The College Recruiting Arms Race Reaches Its Natural Conclusion

Josh Selby is one of the last blue chip recruits yet to commit to a school for the fall. That changes tonight, at the Jordan Brand Classic, where Selby will announce his selection live on national TV.

The Baltimore product is in the top 10 on every list of prospects, and certainly one of the top two or three PGs in the country. He's narrowed down his list to Kansas, Kentucky, UConn, and Arizona has an outside shot (though with Brandon Knight heading to Kentucky, Kansas becomes the favorite). But the actual announcement is being used to drum up ratings for ESPN2's broadcast of the high school all-stars game tonight.

The little publicity stunt has raised some eyebrows, both for Selby's narcissism and for the artificial excitement they're trying to drum up. But I say, bring it on. Non-competitive, made-for-TV events have been part and parcel of the sports world for a long long time.

Why televise the World Cup draw? How did the MLB Network do so well over the winter? Why put the NFL draft on TV — for three days? You can find out the results just as well by reading about them. It's because when a sport is out of season, we'll watch anything tangentially related to it. It reminds us of what's to come.

So if you want to know where a high school kid is going to spend his next year (and no more), by all means tune in tonight. If not, it's no biggie. You can read about it tomorrow.

Colleges Wait to Hear Their Name Called by Elite Recruit [NY Times]

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