Watching prime high school basketball talent these past few years has opened my eyes — not to the hoop ability of Ethan Morton, Robby Carmody, Devin Carney, Ryan Lang and others like them.

I’m well aware of how good those guys are.

It’s how good the players are in major college basketball.

Morton and Carmody lit it up around here. Both scored well over 2,000 points for their respective high schools. Both were recruited by Division 1 basketball programs all over the country.

When Carmody signed on with Notre Dame and Morton with Purdue, the thought process in these parts was we’d be watching those guys maintain their consistent production in the scorebook.

That hasn't happened — but not because of any shortcomings on their part.

Carmody has been beset with injuries at Notre Dame and has rarely been healthy enough to play since making a promising debut his freshman year with the Fighting Irish. Morton battled mononucleosis which resulted in him getting a late start his freshman year at Purdue.

Morton has become a productive piece off the bench for the Boilermakers and is impacting games in ways other than scoring points.

He’s doing just fine — just not what we all expected.

While folks in Butler and Mars grew accustiomed to watching Morton and Carmody dominate night after night, we never stopped to think of other great players doing the same at other schools in other parts of the country.

Just signing with a Division 1 basketball program is a huge deal. There are so few of those opportunities available, so they are granted to the best of the best.

And guys like Morton and Carmody compete for playing time with teammates every bit as good as they are. Some are more experienced, some are more healthy, some are just plain better.

Hard to believe.

Now Carney is headed to a Division 1 program himself. He reports to Elon in North Carolina come June, when he will begin the journey of carving a name out for himself at the next level.

It won’t be easy. Nothing is guaranteed to these players when they opt to play with the best there are at their age level in the sport.

Think of the NBA. I’ve watched pro basketball for years and never had a true appreciation for just how good those players are.

I have that appreciation now.

Chartiers Valley graduate T.J. McConnell put together a productive NBA career. I can’t give that guy enough credit. Elevating one’s game to such a level is hard for me to fathom.

Morton and Carmody may yet develop into solid scorers for their respective college teams. Carney may continue his scoring prowess at Elon. All of that has yet to be determined.

What’s determined in my eyes is ... It’s darn hard to do it.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle