Recruiting rankings before the internet

They waited until the product on the field produced

Wasn't there a magazine named Blue Ribbon or something?

ETA Found an ole basketball cover



and apparently there was a National Blue Chips magazine as well

There were a few people rating players and publishing mags. There was also a lot of focus on local publications- newspapers- where actual journalism was published, and sports journalism was a lot less subjective and opinion pieces. Parade Magazine also compiled rankings but depended on local journalists. They also published a high school ranking. As for the mags, they were very expensive and exclusive to their subscribers. But, their information was not always the best. One of them published information about a fictional player with incredible stats. It went on for quite a while before the publisher found out. Another was extremely biased toward Notre Dame. Every ND pursuit became a top player. A lot has changed, and it is for the better, though still absurd.