HOOPSWORLD Ranks the Most Influential People in Basketball

Hoopsworld has ranked the most influential people in basketball....
http://www.hoopsworld.com/2010Top55MostInfluentialInBasketball.asp


There are only a couple players, mostly big movers and shakers, owners, agents, wealthy and powerful people...and whether you agree or disagree with the ranking, it is interesting.

One of the people on the list is Henry Thomas (#38) who played basketball at Bradley and who is in the list as a very influential pro agent.
Henry Thomas was a Joe Stowell recruit out of Chicago Harlan HS, who played for the Braves from 1971 through 1974. He played in 65 games for Bradley almost exclusively as a reserve, and scored a career total of 79 points.
He was inducted as an agent (not a player) into the Bradley Hall of Fame in 1996, then elevated to Photo status in the Hall of Fame in 2006. Here is the release with a short bio from that time:
http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=741912
https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf2/56910.pdf?ATCLID=741912&SPSID=19447&SPID=1510&DB_OEM_ID=3400
http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25068&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=187600


Henry has worked professionally with Shaun Livingston, Dwayne Wade, Anthony Parker and many other NBA'ers. Here is a recent news release about Henry joining a big, prestigious, agency...
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_20090817/ai_n32450704/


I have to say I am stumped as to why anyone from the WNBA is even within a 100 spots of being on this list, but I guess the writers have to act politically correct, as the WNBA has foundered since its inception, draws poorly, and is always in debt, being bailed out by NBA revenue. Maybe Candace Parker (a little bit of another Bradley connection on this list) deserves to be there, but no exec. from the WNBA is more influential than any of countless execs in the NBA.

Lastly, putting commentators like Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley on the list at #24 and shoe retailers like Dick's and Foot Locker in the top 11 is also something I find silly.
Sure the TV personalities might even be considered by some as popular, but they have long ago blown their credibility with ridiculous things they have said, and I can't see where exactly they have influence?
They might report on what is influence, but they don't have it!
And the shoe folks do have some influence, but 99% of it is coming from the shoe makers and producers, not the sellers. How many people out there frequent a Foot Locker store even once a year?
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Slimy recruiting....hardly know where to start...but here's a great article on how to follow slimy with slimy...
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Rick-Pitino-s-recruiting-tactics-slightly-slimy-?urn=ncaab,186799

But then...this technique was made famous by Bill Self..although recently USC's Tim Floyd has crashed the list of slimiest...
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Rivals' Illinois site has updated the rankings of this year's juniors, Class of 2011 recruits...
It is a premium article, here's the link, but I have summarized his rankings...
http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=983102

Some of the kids I believe BU is looking at are in red...

1. Wayne Blackshear
2. Tracy Abrams
3. Sam Thompson
5. Mike Shaw
6. James Siakam
7. Dre Henley
8. Ryan Boatright
9. Nnana Egwu
10. Jacob Williams
11. Macari Brooks
13. George Marshall
14. Donivine Stewart
15. Phillip Greene
17. Hayden Hoerdemann
18. Mychael Henry
19. Max Bielfeldt
20. Andrew Jordan
21. Keith Gray
22. Will Sullivan
23. Luke Hager
24. Jamie Crockett
25. David Sobolewski