"That's just how I was raised. I feel like Northwood, the basketball gym felt like my home since I'm there so much, before, during and after school... I just wanted to help out. That was really it."
You'd have to catch me off the record to answer that question. The implication was clear: Now that every school can pay players -- either through direct revenue share or name, image and likeness dollars -- Big Ten schools are no longer disadvantaged in recruiting by everything from booster bag men to shoe company AAU connections.
When people think about Larry Bird, they think, 'Well he must have been an instant success, he must have been an instant star. He certainly was in the NCAA Tournament and played on national TV [right away].' All of those things are false. There is a very real reality in some alternative universe where Larry Bird doesn't become a basketball star at all.