We have a spot and all the money for the right minority player.
This from the coach at a very good academic prep school whose basketball program regularly produces D1 players.
Quote of the Day
Author Archives: Mike
You’re Proving My Point, Not Yours
We don’t need help finding a prep school. We can find a school ourselves.
If you’re making this statement, you’re asking yourself the wrong question. The question isn’t can you find a prep school without help. Many families can find a school on their own. If you don’t care where you end up, any road will get you there. The question is can you find the best one for reaching your goals, the one that will maximize the investment of time and money you are making in prep school. If you’re not asking the right question, or don’t have the right goal, why is there any reason to believe you will be successful doing it yourself?
Today’s Quiz: Ivy League SAT Requirements
True or False? An athlete needs a minimum of 600 on each of the three parts of the SAT to be admissible at an Ivy League or Patriot League institution.
False. While there is technically no minimum, the reality is that 500 on each part of the SAT is about as low as you can go.
Sacrificing Education – One Example
James, a weak student and talented athlete, had two choices at the end of his senior year at catholic high school. One, attend a “football factory” for the fall semester where the level of football and exposure would be high and he would not have to take any classes. Two, accept an offer to attend a prep school where the football level would be lower and he would receive a life-changing education he would not otherwise have had access to without leveraging his athletic talents.
Paying for either option was an overriding factor for this family, whose financial troubles were such that just finding the money for the monthly utility bill was a challenge. The football factory would cost $10,000 – $15,000 for one semester. The prep school option would cost nothing, and would include the whole year, not just a semester. Without giving it a second thought or visiting the prep school, James chose the football factory. His parents, who had initially vetoed any consideration of a football factory, relented, committing to paying the money while admitting to having no idea where they would find it.
As it turned out, at the end of the season at the football factory James was no closer to a D1 scholarship than he had been a year earlier. He had no D1 offers. Instead, he had now been out of the classroom for a semester (it would become a year as he went home for the second semester and essentially did nothing) and his family was now significantly in debt. Had they prioritized education first, at least James would have received a top-shelf education while making friends and connections that would stay with him for life. They sacrificed an education James sorely needed and spent money they didn’t have, and ended up with essentially nothing to show for it.
Ironically, there’s a solid argument to be made that what kept James from receiving a scholarship is exactly what was missing at the football factory and abundant at the prep school. Physical talent was never James’ problem. Maturity, responsibility, discipline, hard work and personal growth were. By definition, those characteristics are all in short supply at sports factories. At the prep school he would have been immersed in them 24 hours a day in the form of his classmates, school faculty and coaches. How ironic that what he needed most to reach his goals was at the place the family didn’t choose, and would have come with the education of a lifetime.
QB Position Dilemma
Andrew was a good enough high school QB as a senior to garner interest from a handful of D1 football programs. None actually offered him as a QB, but fairly mobile at 6’5″, 245 lbs., many had serious interest in him as a tight end or lineman. He refused, saying he was a QB and that’s the position he wanted to play in college.
Our search for a prep school produced very limited options. The QB spot is very competitive at the prep school level, especially as a post-graduate. Many of the schools we would have liked did not want him as a QB but wanted him badly as a lineman or TE. I discussed this option with the young man and his family. Their self-confidence in him as a QB was unshakable. I remember his mother telling me he had been to some D1 schools exposure camps and had received very favorable feedback from those schools regarding their interest in her son as a QB. We continued to look for a prep school and ended up finding one we were happy with, but at a cost. We had to make a significant sacrifice academically while spending twice the family’s budget.
As the summer progressed, and before he got to prep school in the fall, Andrew and his parents came to grips with his recruiting reality. They discovered that the colleges they thought were interested really weren’t, and the family was forced to make the tough decision many QBs face at some point. He called his prep school coach and told him he was ready to change positions.
Prep school was a great experience for him. He liked the school he chose and the school loved him. He struggled to make the position switch, but stuck with it and did well, receiving D1 offers as a TE/lineman from some of the best academic colleges in the country. He and his parents are happy with their decision and the outcome.
It’s hard to argue with the outcome in this case, but consider the alternative. Making the decision to switch positions in February that he ended up making in July would have yielded more and better prep school choices and changed two things. Instead of sacrificing his level of prep school education, he would have gotten a world class, life changing one, and gotten it for free, saving this family of limited means over $20,000.
Quote of the Day
Our daughter told us she was one of only two minorities at Wesleyan who had not attended private school.
This from the parents of a girl who attended public high school.
Quote of the Day
The right prep school can make your dreams come true. We couldn’t have done it without your help.
This from the parents of a child who signed with Villanova yesterday and who was not getting any playing time for the nationally ranked football program at the catholic high school he previously attended.
Quote of the Day
No, I’m the normal one.
This from the 6’2″ brother of a 6’6″ basketball star, when asked by a stranger if he is the basketball playing brother.
Quote of the Day
Our son was not prepared to handle the classwork at Princeton.
Offered by the parents of a Princeton (and medical school) graduate as the motivation for sending their younger son to prep school. Their older son attended a catholic high school before Princeton.
The Patriot League / Ivy League Misconception
The Patriot League and Ivy League have been linked together in many minds since the inception of the Patriot League about 25 years ago. There are three good reasons for this. One, the Patriot League was conceived, in part, to provide another league similar to the Ivy. Two, they are perceived as the two best academic D1 leagues in the country. Three, for a while they were the only two leagues in Division 1 that didn’t offer athletic scholarships. Ivy’s have never offered athletic scholarships. The Patriot League started out as a non-scholarship league, but that changed some time ago.
For some reason people, even those who should know better, still talk about Patriot and Ivy League schools as competing at the lowest level of D1 sports. They mention them as possible options for athletes who don’t have scholarship offers or are perceived to be marginal D1 athletes. This is particularly true in the revenue producing sports of football and basketball. Statements such as “well, he/she might be good enough to play at a Patriot or an Ivy” are still heard regularly. It’s an old perception that hasn’t been accurate for quite a while.
Here are two of the erroneous assumptions that lead to the misconception, followed by the reasons they are false.
- Schools can’t attract scholarship level athletes without scholarships
- Ivy League teams regularly get players who have scholarship offers. That’s right. Ivy schools beat scholarship schools for players every year.
- Extraordinary financial aid combined with the best educational opportunities makes the difference. Lots of schools offer scholarships. There are only a handful of Patriot and Ivy League schools.
- Families with a household income under $100,000 can expect to pay little or nothing for an Ivy League education.
- Their track record of success is so good they attract very talented athletes
- Extraordinary financial aid combined with the best educational opportunities makes the difference. Lots of schools offer scholarships. There are only a handful of Patriot and Ivy League schools.
- In the case of the non-revenue sports, these schools very often give more aid than scholarship schools. Think about how ironic that is. Why do you think they win titles in sports like lacrosse and hockey, and produce more than their share of Olympic athletes?
- Ivy League teams regularly get players who have scholarship offers. That’s right. Ivy schools beat scholarship schools for players every year.
- The smartest kids generally aren’t the best athletes
- These schools are exceptional enough, and selective enough, that they attract student-athletes who excel in both categories
Here is just some of the evidence that Patriots and Ivys are anything but the lowest level D1 leagues.
- The Princeton women’s basketball team is currently ranked 16th in the country
- Both leagues are ranked comfortably in the middle of D1.
- In basketball there are currently 15 leagues ranked lower than either the Ivy or Patriot. Those leagues include many perceived to be “better” such as the MAAC, Colonial, Conference USA, Northeast and Ohio Valley.
- Both leagues have won more NCAA basketball tournament games than many of the leagues perceived to be at a higher level.
- In recent years Cornell has played in the Sweet 16, while Bucknell, Lehigh and Harvard have had multiple wins as well
- NCAA D1 basketball tournament seedings for Patriot and Ivy reflect their true level of play and talent. The leagues are getting a 12 or 13 seed, sometimes higher. That means there are about 10 – 15 leagues getting less respect from the committee.
- Ivy and Patriot leagues have produced more professional draft picks and players over the last two decades than many of the leagues people perceive to play at a higher level.
- In 2013 alone the Patriot League had a 1st and 2nd round NBA pick
- Previous years produced lottery picks such 13 year NBA veteran Adonal Foyle
- In 2013 alone the Patriot League had a 1st and 2nd round NBA pick
- After the 2014 season two all-Ivy players transferred to other leagues. (They were out of Ivy eligibility). Both had multiple offers from big time conferences. One accepted a scholarship to Pitt (ACC), the other to UConn (AAC).
Parents and players are the ones losing out due to this lack of awareness. Too many dismiss these schools without even considering them, when choosing them should be an easy decision. When the facts are known, it’s shocking how many people pass up these educational opportunities without giving it a second thought.