Remembering that time Urban Meyer tried to recruit LeBron James

10:40 AM ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Urban Meyer doesn’t think about him as the one that got away. He also isn’t spending any time wondering what might have happened if one of the most freakish wide receivers he ever recruited had chosen to keep playing football instead of sticking with basketball.

Instead, the Ohio State coach is just content to sit back with the extra time off he has this time of year, tune in as a both a fan and a friend and watch LeBron James do the work he was always born to do when the NBA Finals tip off Thursday night with his Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Golden State Warriors (ABC, WatchESPN, 9 p.m. ET).

If he happens to be asked, Meyer will crack a wide smile and admit he had no idea who he was dealing with the first time they met almost 20 years ago at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.

“I walked into the school, the coach, Jim Meyer, great guy, probably in 1998 or ’99, and he said, ‘Hey, come here a minute. I want to show you this. What do you think of this kid?’” Meyer said. “I started watching the video, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ He was six-foot-whatever, obviously real big back then, too.

“He asked me what I thought and I said, ‘I want to offer him right now. Who is he?’”

That kid was already on his way to becoming one of the most prolific receivers St. Vincent-St. Mary has ever had despite hanging up his cleats for his senior season to focus on basketball. And his recruiter was then working for Notre Dame as a wide receivers coach and was captivated by a target with the size and speed James possessed, a combination that produced 99 receptions, …

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