Norm Eavenson left behind a hoops museum of sorts

Norm Eavenson was not a hoarder, just a meticulous collector. The collection inside his Chester County house left upon his death was orderly, just full of surprises.

“It was up on that second shelf from the top in the back,” Larry Otter said, walking into a back room of Eavenson’s twin home. “It was just there. It was in a plastic bag. I’m like, what is that? I pull it out.”

A basketball came out of the bag. That itself was no surprise.

“I see Wilt on it — you’ve got to be kidding me,” Otter said upon seeing Wilt Chamberlain signature on the ball. Otter is the executor of Eavenson’s estate, which means that the basketball is now at a local auction house.

» READ MORE: From 2017, Norm Eavenson, supreme hoop talent evaluator

Last November, Eavenson died of COVID-19 at age 74. I wrote about him several times over the years because he was an important figure in Philly hoops, in local gyms as an evaluator of local basketball talent. Norm’s personal archives are one of a kind.

“Come on downstairs for a minute,” Otter said.

There was a box marked Kobe … what it really meant, Kobe Bryant’s era, with files from all the stops … NBA Camp, War in the Woods, Eastern Invitational, Slam Dunk to the Beach, Sonny Hill Tourney, Charlie Weber, Conshy, ABCD.

Norm’s Kobe notes from the ABCD Camp before Bryant’s junior season at Lower Merion High weren’t meant to stun anybody, least of all Norm, who had seen Bryant plenty by then. But this ABCD camp in North Jersey may have been the highest level of competition Bryant had faced to that point, so Norm dutifully wrote what he saw : “smart – leadership qualities. Mobile [and] wiry to the hoop. Jams. Works BL [baseline] … deep shot didn’t drop Thurs evening. Forced some things. Complete player when he feeds [teammates.] Big lift. Rebounds > coast to coast > sees floor.”

Norm’s files included big local games. You want a shooting chart, just Bryant and Richard Hamilton, from Jan. 14 1995? Kobe’s Lower Merion vs. Rip’s Coatesville. Final score written down: Lower Merion 78, Coatesville 77. You want to know the spot where Rip scored in the paint to tie the game? It’s there. There’s another page with spot analysis of Hamilton’s game after Rip had faced Norristown: “long arms, thin, ok not great ‘D,’ soft shot, posts-up, penetrates, comfortable on the floor.”

You open another box and see another binder, find more gems. How about a program from the 1992 Nike All-American Camp with a bunch of autographs on the cover, from Rasheed Wallace at the very top (#30, Wallace noted) to Alvin Williams and Danny Earl and Marc Jackson and Tyrone Weeks.

Eavenson included his purple ticket stub in saving the March 8, 1965, Palestra Illustrated from attending an NCAA Eastern Regional tripleheader featuring Princeton and Bill Bradley vs. Penn State and Bob Weiss, followed by Providence (Jimmy Walker) vs. West Virginia and St. Joseph’s (Cliff Anderson, Billy Oakes, etc.) vs Connecticut.

Another binder, first page, brings you Norm’s “Top Performers/Eye Catchers” from March of 2010. Number one on his list, T.J. McConnell, headed for Duquesne, long before McConnell became kind of a Philly legend with the Sixers.

A year later, similar list, with Amile Jefferson No. 2 (“Thin build does not stop feistiness in the paint.”) and Ryan Arcidiacono (“Carries team on his back the way Gerry McNamara did at Bishop Hannah. Scores in bunches. Tough as nails. Love his attitude.”)

The comments never seem to miss. Michael Gilchrist … “Yeoman attitude and constant motor delivers points, caroms, and blocks nightly.” Phil Booth … “Excellent poise and confidence … good feel for the game.”

There was Marcus Smart No. 9 at a 2011 camp … “Played hard the whole camp. Strong and active on both ends of the court. Came across as a winner.” At the time, Jordan Price, then headed for Auburn, before transferring to La Salle, had a higher grade than Smart.

Another box marked simply “1960s-1986″ spoke to the collector in Norm. You want to see the program from the 1972 Seagull Classic in Atlantic City? There it is with rosters, starters hand-marked in red. (Roman Catholic head coach, Bill “Speedy” Morris.) If you thought Lionel Simmons was under-hyped, not true if you read Middle Atlantic Sports News in 1985. Simmons as one of the “five finest” in Pennsylvania.

And there was a binder marked “Scouting Reports: Class of 2000 and 2001.” A summer report from the Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas. Top-graded senior, Eddie Griffin, Philadelphia. Then there was Norm’s report from the 2000 Boo Williams tournament in Virginia. Top-rated guard: DaJuan Wagner, Camden. Top center there was Tyson Chandler, just ahead of Kwame Brown. But the biggest future value was a future UConn center ranked eighth, Emeka Okafor.

There were other fascinating aspects to Eavenson’s life. He was a supreme collector of political memorabilia, with all that stuff moving to auction or donated. He loved concerts, topped by the Grateful Dead.

But his basketball life … he himself was a historian of a significant time in a significant place in the sport. In order to be the smartest guy in the gym, Eavenson had to put the work in, and here it all was, outliving him.

“This is semi-cleaned out,” said Norm’s friend Otter, an attorney, headed for the basement.

Is there a light?

“Let me see where to plug it in,” Otter said.

There, above a shoeshine kit, was an ‘80s box … Inside, more gems: Gettysburg Camp, Boo Williams vs. Sonny Hill.

Another box moved upstairs was simply marked LeBron.

“Every time I open something, I’m like, ooooh,” Otter said.