Look it's not first hand from me but I do know the dude that told me this. He's been a ref for a long time. He's been hit up for his 2 cents on lots of kids over the years going back to kids like David Newman at Hoover in the late 90s and the Sears brothers from Ankeny when they were coming up. Take it for what it is...
My description of the 'typical North' kid is meant pretty much how Adam says. I won't say there's not a racial component but mostly it's financial. That school is the most diverse in the state and I bet it's the poorest of all the Dsm schools. His Mother isn't exactly mother of the year material and he's got an older brother that had a ton of talent that pissed it away. Right or wrong some evaluators see all that along with the other factors with the fact he's on the smaller side and just feel he's not worth the risk he'd be.
My take on the kid is he's explosive and has big time talent. He's had the highest level of players to go against and they can't slow him down. I feel it's totally unfair to hold against a kid what he has no control over. There's been plenty of kids from rough upbringings go on to do great things. I think if the kid isn't a total lost cause then as a coach you should have the confidence in yourself to help raise him up and get the most out of him. But some coaches get to the risk/reward aspect of it and just have different ways of looking at it...
