It’s not impossible for athletes from smaller cities to get recruiting attention. Heck, Zion Williamson was the most famous high school athlete in the country while playing in a city with a population of about 35,000 people.
It’s not impossible. But even if you’re good enough, it’s often tough to make the right people notice.
Former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway got his break because a guy who knew a guy happened to be at the South Dakota nine-man football high school championship game the year Greenway’s Mount Vernon High School won the title. John LaFleur, who had kids who played at Iowa, reached out to Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz and said his team needed to see Greenway. It was the future first-round pick’s only Division I offer.
