Thursday Must Read
April 9th, 2009 - bySports Illustrated’s Phil Taylor on ESPN, Nike, private basketball teams and what it could mean to the future of high school sports. He writes about the first ever ESPN Rise National High School Invitational Basketball tournament. The tournament was won by Findlay Prep, which isn’t even a high school. It is a team of elite basketball players that live in a mansion, travel the country playing basketball, collect free gear from Nike and take classes at a nearby private school. They also receive funding from a UNLV booster and its top player has committed to, drum-roll please, UNLV! Some of the highlights:
Anyone who wandered into the Hanley Center at Georgetown Prep expecting the innocence of traditional high school 
hoops would have seen the ESPN cameras and all the sponsorship signs for Nike, Gatorade and the U.S. Marines, and known he was in the wrong place. The eight-team tournament, won by Findlay Prep on Sunday, represented the NCAA tournament sensibility brought to high school, and though the participants certainly considered that a positive development, others aren’t so sure.
The National Federation of State High School Associations has a constitutional provision preventing members from competing in national championships, and most state athletic associations endorse that position. One reason for that is to avoid stretching the season interminably and to limit its intrusion on class time. (Findlay Prep’s last game, for instance, was more than a month before the start of the NHSI.) “Our perspective is that a national tournament would not fall under our educational mission,” says Bob Gardner, the COO of the federation.
It’s no surprise, then, that some coaches from other high school programs question Findlay Prep’s approach. “You just wonder if we’re heading in the wrong direction,” says Hurley’s father, Bob, who has coached at St. Anthony’s in Jersey City for 37 years. “When you’ve got a kid from public housing and you’re trying to push him to do the right thing even if it means things are tough at times, what do you say to him when he sees an easier way to do it, a way where everything is given to you for free?”
Would 50 more Findlay Preps really be good for high school basketball? Given the direction that television and corporate forces are pushing the game, like it or not, we may soon find out.
My opinion is that any potential recruit with an option to further his opportunity to earn a college scholarship should take it. However, getting good grades from a real school needs to be part of that equation. If privately funded schools like Findlay can supply that environment, than more power to them. The real question looming around the horizon is will the NCAA feel about arrangements like this?
April 9th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
This is no different than sport specific academies in country club sports like tennis and golf. Parents pay a boat-load of money so that a kid can train 6 hours a day and go to class to satisfy their academic credits. Of course, those don’t get the publicity or incur the wrath of high school coaches, because they are minor sports. HS state championships in those sports don’t receive the publicity or following of basketball. Why deny highly talented and motivated kids the opportunity to have this avenue?
April 9th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I couldn’t disagree more with the analogy Keith. Golfers and tennis players attend academies paid for by their parents with the hopes of turning professional. Even US soccer academies that are in part funded by shoe companies are intended to feed the National team, not individual colleges. These players are having their “academy” paid for by shoe companies and boosters.
Whether you disagree or agree with the concept is a different argument but comparing this arrangement to other sports is ridiculous.
April 9th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
It’s ridiculous and narrow-minded not to compare this to other sports. The purpose of the experience is to focus on the athletics while getting an education. The dynamics are the same – regardless of sport. The difference is in who is doing the funding. It certainly IS NOT true that parents who send their kids to those academies are looking for them to be pros. I’ve interviewed a number of those parents. They ARE looking for their kids to develop their athletic talents in order to better position them for college. If they turn pro, great. But only one step at a time, college first. So at least get your facts straight.
April 14th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
These arrangements are becoming more popular. As long as there are these tournaments and sponsors fork the money then they will flourish. As long as these teams don’t compete or not allowed to compete in the state championships. The states should be a venue for the traditional schools who make the best of what they have instead of having the best of everything.
However, some of these tournaments need the traditional schools and programs to round out the field, but realistically, these schools may not stand a chance against these type of teams. These teams should be labeled by their sponsors. Ie… Team HS-Nike, Team HS Reebok, etc….. Also the sponsors should test the kids before and after just to make sure they are truly learning, I know you don’t score 1200’s on the SAT math and verbal travelling around the country 3/4 of the time in the year. As long as they score high on the SAT’s or ACT’s then more power to these arrangements.
April 14th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
To be truthful I’d like to see sports taken out of the high schools and placed in either AAU or the rec department of the city.
September 17th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I am glad I had a chance to read your post, if you have more information on positions let me know or post it here.
Mike