Dear Players and Parents:

This information is for sharing, so PLEASE forward this email to your teammates, friends, coaches and siblings who will benefit from the information, hoping to Earn A College Uniform.

Seniors and their parents:  I will remove you from the mailing list automatically; this is the last email you will receive, no worries.  I am sending it to you to PLEASE forward this email to your younger teammates.  Thank you very much and good luck in college next year.  There is no need to unsubscribe – I will be doing that for you.  If you want to keep getting emails please let me know.  If you are considering a Post Grad year please get in touch with me – I can help and rosters are filling up.  Please see the section for 2023’s at the bottom for some points of interest if you are still looking.

2024’s, 2025’s and even 2026’s who are “ready”:  To get right to the list of Academic Camps please use this URL and click on the spreadsheet for the most updated version.  https://academicbasketball.com/academic-camp-list/  The text below the spreadsheet has this email (and other emails) giving you information about the recruiting process.

If you missed my speech last year:  https://youtu.be/nDYsC4rczHc

As a College Advisor. I am focused on the challenging and changing recruiting environment in D3 for student athletes looking to Earn A College Uniform to play basketball at an academic school.  If you need help, and this year almost everyone does, please call or email me.     www.EarnACollegeUniform.com  203-329-0707   Harvey@AcademicBasketball.com 

What do I do?  I help as best I can.  I strive to reduce anxiety, taking away headaches, eliminate “opportunity loss” by keeping players on track, fill in the communication gaps and translate what is communicated between coaches, players, parents in each direction.  I know the coaches and have visited almost all of the academic schools.  Can I “place” you(r son or daughter) on a team?  No, only you(r son or daughter) can EARN that with an offer from a coach.  I do not do, or promise, placement.  I advise, counsel, guide and explain.  Need any of this?  Good.

Every year I recommend to players – the rising Seniors and Juniors plus the current Seniors considering a Post Grad year – they should attend summer exposure camps which will give them exposure to the college coaches at schools they are interested in for both academics and basketball.  I have linked a file with a listing of camps to assist you.  It will be updated often when new information comes in from the coaches so please check for updates at www.AcademicBasketballCamp.com for info on the Academic Basketball Camp and All-Academic Camp, then click on CAMP LIST or Academic Camps (upper right) and get to the spreadsheet.    www.academicbasketball.com/academic-camp-list

This year’s email is coming to you while you are still playing your hs season and colleges are nearing their conference playoffs because I think you need it early so you can ask questions and make plans, including a family vacation.  You can register for many of these camps – they may sell out later in the spring and some offer discounts for early registration – or wait until you are ready.  In the upcoming weeks please expect a plethora of emails, solicitations and seemingly irresistible too-good-to-be-true offers including a group of D1 experts soliciting the academic students to travel to foreign countries in order to be seen by college coaches – it’s all sales pitches unless the “right” college coaches are watching you. Then it is “real” for you.  Please know “exclusive invitations” are sent to several hundred players from every mailing list available.  I will help you with the road map and drill down to help you find the ones you really want and will benefit from.  If you are looking to play basketball at a top academic school you should choose camps with top academic college coaches watching you – by 10^th grade you are beyond the point of needing drills to add skills – you need to be seen; please know that every time you see an offer from a camp which tells you that “you have been selected” please filter those words to mean your name is on their mailing list (unless you are getting calls, texts, letters and seeing the college coaches at your hs games or practices – in that case you really are a RECRUIT!); do not pay $175 for a showcase with no high academic school coaches in attendance (it often includes a highlight video made by an algorithm using every play with your number in the picture) or $295 for anyone to distribute your resume (argh!); please do not respond or pay to register your information with organizations promising to do something with it.  You can AND SHOULD do it yourself, better.  I see the same offers as you are getting from many services – my son is in the 10^th grade and gets these emails all the time; he started getting them as a 7^th grader. The key is coaches want to find your contact info – that’s all they need once they see you or watch your highlight video and this is the platform which NCSA is wonderfully based on – getting your information to the coaches and their information to you for them to see you.  But please send the emails directly to the coaches and not via a third-party platform which is easier but it’s just not the same as making the effort doing it yourself.  Re: camps and showcases, Unless there are lots of high academic coaches watching you I’m not a fan of it.  Regarding your information, my concern is to make sure nothing competes with your videos / contact information in Google or Bing search results when coaches look for you; your highlight video has your contact information clearly available to them.  This is what the college coaches are looking for.  This is what you want.  TO BE SEEN!  You do not need to pay for something you can do yourself, easily. I like the idea behind the list being advertised with every college basketball coach’s contact information for a $99 fee.  Some services have tools which you will find useful.  In my opinion, nothing beats experience and personal 1:1 contact with insight valuable to you with your personal priorities and interests PLUS financial situation.  The reason there are so many colleges out there for you to choose from is they are all different – all 1400+ of them. 

Of the top 100 academic colleges on each the National Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges, I have been to 90% of the schools on the two lists.  Please email me with any questions.  If you want help with the entire recruitment process of how to Earn A College Uniform please call me at 203-329-0707.  I am here to help.

At the request of the college coaches, it is time for the Juniors (2024’s) to begin contacting the coaches and providing their information:

1. Please go to the basketball web sites of the colleges which interest you (and want to be recruited by) and complete the Prospective Athlete Questionnaire (“Recruit Me”). Include the relevant information but do not worry about being caught up in everything they ask – stats, social media, favorite food etc.
2. Send an Eloquent Email to the coaches once you have completed the Questionnaire. https://academicbasketball.com/earn-a-college-uniform-eloquent-email/  and give them your STUV: links to your VIDEO, attach your TRANSCRIPT + SAT/ACT (which you should be taking 3x this school year) SCORES – but not PSAT – and let them know your UPCOMING schedule for the winter and spring – both hs and club – & CAMPS. 
3. With regard to your height – please remember you play basketball in sneakers so please measure yourself the same way; note your overall GPA as weighted or unweighted so they know without asking but do not worry if you only have it one way, not both; note an uptick in your GPA year to year if you have it; do not include a resume or stats – you have not yet helped they win a game and they will see what they want to see from your video.
4. Make sure you give them a link to some video but do not worry if it is short or from a year ago – everyone understands. A 2:45 highlight video is a great length; using several of your best quarters to assemble a quasi-full game is usually better than sending a full game since no one has ever played a perfect full game and there is usually so much down time in full games during which you are not playing but a 5-8 minute stretch/quarter shows everything you want.
5. Do not feel rushed – the coaches are looking to build their database, not begin recruiting and making offers.  This is D3.  What they do want to know is who is out there in 2024 so they can get a feel for how they can fill their needs when they don’t take a position in 2023 (or a Grad Transfer who might come in May or June to fill a need for one year) because they have no room. They may recommend taking a Post Grad year at a New England /NY/NJ/PA boarding school (where college coaches go to recruit players) and become a 2024 which will be a VERY popular thing. You will want to consider it next year or as a reclass Junior year if you want to make the move.
6. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges  and/or buy the book https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings?int=top_nav_Rankings_and_Directories                                        https://amazon.com/gp/product/1931469989/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
7. Buy 7 pairs of socks or t-shirt in a specific color so you can have a fresh one on June 22 and for every game at Babson on June 26-28 (and wear them for each of your games at a Hoop Group Academic Elite camp) so the coaches will see you in the same thing to identify you easily. You do not need to coordinate all 3 – wearing a consistent single bright color socks or shorts or t-shirt every game the same will help you stand out.
8. STAND OUT on the court every game you play. If you have questions about what this means I will explain it when I speak at the camps and in detail at the June 22 “boot camp” when a lot of coaches join me to teach you how to STAND OUT at Babson.
9. Clear out your vm on your phone, return every text or missed call or email within a few hours – not days, hours.
10. Get full game video at every camp and tournament you can so you have material to make a highlight video and pick out your best quarters to make a quasi-full game to email links to the coaches.

I would like all current hs sophomores, juniors and seniors on their way to a post grad year to please make yourself a list of each college you would like to Earn A College Uniform and get coached your contact information directly from you – for ABC players they already have it from me – and will likely send you an invitation to their respective summer camps since you have shown interest in their school.

The logistics of the camps are pretty simple – it’s where the coaches are:  they go to watch players!  Hence, in my opinion, it is where you should go in June, July and August (and May/September, too, for a school you are very interested in).  Go on vacation as a family and make informal tours of the schools you are most interested. 

I put the camps into four different groups for the Boys (for the Girls please see the list of camps to find the equivalent camps and timing which differs slightly):

1)     Division 1 (all of the IVYs plus several Patriots and a few others falling into the academic box) exposure camps which are held in June and again in August for the players they consider to be “recruits” along with the 10+ players they consider to be “prospects” who they want to see play against their “recruits”; and, the rest of you will gain something important from their camp – being seen by the dozens (and dozens) of D3 high academic coaches who attend these camps to see this large group of players.  These camps range in size up to 220 players (Yale, Harvard, Brown, UPenn, Dartmouth, Cornell and Columbia) and 50+ D3 high academic coaches.  Please note: coaches from D1 schools cannot attend a camp unless it on their own campus or a certified non-school camp during the Live Period in April or July and the HS Federation weekends at the end of June.

2)     A camp at a D3 school is usually attended by the coaches from that college only, but sometimes other coaches will come to work.  You will want to go to the camp at a school you are interested in and want to play in front of the coach who can focus on you amongst the typically 30-40 players in attendance (occasionally more, sometimes half that many).  One additional reason to attend a specific camp run by a D3 coach even if you are not interested in the school:  to learn from that coach, e.g., Joe Reilly (Wesleyan) will teach you things you will find valuable and hold onto forever – and give the same “speech” to players as I do!  This information is worth going to their camps.  For Girls that list would include Amherst, Brandeis, WPI, Ursinus and Bowdoin.

3)     A pure exposure camp such as the All-Academic Camp now at BABSON on June 26-28 (NEW DATES), which along with the Hoop Group Academic Elite camp June 29-July 1 and July 18-20 (they also have a smaller version in August), usually has 350+ players and 150+ coaches from all levels but D1 cannot attend this year due to the NCAA schedule in effect.   D2 (the few academic ones) and the academic D3s are there.  There are four others which fall into this group:  my Academic Basketball Camp I will run June 22 to prepare players for the camp at BABSON 3 days later; Mike Weinstein’s Chicago events in August; the High Academic superbowl now in Seal Beach on (July 10-11) and the AAB Showcases in Seattle, LA, Chicago and tbd. – I will be at most of these to speak to players and parents.  For the Girls there is Hank Desantis’ Hoop Mountain New England event on June 24 leading into the All-Academic Camp at Babson Thursday & Friday June 29-30; the academic superbowl is August 7-8 followed by the AAB Chicago showcase on August 9.  Hoop Group will have an academic camp tbd.

4)     Camps which offer highly beneficial teaching of skills through drills and a specific lesson plan.  Point Guard College and other major camps (Hoop Group has position camps) which may have college coaches in attendance but are not focused on the academic student; rather, primarily on very good basketball at excellent camps focused on the general teaching aspects and are great for younger players but not for exposure of high academic rising seniors as the college coaches are not there just watching.  For scholarship seeking players, please look at the Hoop Group Elite camps and the WCE Elite 100 showcases to find what you want.

Four major points to consider when choosing the camps:

1)     When are you done with school (final exams)?

2)     What can you afford?

3)     Can you play your best at the camp? Please make sure you have time to rest and recover – some of these camps will go on for hours of work, which is very good but takes a toll, for sure.

4)     Can you make a highlight video and get a full game video from the camps so you have what you need for the college coaches who want you to send them video?  This one is huge.  And why we shoot every game at 4 camps – plus all Hoop Group Camps and AAB showcases are videotaped – to make sure you can make a highlight video (or have me make one). Put in front of the coaches – they want to see video from you.

Here is what I recommend, depending on your respective answers to the 4 questions posed above (you do not need to do all of the “optional” camps; In each month 1 is enough and a couple are great to give you some experience, exposure and confidence leading up to the two “mandatory” camps):

Start with an IVY or Patriot school’s camp, on a weekend AFTER YOUR FINALS ARE OVER (unless your finals are in late June and you haven’t begun studying yet in which case get to the Yale, et al, camp on the first two weekends of the camp season), with dozens of academic D3 coaches watching you play (Yale has had just about every academic school at its camp in recent years).  Perhaps another one is a mid-week camp such as at Dartmouth, Brown or my Academic Basketball Camp.  The first and second weekends in June are busy weekends, full of great camps and conflicts!  Penn, Cornell, Colgate, American, Brown, Harvard et al.  All good ones.  Which means the coaches will be splitting up.  Dartmouth and my Academic Basketball Camp are mid-week.

The two academic camps I consider mandatory for all Academic Basketball players:  our Academic Basketball Camp on Thursday June 22 at which we will prepare players for the June 26-28 All-Academic Camp at BABSON (formerly Brandeis) which is on Monday-Wednesday this year. These are where ABC players Earn A College Uniform AND PLAY ON THE SAME TEAM AT BOTH OF THESE CAMPS.  I will be at both camps and all games will be videotaped at both camps.  There doesn’t appear to be any conflicts for the coaches being at these camps as of now and this is the key to why I consider them mandatory – so you will be seen!  The change in schedule was made to work within the new NCAA schedule and give players time to get to their State Federation events, Live Period tournaments and Academic superbowl.   For the Girls, the All-Academic Camp is Thursday & Friday June 29-30, also at Babson.

Why should you go to the Academic Basketball Camp at Sarah Lawrence College on Thursday June 22 – the “boot camp” for Babson?  This camp offers the most intimate setting in which to meet and interact with some of the top college and prep school basketball coaches in the country.  We will explain how to play at the Babson Camp and after every game (4 rotations of 5 minutes = a half game with 4-5 of these games for everyone at the camp) the 10 players on a team will go into a room with 3 college coaches who will talk with them and explain: what they saw; what they liked and didn’t like; what they want you to add or subtract as an individual or team; what they want to see from you to get their attention and then they will tell you about their school.  After each 20+ minute meeting the players will go back to the court and play another game followed by another 3 college coaches taking them into a room and repeating the discussion.  4-5 of these during the day give players up-close-and-personal time with a lot of coaches who are initiating the recruiting process.  And video of each of a player’s games will be emailed to them after the camp – you do not have to ask for it or buy it.  If you need a hotel near Sarah Lawrence College, the Hyatt Place is walking distance, two Hampton Inns are in Yonkers and there are a plethora of hotels in White Plains and Tarrytown about 14 minutes away.

Then the best part:  you have three “traffic patterns” to choose to get to Babson by driving on Friday through Sunday June 23-25.  I recommend leaving Sarah Lawrence after the camp and driving to either Poughkeepsie NY or New Haven CT to start the college tour on Sunday.  Route 1:  Vassar, Bard, Union, RPI, Skidmore, Williams, Amherst, WPI, Clark, Brandeis, Bentley, Tufts and stay near Babson; Route 2:  Yale, Wesleyan, Trinity, Amherst, WPI, Clark, Brandeis, Bentley, Tufts, Harvard, MIT and stay near Babson; Route 3:  Yale, Wesleyan, Connecticut College, Brown, Roger Williams, Salve Regina, Wheaton, Brandeis, Bentley, Tufts, Harvard, MIT and stay near Babson.  And with three days to make the journey you can add Bowdoin, Bates and Colby in Maine if you want.  And of course, if you have more time in Boston please consider seeing Emerson, Suffolk, Emmanuel and Wentworth (and when you see Boston College you can pick up a pizza at Frank Pepe’s in Chestnut Hill).  Which hotel to stay in while at Babson?  None are within walking distance but there are plenty within 10-14 minutes including the hotels in Waltham, Newton and Needham.

Why is it significant that we are videotaping every game at the two “mandatory camps (plus All-Academic Girls and Mike Weinstein’s events) plus all AAB & Hoop Group events being videotaped?  Because coaches are going to ask you for video – you want to send them a highlight video so you can attract their attention within their 150-second attention-span.  They will ask for a full game video once you have their attention.  Because they are familiar with pretty much every player at each of these camps, so seeing you play against known players is the right way for you to present yourself (rather than from a hs game which they have no way of knowing what the competition level is or the game situation).

We can make these videos for you, or you can get the game video from us, at www.VideoForCoaches.com (currently being updated) or email and ask for an order form.

The last days of June has the Hoop Group Academic 1 camp which, like the All-Academic Camp and Academic superbowl, is going to be pretty much essential to all academic student athletes which are not among the 1000 D1 players invited to the NCAA’s renewed Live Period NCAA Academy.  I will be at all of these to speak to players and parents.  The Hoop Group Academic 2 camp will be July 18-20 and may reach 500 players and 150 coaches.

The process for registering for camps can be accessed with the links – some are already listed and more will be added at www.AcademicBasketballCamp.com (click on CAMP LIST) as soon as I get them.  My Academic Basketball players are automatically registered for the two mandatory camps included in their season: the June 22 Academic Basketball Camp and the June 26-28 All-Academic Camp at Babson as part of the season fee for ABC.  Non-ABC players receiving this email will need to register directly.  I have linked the brochures at https://academicbasketball.com/academic-basketball-camp/  – please click on the appropriate logo at the top for the June 22 Academic Basketball Camp or June 26-28 All-Academic Camp / June 29-30 Girls All-Academic Camp.

My list of where I will be and/or think you should consider:

June 3-4             Yale Camp   2x 1-day camps

June 10-11         Ivy League and Patriot League camps tbd

June 22              Academic Basketball Camp at Sarah Lawrence College

June 26-28         All-Academic Camp at Babson

June 29-July 1    Hoop Group Academic Elite 1 at East Stroudsburg (PA) State

June 29 – 30       Girls All-Academic Camp at Babson

July 10-11           Academic superbowl at Aim Sportsplex, Seal Beach, CA

July 18-20           Hoop Group Academic 2 at East Stroudsburg (PA) State

tbd                     High Academic Showcase at Waukegan (IL) Fieldhouse

tbd                     August Ivy camps tbd

Aug 2-3              AAB Showcase NorCal

Aug 7-8              AAB Showcase Chicago

Aug 7-8              Girls Academic superbowl at Aim Sportsplex, Seal Beach, CA

Aug 9                 Girls AAB Showcase Chicago

For all other camps, please register directly with the schools via the web site links listed on https://academicbasketball.com/academic-camp-list/  

All Juniors should – MUST, PLEASE, unless you have reached 1560/35 – take the SAT or ACT test 3 times before the end of your Junior Year (including the June tests and new July ACT test) so the college coaches will know when they see you at the camps during the summer if your scores are in the range they hope you will be accepted by their respective schools.  This salient element cannot be stressed enough.  Yes, the tests are also given in the fall of your senior year but without knowing your best score a coach cannot fully plan on you being admissible.  Applying ED1 is an important component of the recruiting process which does not affect non-athletes the same way.  Some high school guidance or college placement advisors prescribe taking the tests only after you have completed the course material; for basketball players this will hinder your recruitment opportunities.  So, please, take the test multiple times in your Junior year.  Which test?  Please consult a professional who can administer a diagnostic evaluation to predict whether the ACT or SAT is better for you.  Take the SAT/ACT test for the first time in the fall of your Junior year it’s not a bad idea as it will both give you a baseline score and avail you plenty of time to dedicate towards improving your score to the level you will need for the schools you want.  Please do not go into a test “cold” without Proper Preparation as it Prevents Poor Performance (“PPPPP”).  Rule #2 applies.  And before you get too anxious about the SAT/ACT test, PLEASE KNOW THAT THERE ARE 971 colleges and universities which do not require test scores in all or some circumstances; 326 D3 schools are TEST OPTIONAL and of those, about half are good to very good academic schools.  This is HUGE for some of you so I will repeat it:

68 REALLY REALLY GOOD ACADEMIC D3 SCHOOLS ARE TEST OPTIONAL.  But, and here is the super important information why taking the test is important, a test score may be necessary to get an academic merit award from a school.  May.  Schools have several different methods of figuring their Academic Merit Awards.

Quick quiz: What are the top 5 criterion to use when choosing a college?

By figuring out the answer you can make your search to Earn A College Uniform very efficient. I have combined the published lists of highly ranked schools with the basketball opportunities and applied the top 5 criterion to create a matrix – you can too – of the top schools for basketball players of all levels (scores, transcripts and ability).

The goal is Rule #1. Your success is what drives Rule #2.

2024’s please keep reading – some of this is going to keep on going into next year and beyond, repeating itself. 

The details to help 2023’s still looking – it’s not easy this year, I know:

1. With applications are done at almost every school (I know of 3 academic schools still open) you have opportunities to make late applications at some schools at this time or can wait to apply to schools in late April when they accept applications from students who are looking for different options while the schools look for additional headcount.
2. Coaches, who may be even more anxious than players/parents, seem to have locked in on 2-3 players and are waiting to talk in April with students who are accepted AND CAN VISIT THE SCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME! The coaches seem to be waiting to find out several salient things which are causing their anxiety:
           a)  whether any players will graduate and move on to a job.
           b)  whether any players will graduate and transfer from a Liberal Arts College to a University to begin graduate school
          c)  whether any players will transfer to another school.
          d)  whether any player has started an internship which will lead to full time work while they complete their degree online.
         e)  whether a D1/D2 player will transfer in.
         f)  whether an All-Conference or All-America D3 player will transfer in to begin graduate school (if at a University)
        g) There MAY not be any room for “walk-ons” at D1 schools due to the number of additional scholarship players allowed and “no-sit-out” portal transfers allowed.
       h)   whether a scholarship level player (or scholarship-seeking player who would be in line to get one in a normal year) is willing to drop down and lock in a spot at a high academic D3 as we have been seeing recently at several schools.  The coaches see this as a likely reaction from / cause & effect of the scholarship schools not losing their seniors who will hold onto their scholarships for another year and many (non-revenue producing) schools not expanding the number of scholarships even though the NCAA is allowing them to (the schools are not giving the $$ to the athletic department).

This is a lot of unknowns for a coach to balance.  Some will keep their rosters at as many as 22 from their usual 15 to accommodate everyone they have, want and are committing to.  Others will hold tryouts and cut players – even returning players.  And then there are the school(s) which will take everyone who wants to come because they have no idea what their situation will be and their school needs as many students as they can get.  One school had a reported 57 players come to the first day of practice last October.

Start doing your research and considering a Post Grad year at a New England / NY/NJ/PA boarding SCHOOL.  Let’s talk about the strategic benefits of a school with mandatory study halls in addition to all the basketball, strength and conditioning etc.  The NEPSAC, MAPL, GAC schools have college coaches visit to see players in September and October leading up to the start of their seasons in November (I look forward to a return to normalcy!!!!) with college showcases attracting 100+ coaches the first several weekends.  It is the academic benefits of traditional boarding schools (the legendary New England Prep Schools plus those in NY, NJ, PA, MD and VA) which I favor over the “training academies which have popped up; some play a national schedule.  The keys are exposure, growth and development INCLUDING ACADEMICS, not just SAT/ACT preparation.  Please do your research and contact me with questions.  This may be your best option this year more than ever.  At a minimum please do your research and consider the option concurrent to applying to colleges and waiting for openings which may come later.

I close this typically long email by reiterating aforementioned information.  As a College Advisor. I am focused on the challenging and changing recruiting environment in D3 for student athletes looking to Earn A College Uniform to play basketball at an academic school.  If you need help, and this year almost everyone does, please call or email me. www.EarnACollegeUniform.com  
203-329-0707
Harvey@AcademicBasketball.com 

What do I do?  I help as best I can.  I strive to reduce anxiety, taking away headaches, eliminate “opportunity loss” by keeping players on track, fill in the communication gaps and translate what is communicated between coaches, players, parents in each direction.  I know the coaches and have visited almost all of the academic schools.  Can I “place” you(r son or daughter) on a team?  No, only you(r son or daughter) can EARN that with an offer from a coach.  I do not do, or promise, placement.  I advise, counsel, guide and explain.  Need any of this?  Good.

Thank you

BE WELL and Best regards,
Harvey 

The Next Steps To Earn A College Uniform – it’s time to go to work after the AAB & HG Camps

July 15, 2023

Dear Players and Parents:

It was a pleasure meeting and watching you play at the All-Academic Camp, Academic superbowl, Hoop Group Academic Elite 1 and Yale camps.  I hope you had fun.  I suggest you make your own personal highlight video from the full game files you got (or should get) at the camps.

My upcoming schedule of camps:  July 24-26 at Hoop Group Academic Elite 2; July 31-Aug 1 at Yale; August 7-8 at AAB Chicago in Northbrook IL immediately followed August 9 by the High Academic Showcase at Waukegan Fieldhouse north of Chicago; and, the Hoop Group Academic Elite 3 camp at Dana Barros near Boston August 12-13.

With the July Live-Period tournaments now complete we are about halfway through the “Academic Showcase” camps, so it is time to ask: “What are the next steps in my quest to Earn A College Uniform?”  To find a list of the school-specific camps held in July-November please look at the frequently updated list   https://academicbasketball.com/academic-camp-list/   In addition to the updated spreadsheet (you can reach it by clicking on the second line) please read the emails below the link to the spreadsheet if you have not already received them.

This is almost entirely for D3 players with some useful information for scholarship players, similar to my presentations given throughout the summer (https://youtu.be/nDYsC4rczHc this was made during the summer when there were no camps to go to – the information still applies).  What follows is long-winded, admittedly, from years of refining to bring you what I think you both want and need to help Earn A College Uniform.  Rule #2 applies.

FOR RISING SENIORS:

The first steps are to look at the calendar, set up a plan.  Likely, the primary step is to take the SAT/ACT test again (at least once) to get your highest score – and please let me know when you have a new score so I can update your data.   Yes, many/most schools are “test optional” again this year BUT many are using test scores to evaluate how much Academic Merit money to award, so please go for the highest scores you can get.  Next, getting your name out there is easy to do.  This is a long process with trips to several campuses in the fall which will cost money, perhaps much better spent when you know the coaches are interested in you, though often a visit to a campus following a dialogue you initiated with an Eloquent Email to a coach reaps benefits.  You will soon know which coaches are already interested in you and use the following information – with your maximum effort – to Earn A College Uniform:

 1.    For the most part, the D3 coaches head back to their offices to review their notes from seeing everyone over the 10 weeks from the first Yale Camp through the last of the IVY and final Hoop Group Camps and AAB Showcase on August 13 – there is a wonderful 10 day gap for coaches during the NCAA Dark Period when they will get started – build their lists of players in a variety of ways (most common is putting everyone onto a white board in 5 columns – “must have” (60-80), “impact” (80-120), “player who can make our team” (240-320 meaning about 520 on the first three boards who will all Earn A College Uniform at one of the academic schools), “recruit later” and “needs more”).  Once they have sent out emails and letters to the players on their first 2 boards plus the top 5-10 players at each position on their 3^rd board, many coaches give the list of recruits to their admissions department so the school literature can get put into the mail to you, and then the coaches take some well-deserved vacation time in August). They come back into the office a few days before the students arrive back on campus and are ready to greet their incoming players.  Please note:  the above is all a standard operating procedure in D3.  Some schools will have already sent you an invitation to their camp while others ask you to please fill out their Prospective Athlete Questionnaire (“RECRUIT ME form”) which you should fill out if you are interested in their school.

2.  Many D3 schools will hold a camp in August or September for the players they have identified during the spring and summer and want to bring them onto campus to see them play while the layers get to meet their team (who usually work their camp), see the campus up close and personal, and watch the players compete against each other. If you are interested in one of these schools, please consider going to their camp.  Some, like Vassar, Swarthmore, Carnegie Mellon, Union and Claremont McKenna use their camp to look at every player who is interested in coming to their school and watch them carefully one final time before choosing.  Other camps are intended to be large open events while others are intended to be very small for the players the coaches have identified and want to see at once.    https://academicbasketball.com/academic-camp-list/  This year, once again, for some schools with restrictions on who will be allowed on campus once students return it is also about video, emails, word of mouth, recommendations and above all else the level of interest a player has for a school so the coach will want to become interested.  Please do not be surprised to find some campuses closed again regarding overnight visits to maintain a “bubble” for their students, faculty and staff.  I expect Open House Weekends will finally return, albeit not all with a totally open campus.  “Approximately Normal” may be an apt term.  This fall will be better than last which was better than the prior ….  Almost wonderful again and already wonderful at most schools.

3.    By the last days of August the D3 coaches want to have scheduled all their first-list of recruits to make on campus visits beginning the first days of September through early October (before the 14th as all schools can begin practice on October 15). As they move through their first list, they figure out which positions they need to concentrate on and move through their recruiting lists to bring more players onto campus.  DO NOT BE ALARMED if you have not heard from a coach by September 1 or even September 15-20^th – it just may not be your turn yet.  Seriously.  It may take another 2-3 weeks for your turn on their lists and PLEASE be ready to respond expediently.  And if you find yourself in this position you can always do something about it – be proactive!

The reward for being proactive – even bordering on being relentless – may reach new heights this year with coaches being able to hold a limited number of workouts with their teams in September and October (this may result in recruiting visits being held on other days) so they will be able to determine their needs weeks ahead of the usual October 15 start of practice.  If a proactive recruit’s timing is good the answer may be welcoming.

4.    What, exactly, is your goal?  What is an “offer” in D3 when there are no scholarships?  In D3, you want to be invited to make an on-campus visit during September and October in time for the Early Decision 1 deadline (every school varies, but November 1 and November 15 seem to be the two major days).  Or it could be for EA – Early Action – at other schools.  Or right afterward to begin the process for ED2 and Regular Decision deadlines which are often December 31 or January 15 with each school varying.  The “offer” process is really in two steps:  1) making an on-campus visit; and, 2) being asked / invited to apply ED/EA with a spot on the roster waiting for you upon acceptance by the admissions department.  Often, the coach will “offer his support with admissions” which varies by school.

5.  Confusing?  YES! For the coaches even more than the parents!  Call or email me (or Attitude of Gratitude) with any questions.  For parents who are feeling too much anxiety from the process, which can be overwhelming, please call me – perhaps I can help ease some of your anxiety by answering your questions and if you need more or ongoing assistance, you can hire me (certainly not required!)  And, this is the entirety of my sales pitch:  if you want me as a College Advisor (I am an advisor and not a recruiting service; I do not, will not, can not guarantee placement!) to advise you through the entire multi-faceted process including: 1) figuring out the right matches for academics; 2) which you can and should visit in September and October without wasting time and money chasing an opportunity which may not be open or to a school which is a highly ranked, regarded, well known “right” school but not for your son for any of many reasons; 3) bottom-line cost for your specific situation as all colleges use different algorithms for financial aid and academic merit awards (some give none! While some give what you NEED and others give more or less depending on their way of figuring it out).  Some colleges are going to be free, believe it or not.  And then there is the anomaly of state schools not being cheaper than private schools for some people and out-of-state universities being cheaper than in-state schools.  In other words, please know there are solutions if you need one.

6.  Please keep in mind that you are going to want to make several visits in the fall to visit the campuses you are VERY interested in and where the coaches are seriously interested in you.  In D3 you have 6-8 weekends to make these visits and be able to play with the team before they start practice – and you more than likely should be taking the SAT/ACT tests again on at least one of these weekends.  For some of you, there will need to be choices made as to which schools you will visit (cross country travel is not easy and limiting it to 2 trips may be all you can do) – you may have 20+ schools asking you to visit or we may be able to come up with a list of the schools you should be visiting and the coaches will be happy to have you come.  These trips can be expensive and we want to make sure you are spending money and time visiting the “right” schools.   DO NOT WAIT FOR COACHES TO COME SEE YOU PLAY DURING YOUR SENIOR YEAR HIGH SCHOOL SEASON. The Academic D3 schools do not recruit this way.  Scholarship schools do and often wait until March, April, May of your Senior year – even in June and July after you have graduated to wait out the Transfer Portal options!  In Academic D3 you can/should be all set with your ED1 decision to your #1 school on November 1 or November 15, weeks before your season starts – the hope is you will have your acceptance letter prior to your first hs game of the season.  The top academic / top basketball schools do not wait for Regular Decision to recruit players, so ED1&2 becomes a bigger priority.  ED2 can work well for the players who want to apply EA to MIT, Caltech, Chicago and IVYs hoping to win the lottery and then concentrating on ED2 to lock in a uniform.

Please call or email me to discuss this if you have questions – the money and time you save will be important to most of you.

Right now is the time for you to keep playing, STAND OUT, and be patient with your video.  With the knowledge of when the coaches are back on campus and ready to receive calls, emails and letters/videos from you (you do not want to be too early – if you send an email or a package now, it may very well sit in a pile and be looked at quickly when they get back. If you send it to them the last days of August or the first days of September your timing may be better), take the time now to prepare your tools.

 Rule #2 is the key to your success.  If the coaches at the schools you are interested in attending have not found you by the fourth week of August, you should take charge of your future if you want it.  My help and advice to Earn A College Uniform is a call or email away for YOU and your parents to make, please.  You can do it yourself, most assuredly so:

1.    Complete the Prospective Athlete Questionnaire on the web site of every school you are interested in.

2.    Write an eloquent email or letter https://academicbasketball.com/earn-a-college-uniform-eloquent-email/  to the coaches and include a pdf of your high school transcript for all years of high school, a PDF of your test scores and a list of the courses you will take your senior year.  Include the list of camps, showcases and tournaments you will be at.  STUV:  Scores, Transcript, Upcoming Schedule and VIDEO.

3.    Pick out your best full game which will showcase your ability and not have any negatives visible.  Or put together a component full game of your best quarters, unedited.  I call this a “quasi-full game and it is being accepted.

4.    Produce a highlight video to attract the attention of the coaches.  If you need help please know that I have convinced the highlight guru to begin making videos for people again (and he is charging less than I do so you may want to consider this option).

5.    Study for the upcoming SAT/ACT tests in the fall so you can increase your scores. If you are in need of my guru please look below for their information.

6.    Begin working on your Common App essays while you have free time in August.  These essays may very well make the difference between you getting accepted at a highly selective school and being deferred on your ED application.  Or in the case of the top-level schools, being accepted period.  Yes, I have a guru for this, too.

7.  Use the financial calculator on each respective school’s web site, usually found in Admissions and Tuition & Fees area if there isn’t a Financial Aid tab.  I am still looking for a financial aid guru – if you have one, please share their contact information.

 8.    Visit the schools you are interested in to figure out what the decision criteria will be from your list of schools you want to go to.  Make it a family vacation!

FOR RISING JUNIORS:

Your list of to-do’s is much simpler – fill out the Prospective Athlete Questionnaires, send the eloquent email along with your transcript and link to your highlight video.  But, and this is critical, unless you are at one of the boarding schools where the college coaches will be coming throughout September and October to see the seniors, you do not want to have your email, information and video to be put aside by the coaches, so please do not send your emails until the week before your high school season will start.  Your time is coming but not until the coaches have gotten their senior recruits to apply.  The strategy to alert them the week before your hs season begins is all about the seniors on your team (or an opponent) who they MAY be coming to see and will be happy to find out about you being there as well to watch.  For players at a school where the college coaches YOU WANT will not be coming to watch a senior, I suggest waiting to send your Eloquent Email and completing the Prospective Athlete Questionnaire until the beginning of April ahead of the LIVE Period tournaments where they will see you.  This also gives you a chance to include your updated transcript, test scores and video from your Junior hs season.  You may be bigger, faster and stronger – all good things.

The ELOQUENT EMAIL:

For an eloquent email, I propose the following and ask you to take on the challenge of all working together to improve my draft (please email me your proposed improvements and I will assemble a better email and share it with you):  https://academicbasketball.com/earn-a-college-uniform-eloquent-email/

Dear Coach Smith (always do your homework and make a personal address):

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Norman Nolastname and I am a rising Senior at The Harvey School in Katonah, NY where I have a 3.83 GPA while playing the power guard position on the basketball team for Coach Scott. I am 6’2, 190 lb and play AAU for the Academic Basketball Club on Coach Krumins’ team. I have taken the SAT twice and my Super Score is 1510 (Math = 770, Critical Reading = 740). I plan on taking the SAT and ACT this fall. I am very interested in Exeter College and have filled out the Prospective Athlete Questionnaire on your web-site. I have put together a highlight video which you can view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS-6TiLpr3o If you feel I am at the level you are looking for I am ready to make a campus visit. You can reach me at 203-329-0707 and sportstv@aol.com. I look forward to talking with you. Thank you.

Best regards, Norman

Upcoming Schedule of Camps I Will Be At:

July 24-26 at Hoop Group Academic Elite 2 at East Stroudsburg PA

July 31 – August 1 at Yale

August 7-8 AAB Showcase in Chicago

August 9 Fundamental U (Mike Weinstein’s event) in Chicago

August 12-13 at the Hoop Group Academic 3 New England camp at Dana Barros

Things to note which are NOT mentioned: anything historical which does not apply to the school – this includes stats. If you are a 20 pt/game scorer they will know about it or will see it in your video. If you are All-State or a McDonald’s / Gatorade nominee, they know about it already! If you are an Eagle Scout, have been awarded the key to your city or been honored for saving a life I would be tempted to include it but still wouldn’t – they need to choose you based on what they feel you can bring to their Team. And do not include a bb resume, baseball card, bio sheet, etc.  Everything they want to see is best input into their Prospective Athlete Questionnaire.  YOU should take the time to input it to provide to them in the format they need it – it goes directly into their Frontrush software platform.  If you give them a resume it means THEY will need to input it.  The admissions department will want to know the rest. And, you can bring it up when you meet with them.  If you are not good enough to improve their Team, in most cases it matters not what else you bring. There are exceptions, of course. Using your best judgment will guide you well. 

Video – Head Coaches will want to see a Full Game you played in – at least one. But the Assistant Coaches are the ones who will be watching a Full Game video if you send it in before they have decided you are a player they want to see more of. If you have a game where you have highlights in the first 45 seconds of the game – that is the game you want to send. But if you are like most people and your highlights come throughout the game but not in the first minute, please know that many Assistant Coaches are getting 600+ videos and the reality is they may not be paying attention or focusing on the video for too long. This is why I recommend sending a highlight video first to get their attention by showing them what you can do on the court. Once they are paying attention to you, they will likely be paying more attention to your full game video and love you more. Then, they will hopefully invite you for an on-campus visit and that is what your goal needs to be since that is the next step towards being offered a uniform and place on the team.

If you need Full Game video you will likely be able to get it from the larger camps you attended – we shot every game at the Academic Basketball Camp at Sarah Lawrence and gave it to the players AND coaches.  I know that every game was shot at the All-Academic Camp at Babson, the Academic superbowl), Hoop Group Academic Elite Camps and the High Academic Showcase in Chicago.  The value of the video coming from the games at the academic camps is that every player is being recruited and the coaches know who the players are, so they can quickly compare you to other players they know and your highlights have the value you want. You can also produce a highlight video from any of your high school games, aau season or from video someone shot at any of the other camps during the summer season – again, the importance of these are the coaches know who you played against.  You can see example of videos to use as a guide for your own creation www.VideoForCoaches.com  (currently being renovated and will be up shortly; please look for the videos on YouTube:  “Video For Coaches” channel).  Need someone to make a highlight video for you?  I have a guru if you want one.

SAT/ACT preparation can be done with your local tutor, professional or education center.  We have found gurus who work with you, online, and have had tremendous success working with high academic student athletes.  For the ACT, please email Info@36Education.com and put “Harvey Sent Me in the subject line.  For SAT and ACT tutoring contact Marla Lango for help – she has been working wonders with many of our players  MarlaRaeLango@gmail.com  858-449-6887.   The thing about these gurus which interests me more than the rest of the people I have met who do SAT/ACT prep is the gurus go beyond teaching to the test – they seem to have figured out the algorithm of the tests and explain the dynamics to you so you can identify the patterns and use them towards your success.

Similarly, with the college essays, I have found two sets of gurus (so far).  One is made up of Duke grads who began their enterprise as freshmen. They seem to understand what the school admission departments value – more than the storyline, grammar and writing ability.  It comes down to more than writing a well-written essay and knowing what will work can help you write to the intended reader.  And of course, a good editor is valuable.  914-574-7099   Dylan@DylanGambardella.com  www.dylangambardella.com   In addition, Trish Priest began helping a lot of players three  year and received glowing reviews www.priestcollegeconsulting.com     priestcollegeconsulting@gmail.com  501-358-2825 

You cannot avoid the application essays though most schools will have similar supplemental essays which you can reuse your essays with.  Regarding the SAT and ACT test:  PLEASE KNOW THAT THERE WERE 971 colleges and universities which do not require test scores in all or some circumstances (pre-Covid); 126 D3 schools were TEST OPTIONAL and of those, about half are very good to excellent academic schools.  Again this year, almost all schools are Test Optional though some have an organic formula involving the # of AP courses and more essays.  68 TOP ACADEMIC D3 SCHOOLS ARE TEST OPTIONAL.  But your test score may be the catalyst to a Merit Award.  So please take the test.

For the much-needed help with financial aid, I have been searching for the guru with the same level of expertise as the SAT/ACT and Essay gurus have, but unfortunately have not yet found the right person or company which takes on the mission for you as if they were a family member.

Quick quiz: What are the top 5 criterion to use when choosing a college?

By figuring out the answer you can make your search to Earn A College Uniform very efficient. I have combined the published lists of highly ranked schools with the basketball opportunities and applied the top 5 criterion to create a matrix – you can too – of the top schools for basketball players of all levels (scores, transcripts and ability).

The goal is Rule #1. Your success is what drives Rule #2.

If you need help, please call or email me.  I am here to help, as is Attitude of Gratitude.

Best regards,

Harvey