Reclassing up; a mistake – DJ Burns

I’ve been saying for a long time that there’s no hurry to get to college and graduating early is a bad decision. Here’s the latest example supporting that. DJ Burns. He went to Tennessee early. He didn’t survive and was gone in a year because, by his parents’ admission, he wasn’t ready to handle college. […]

Email of the Day: Changing Schools Too Many Times

These emails are part of an exchange between me and a parent who contacted me looking for advice on having his child change prep schools. This same parent opted not to hire me a year ago when the child last switched schools. This is the child’s third school in four years (one public, one parochial, […]

Quote of the Day: Money Over Fit

Too many golfers, especially girls, are choosing full rides over schools that offer partial scholarships but are a better fit. It’s a big part of why we’re seeing so many transfers recently.    This came out in a recent conversation I had with a Big XII women’s golf coach talking about how families are deciding […]

Today’s Quiz: Student Loan Default Rates

True or False?  Student loan amounts of under $10,000 are more likely to be paid off than those over $10,000.       Answer:  False. Although it would seem that the lower amount would be easier to pay off, there are other factors involved. Here’s the link to the complete Washington Post article on student […]

Today’s Quiz: % of Minorities in the US?

Question 1:  What percentage of the US population is African-American?       Answer:  13% (Approximately)     Question 2:  What percentage is Hispanic or Latino?       Answer:  18% (Approximately)     Bonus Question:  What percentage of the US population knows the answers to both questions, or can even come close with a […]

Videos – One Critique

One of the most effective ways we all learn is by watching others and their mistakes. Here’s an email I wrote recently to a high school senior. Overall, he’s a solid, likable kid from a good family. Like a lot of kids (and families), in this case he’s beating himself. The recruiting process is tough […]

Stat of the Day: Women’s Basketball Transfers

  The transfer rate for women’s D1 basketball is up 33% over a ten year period.   In 2003 the rate was 6.8%. In 2013 it was 9.2%. Those numbers are still about 1/4 of the men’s numbers. As with many other parts of the game, the women’s game seems to be following the men’s. […]

Overwhelmed by the Recruiting Process? Put Education First.

I returned recently from a major east coast summer basketball camp where I had a lengthy discussion about the recruiting process with the mother of a talented junior. Her son is a good student who already holds offers from D1 schools, none of them big-time. A single mom with two kids who never went to college and never played sports, she told me […]

Quote of the Day – Steve Kerr on AAU Problems

Even if today’s players are incredibly gifted, they grow up in a basketball environment that can only be called counterproductive. AAU basketball has replaced high school ball as the dominant form of development in the teen years. I coached my son’s AAU team for three years; it’s a genuinely weird subculture. Like everywhere else, you […]

Ivy League Men’s Basketball, not that Athletic? Not True.

There’s a perception that Ivy League men’s basketball players, while talented, are on the low end of the athleticism scale among D1 basketball players. It’s often said that prospects with marginal D1 athletic ability “might be able to play at the Ivy level”. There’s also the old inference that non-scholarship schools can’t reasonably expect to […]