Recruiting history lesson

[The Fly]

Before 247, Rivals, Verbal Commits, ESPN and a bunch of other digitally based recruiting services — in other words, back in the dark ages — the gold standard for prep talent was Parade’s All-American list, typically consisting of three/four/five (it varied over the years) quintets. First-team All-American, second-team, etc.

In other words, the top 25 or so prep players in the nation.

What’s Parade, some of you youngsters ask? It was (is, though with a much smaller circulation now) a publication inserted into Sunday newspapers. The All-American listings started in the late 1950s and was phased out sometime in the 2000s as the McDonald’s All-American list supplanted it, along with the aforementioned recruiting services.

Anyway, knowing next year’s recruiting class is one of if not THE best (on paper) in program history, I wanted to see how it compared to previous classes.

These are the Flyers’ Parade All-Americans recruited by Blackburn and Donoher:

— Henry Burlong
— Roger Brown
— Bill Chmielewski
— Glinder Torain
— George Janky
— Mike Blevins
— Donald Smith

Brown is the only one to have been named to the Parade list twice. What’s most remarkable is only three of the seven spent their entire career at UD —Torain, Janky and Smitty.

I’m not trying to make any particular point here, but I thought it was interesting that we had several prep All-Americans choose UD way back when. We’ve never had a McD All-American, save for Ally Mallot on the women’s team.

Here’s hoping Holmes and company are as good as advertised.

	Don Donoher DON DONOHER Legendary Flyer men's basketball coach who guided Dayton to 435 victories in 25 seasons (1964-1989) including the 1967 NCAA Runner-Up. Took over the program after the passing of Tom Blackburn and earned many NCAA and NIT bids over his career, including five Sweet-16s, one Elite Eight appearance, and the 1968 NIT Championship. Groomed All-Americans Don May and Jim Paxson, along with all-time leading scorer Roosevelt Chapman. Coached UD as they joined conference affiliation for the first time (Midwest Collegiate). A graduate of UD, Donoher played for Blackburn and credits much of his coaching success to his mentor's teachings: defense, ball protection, patience, and unselfishness.

[Long Island FLYER]

I think I remember watching Roosevelt Chapman play in the Parade All-American game at MSG in 1980. It my have become the McDonald's game by then, but either way he belongs on the list. It was the summer before my senior year and I got a call from one of my friends from high school telling me to turn the game on because there was a kid lighting it up and the announcers said he was going to Dayton.

[David84]

I don't think Chapman played in the McD All-American game. His wiki page does not show his HS career. He tore up his knee sometime between junior year and senior year in HS, and he lost his scholarship to Georgetown. Because of the knee, I don't think he made the '80 All-American team. He still had a noticeable hitch in his stride freshman year at UD.

He and Paul Hawkins were good friends with my roommate sophomore year, so I was able to talk to them quite a bit during that year.

[The Fly]

Originally Posted by Long Island FLYER I think I remember watching Roosevelt Chapman play in the Parade All-American game at MSG in 1980. It my have become the McDonald's game by then, but either way he belongs on the list. It was the summer before my senior year and I got a call from one of my friends from high school telling me to turn the game on because there was a kid lighting it up and the announcers said he was going to Dayton.

Didn’t see Velvet on the Parade lists. He, Johnny Davis, Jim Paxson, Negele Knight and Tony Stanley were names I half expected to see but didn’t.

I did see that some of those Parade teams were 10 deep (first team, second, etc.), so these lists were more like a top 40 than top 25.

[Smitty10]

So what's the story with Mike Blevins? Saw he played one season for UD and then transferred to Jacksonville and he scored a total of 134 points his whole college career?

[The Fly]

Yeah, biggest surprise for me. Apparently was a hot shot out of Springboro, where his number was retired. Was on the Flyers’ 1968 NIT championship team but played very little. Transferred to Jacksonville and was a sub on their 1970 NCAA Final Four team with Artis Gilmore and Pembrook Burrows.