Another Day

Thank God for another day!!!!! Let me start by saying Rutgers Al still has not contacted me at LFBall@aol.com. He said on the RU Board that I have mail. But nothing that says Rutgers Al unfortunately. So Al I give up. Not sure who he contacted but it was not me. Maybe he should put from Rutgers Al!

Yesterday I received a comment about prep schools which I answered on the road via my laptop between meetings. Let me just say briefly again that the Prep School situation is out of control!!

There are various types of "Prep Schools." The traditional New England types such as Choate, Solebury, Ms. Porter, Berkshire, etc. There are similar ones to these in NJ and Pa. Some are Lawrenceville, Hun, and Blair. A good one in Pennsylvania is The Hill School. These schools and others like them survive through huge endowments and very high tuition paid by families who can afford to pay. In alot of cases financial aid is available. These schools are not factories because they make students earn grades regardless of how much they average point wise on the court. Player wise, they could have 1-3 D1 players, but rarely would they have 12 like some schools have had. And yes they also have beautiful campuses and facilities. Anyone ever seen Blair? OUTSTANDING!!

Than there are schools with nice campuses that seem to be in the sports business even though they have strong academics. St. Thomas Moore, Winchendon, etc. Nice places with good teachers but low enrollment that makes it necessary to recruit in Asia alot. Those places are reputable and do a good job. But the basketball teams are really what it is about when kids attend there. Although both teams I mentioned have OUTSTANDING basketball Coaches and do a good job preparing kids for college and college basketball.

Than there are the Redemption Christian Academy type schools, store front places in Philly, one building schools in the Boston area, schools in North Carolina that in the past often ran out of food for the students, and even schools in Connecticut with no facilities. These places are about sports and getting kids eligible. If you look at the news articles, some schools had low enrollments with the school made up mostly of athletes. The odd thing is some have 7-12 D1 players.

There was almost a prep team started at a school in NYC that is known to help kids get grades in order through night courses and summer courses with grades almost purchased according to reports given. The prep business was getting so large folks were starting prep schools in community centers and sub contracting the academic portion out to local educational centers and programs.

Prep schools really are meant to be just High Schools that often have post grad opportunities that allow kids additional opportunities to mature in the classroom, or obtain additional knowledge to get accepted into that special college. They were meant to Prepare Kids For College and Life. In most cases they do just that. They were sending schools for the Ivy Universities, and schools like Bucknel, Holy Cross, Vermont, etc. Years ago the rich and famous used these types of schools as 24/7 baby sitters while they traveled the world. Very young kids were almost on their own away from home in dorms. I still remember the young kids at my son's prep school, where he did a pg year to gain maturity and re-open his recruitment.

Now every kid around thinks prep schools can make them NCAA ready in 1 year despite them not doing well or getting great grades for 4 straight years. Some of the kids are so behind they have to do 2 years in prep schools. many at the factory type schools, some with great campuses, finish at 20 and a half years old. Not mad at that, because everyone deserves an opportunity. Just know this would not be the case at the first type school I mentioned.

Let me end by saying I am not anti prep school? In fact even though I called certain type schools factories, it was a term based on them turning out NCAA D1 players. I guess they are needed as well. But the one thing that bothers me is when kids attend a so called prep school or any school where grades are barely earned!! The last thing I think of when the term "Prep School" is mentioned is a store front or two rooms in a community center in Philly.