was eyed/selected

[joham]

McGrady was eyed by NBA managers as a teenager and he didn't bother going to college. Instead, he leaped right into the NBA.

I read these sentences in a test paper, and one of the questions is:
What does the underlined word "eyed" mean?
A. witnessed B. selected C. examined D. researched

The given answer is B. If we see the sentence as a whole, here "eyed" can be replaced by "selected", but does the "eyed" mean "selected" exactly?

Could I ask native speakers to help me please? Thank you in advance.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Joham,

I would take "eyed" here as a synonym of "noticed"; "selected" would be the consequence, not the meaning.

Other members may have a different opinion, though!

Best wishes,

MrP