I'd agree with you.
As for Laettner, them's were the rules at the time. This was the first transition from amateur to professional players, and for that transition year, it was required that the team be a combination of college and pro. So they had to have a college player, and Laettner was considered the best collegiate player---so yes, it was PERFORMANCE based, within the rules at the time.
This article calls him the #4 best collegiate player of the entire decade.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1802588-ranking-the-10-greatest-college-basketball-stars-of-the-1990s