West Chester resident Norm Eavenson, a retired teacher from the Kennett Consolidated School District, has been unearthing hidden basketball talent for decades as a scout for dozens of college programs on the Division I level, writes Jesse Dougherty for The Washington Post.
Eavenson has a respected eye for talent, especially for players who have the potential to compete at the small-conference schools that capture the nation’s attention during the NCAA Tournament.
One school that uses his services is the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, which became the first No. 16 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in tournament history when it beat Virginia earlier this month.
There are 65 schools currently using Eavenson’s Middle Atlantic Recruiting Service, which provides breakdowns and lists of the region’s best college prospects.
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However, while recruiting services have been a mainstay for years, the evaluation process has been muddied by the hype surrounding youth basketball. Couple that with social media, and college coaches have endless noise to sift through.
Thus, trusted evaluators like Eavenson are critical in the recruiting process.
“I really just want to be a worthy second opinion for coaches seeking a lot of information on a kid,” he said. “Maybe I can help cut through the noise.”
Read more about Norm Eavenson in The Washington Post here.
