National Titles Aside, High School Basketball Is About Changing Lives

So you think Rutgers University wasn't the place to be for high school basketball Wednesday night?

Caroline Kennedy was there, for one. Can't have a better guest list for prep hoops than one that includes the daughter of JFK. How cool was that?

Caroline Kennedy came to see the so-called national championship of high school basketball. It was played at Rutgers between two New Jersey teams, St. Patrick and St. Anthony. The schools were undefeated and sitting 1-2 in almost every national poll that ranks boys high school basketball teams.

Caroline's daughter, Rose, apparently is working on a documentary on St. Patrick for HBO. That explains the Kennedys.

For most of the other 8,000 fans, it probably was just sport and drama. Rarely is there a showdown like this one in high school sports, which don't have true national championships, just the ones that the media make up. Which is all fine. It's fun.

But as great an event as this was, there was some relief in knowing that this game was not being televised. Instead, a newspaper streamed it over the Internet. Good enough.

Bob Hurley, the St. Anthony coach, has moved hundreds of lives in the right direction in his underrated profession. His induction in to the Basketball Hall of Fame was a tribute to all high school coaches and the impact they have on young people.

That's the real story of high school basketball. It's what makes it different from the NBA or even college basketball. It's not who wins this game. It was St. Anthony and Hurley, by the way. It won't be their first national title.

But what's really special about high school basketball doesn't need hype or hoopla. It doesn't need to be on TV because you can't see it. It's one of those things that must be felt with the heart.

Let's hope it never gets too big for that.