I have been coaching, training, and coaching AAU for some time now on the girls side. And I have explained this to so many people who hear my voice. The first thing is yes there is a form of recruiting going on that some of the public schools and down state program fail to do that the Sanfords, and the Ursulines. The very obvious is they hold camps throughout the summer. And they are identifying kids at an early age. And then here is the most important thing that other coaches haven’t figured out. you have to relate to the kids. In those camps the coaches are having an early relationship with the kids first and parents through those camps. Majority of those girls at Ursuline started out through john noonan’s camp. He has total access of the gym to do camps. He is even able to use tatnal to have camp. How do I know. I sent some of my players to his camps. And yes some of them are low income children that are able to come. This is also going on at Sanford. Once these coaches get a relationship with the kids those parents will ask other parent with in the program how is the coach during the season and does he get those kids into college. And the parents in the program give good feedback. Now two years ago majority of last year’s freshman class applied to Ursuline, Sanford, and caravel. Not all got into those schools because they couldn’t past the test. But imagine if they could. You would have really been made to see a lot of the public school girls that can play be at those schools. The second way they’re getting kids is parents of the program are seeing kids in middle school and are asking what school are the kids going to and encouraging the parents to take a look at these schools. I have kids in my program being recruited by parents as early as 5 grade. I’ll give you a perfect example. Delle donne was in college and was home for some reason to come and watch a city league championship game. And she was there to watch two girls (who by the way was not African American) playing a league with all boys and was competing with them. These two girls was 12 years old playing. With these boys. Next thing I knew these two girls was applying for Ursuline. One got in, the other’s parent felt that they couldn’t afford the tuition so she went to caravel instead. These two girls was Adrianna Hahn and Caroline Davis. Now parents are getting smarter as well. they are looking at the coaches track record with helping kids get the next level that comparable to their skill level. So if there d2, d3, player then they are helping them getting into schools that best fits their skill. But there getting them there. Some of these coaches will use these kids for what they can do for them now and help them prepare for the next level.
But something that some of the public schools can’t provide. Is a challenge. And I mean a challenging schedule that they crave for. A real basketball player wants to play the best talent all the time win or lose. Majority of the down state teams don’t play out of state. There not in the she got game showcase in dc. There not in the u of penn showcase in pa. or even the diamond state classic in de. Real players want to be challenged and pushed and not beat teams by forty with their third tier unit. And last but not least, Development. I know coaches who only coach there high school kids and then never hear from them again until fall league or next season. these other coaches are training there players within the rules of DIAA. You get two hours a day with two players to train. These coaches will be in the gym all day schedule two players at different times training there players. And then you can see the kids getting better. And then putting them with a AAU team that will further there development. I know public schools who won’t even open the gym for their high school coaches to train. It’s a shame that they have their hands tied. But they want their school to have success.
And not to mention you have to have good coaching to keep all of this going. And there are some good coaches out here that have never gotten a chance.