pan-American Games included women's basketball, with USA winning the gold. In 1966, rule changes finally allowed schools to try regulation 5 v 5 in women's basketball, but it was actually in 1994 when the last state (Indiana) abandoned 6 v 6 women's basketball for good. In 1972 TitleIX was enacted, requiring federally-funded schools to fund women's sports equitably, which included teams, scholarships, recruitment, and media coverage. In 1976 women's basketball finally became an official Olympic sport, with the Soviet Union defeating USA for the gold. In 1978 the WadeTrophy was established to honor the top women's collegiate basketball player in the country. Montclair State's CarolBlazejowski was the first recipient. In 1980, Blazejowski would go onto win the first USAWB Female Athlete of the Year award as well.
Margaret Wade: One of the 1st women inducted into Bball HOF
In 1982, the first NCAA women's basketball tournament was held in Norfolk, Virginia. Louisiana Tech would defeat Cheyney 76-62 to win the first ever championship. Louisiana Tech's Janice Lawrence Braxton would be named Most Outstanding Player (MOP).
In 1985, Senda Berenson Abbot, L. Margaret Wade, and Bertha F. Teague were the first women inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1987, the Naismith High School Basketball Player of the Year award was established, with Ventura, California's Lynne Lorenzen being the first girls recipient. There have been a number of women's professional basketball leagues established over time in this country, but they would ultimately all fail. That was until 1996 of course, when the NBA created the greatest women's league in the world today, the WNBA. The legendary SherylSwoopes would be the first player signed by the WNBA, while CynthiaCooper would take home the first two WNBA MVP's, as well as the first four Final MVP's. Now while both those players may have had basketball careers of epic proportions, they weren't the top recruits coming out of their class in high school. That honor belongs to the ladies listed below. Please note; since there are 15 current WNBA players, plus 5 future WNBA players incorporated throughout these rankings, this is obviously a fluid list as a player could theoretically move up or down depending on how the rest of her career plays out. The future potential of a few current WNBA & collegiate players was also taken into consideration when putting together these rankings. So...with that being said, here are Prospect-Central's rankings of the past 50 years of girls high school basketball No. 1 recruits!!!Click players name for social media feed, Wikipedia page, stats, info, & videos.
(50)NinaSmith c / 6'4'' 230 / Waterloo, IA / Iowa State / 1999
