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no, there were no Bradley recruits on the team
only 2 Bradley players ever made a Parade AA team: Willie Betts('64 team) and LC Bowen ('65)
a brief history: Bradley and the Parade teams
The first Parade AA Basketball team was for the '56-'57 season(the Parade football AA team didn't begin until 1963)-no BU recruits that first year.
The 2nd Parade team '57-'58 surprisingly did not include Chet Walker, although Chet's Michigan arch-rival Dave DeBusshere did make it
Chico Vaughan-the leading scorer in Illinois State HS history somehow also was skipped for the squad. Vaughan was on campus and set to enroll at BU with Walker but skipped off campus the night before enrolling-ending up at SIU...by way of a stop at Dayton first(Vaughan is SIU all time leading scorer).
And there was no Tim Robinson the following year '58-'59-even though a junior named Lawrence Nixon 6'6 F from Galesburg made it...Robinson was considered the best HS player in the State.
The next season-'59-60, Nixon made it again-3rd team. The shock was the Rich Falk a guard from Galva didn't make it. Falk was one of the best players EVER in the State of Illinois. Bradley was heavily involved in recruiting Falk-the top scorer in the State(29.8 pt ave) + 5 games over 50 pts
BU thought they had Falk lined up to enroll (so did Iowa, apparently so did Notre Dame-Falk was All State QB in Football)....but Falk went to Northwestern-where an uncle was an Assistant AD
Falk,later the NW head coach, scored a record 49 pts vs Iowa just to rub it in
To make matters worse for Bradley-arch rival Cincinnati signed two of the members of that Parade AA 1st team that year-Ron Bonham from Indiana and George Wilson from Chicago Marshall....a guy by the name of Connie Hawkins from Brooklyn was also a 1st team AA that year, while a Junior from Crystal City, Mo named Bill Bradley was 2nd team
Cazzie Russell from Chicago Carver was a Parade AA in '61-'62.
BU wasn't involved with Cazzie but got his teammate Joe Allen the next season.
In 63-64 Willie Betts (5th team P AA from River Rouge, Mich) became Bradley's first Parade AA....a junior named Lew Alcindor made 1st team for the second straight year. Another member of the first team was Wes Unseld of Louisville fame
It was a bit of a surprise (locally at least) that Ron Wendelin of Limestone didn't make it. Wendelin was another recruit that BU was heavily after. In fact his Mom worked at Tobin's Drugstore on Main St-right down from the Campus. The BU Coach Stowell spent a lot of time buying coffee in at the lunch counter at Tobins-talking to Mom.....but Wendelin shocked everyone and signed with Duke
In 64-65 LC Bowen (2nd team P AA from Chet's old school in Benton Harbor) became the 2nd and final BU Parade AA....Alcindor made 1st team for the 3rd straight year....Dave Golden of Pekin was a 3rd team selection and followed Wendelin to Duke
My memory failed me after this. I was sure that Willie Fort, a 6'2 F/G from Nashville,Tenn and a BU recruit on the '68-69 Braves made Parade AA....but apparently in was a different Fort(or Forte).....anyway Willie was averaging 17.7 pts for the BU Papooses (frosh team) when he flunked out of school...just another of the many who came(and went) during the BU basketball decade of the 1960s
just some light reading for a Sunday(for those interested)......
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