In early 1891, the Canadian-American Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball at a YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts. On February 24th, 1893, just 14 months after Naismith invented the sport, the first high school basketball game was played in Chicago, Illinois between a West Side YMCA team and Morgan Park Academy. The YMCA was responsible for initially developing and spreading the game, and by 1895 basketball was well established at several women's high schools across the country.
This was short lived however, as high school basketball began to lose its popularity due to the YMCA discouraging the sport because of its rough play and rowdy crowds. Other amateur sports clubs, professional clubs, and colleges quickly began to fill the void, and in 1898 the first professional league was formed, the National Basketball League (NBL). Soon after in 1901, colleges such as the University of Chicago, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and the U.S. Naval Academy to name a few, began sponsoring men's basketball.
Chuck Taylor: 1901-1969
Fast forward another five years, and by 1906 basketball was once again in the good graces of high schools all across the nation. During the first few decades of the 20th century, basketball quickly became the ideal interscholastic sport due to its modest equipment and personnel requirements. While the popularity of high school basketball was unrivaled in many parts of America, the organizing of events, camps, and All-American games to help determine the top recruits in the country would still be a few years away.
On June 6th, 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was founded. Three years later in 1949, the BAA and the National Basketball League (NBL) would merge into the greatest basketball league in the world today, the NBA. Now I bring this up because ironically 1949 is also the year when the top high school basketball players in the country began to be recognized and ranked.
Before there were McDonald's All-Americans, before there were Parade All-Americans, there were Chuck Taylor All-Americans in the high school prep ranks. These players were among the very best in the nation and selected to participate in a summertime all-star event called the "North-South Cage Classic" held in Murray, Kentucky in the late 1940's throughout the mid 1950's.
After the week-long event concluded, five players were chosen as "All-Americans" and one player labeled "Mr. Basketball", essentially becoming the No.1 recruit in the nation. Now let me preferisce this by saying, diversity was clearly an issue during this era, so not all of the best players in the country were chosen to participate in the event; i.e. Wilt Chamberlain (1955), Oscar Robertson (1956), to name a few.
Mason Cope c/o 1949: First No. 1 Recruit
Some of the resources used in putting together this list of all the No. 1 high school basketball recruits in the country over the past seventy-two years were as follows; 2020-1998: Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI); 1997-1957: Street & Smith Magazine, Prep Stars Handbook, The Hoopscoop, and all of the HS Basketball National All-American & Player of the Year selections from various publications; 1956-1949: Chuck Taylor All-Americans.
Since there are 12 current NBA players plus 2 futureNBA 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 his career plays out. Please note that these rankings are based solely on a players professional career as opposed to their high school & college careers. The future potential of a few current NBA players was also taken into consideration when ranking these players.
A few tidbits about these rankings; Illinois (9) led the way as the state with the most players represented, followed by New York (6), and a number of other states with five. The college with the most No. 1 recruits of all-time is NorthCarolina (4), with Brad Daugherty c/o 1982 being UNC's top player (imo). Nine No.1 recruits went directly to the NBA from high school, while 2 more in Moses Malone c/o 1974 (ABA) and Brandon Jennings c/o 2008 (Italy), chose different paths. The tallest No. 1 recruit of all time is 7'4'' Ralph Sampson c/o 1979, while the shortest player is 6'0'' Kenny Anderson c/o 1989. There are currently 20 former No. 1 recruits inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Only four No. 1 recruits didn't go onto play professional basketball; Bill Raftery c/o 1959 became a coach, and yes it's THAT BillRaftery. Bruce Brothers c/o 1952 & Mason Cope c/o 1949 enlisted in the military, and Earl Adkins c/o 1953 just wasn't good enough. So...with that being said, here are Prospect-Central's rankings of every No. 1 high school basketball recruit of all-time!!!Click players name for social media feed, Wikipedia page, college & pro stats, HS profile, videos.
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