OT: Whatever happened to "The CITY GAME"? Riverside Church bball

[DoctorBombay]

Interesting and informative article about the rise and fall of AAU bball in NYC, especially Riverside Church and the Gauchos.
If you ever wondered where all that NYC talent that used to go to SJU disappeared to, well...

http://blacktopxchange.com/2013/08/...itys-riverside-church-aau-basketball-dynasty/

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Great article. I didn't realize that Ernie Loach had died. You knew those teams were too good to be true, but that was when NYC basketball was at it's finest (with apologies to the 1950's). Now, a lot of top players end up at prep schools or in Jersey, so the senior talent isn't so prominent.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Yeah, I'd heard about the Lorch "scandal" and when he was booted.
A close friend used to rep NIKE at Riverside during the heyday in the '80's, and Lorch was the King of NYC bball.
Actually, I think prep schools got more involved once Prop 48 came into effect, taking all the marginally academic talent out of NYC and to places in New Hampshire, Mass, CT, RI, etc. Thats where the farm system evolved.
MD and mid-Atlantic kids like Melo now end up at places like Oak Hill, kids out West end up at places like Findlay Prep which is basically a farm system set up by some rich dude to harvest & develop talent.
Now you see prep schools all over the country and its become big business.