The post March Madness, High School Version! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.
]]>RELATED: ???| The Future Of Big-Time HS Basketball?| FAB 50 Rankings Criteria?
In this fragmented high school season, we still have some state associations that haven’t conducted a sanctioned game, some student-athletes are playing for club teams while they await the fate of their regular high school season, while others have chosen to play on the Grind Session, a loose conglomerate of independent programs built for multiple D1 level recruits on its rosters.
As heightened during COVID-19, states associations have different rules on whom their member programs can play and how much they can play. When they can play is a decision reserved for state health departments and school districts, but the interpretation of those guidelines have gone in a million different directions so far in 2020-21.
What if the state associations got on the same page to create a true national high school tournament (one that mirrored the NCAA Tourney) to crown a true national champion? It may not seem realistic right now, but it isn’t that far-fetched. It would require some cooperation and sacrifices on part of the state associations, plenty of capital, a healthy relationship between associations, schools administrations, coaches and sponsors, and clear communication on the objectives of the national tournament.
High school national champions have been named dating back to 1952 by popular polls, including the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com since the 1987-88 season. The only national championships decided on the court have been for now defunct all Black high schools during the days of segregation. Yes, Brown vs. Board of Education came down in 1954, but the Negro National Championships continued until 1967.
If independent, academy-type programs want to create their own tournament away from state associations, we’d be fine with that, too. Many of the same principles below could be followed by that group of teams. If that means an expansion of GEICO Nationals, we’d welcome and support it.
What Has To Happen Before A National HS Tournament
Decide Who Is Eligible ?
First and foremost, it has to be clear which programs are eligible to enter the national tournament. We would recommend open division state champions get an automatic bid (see below) and would recommend the normal guidelines recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). That means no programs with post-graduates, age cutoffs (19 before September 1 of senior year) and only programs that are recognized by a high school athletics governing body.
Declare Intent ?
Programs should declare their intent BEFORE the season starts. If a program, school district or league doesn’t want any part of a national tournament, that’s okay. Just make that intent public as early as possible. It won’t be good PR, and won’t be good for the tourney, if a deserving state champion declines on the eve of the tourney’s start. If also prevents a team who is ranked No. 1 in the nation from protecting that ranking and having leverage to back out.
Be Flexible ?
State associations will have to re-think and get with the times, so to speak, on their playoff formats. State associations will need to develop a division (whatever it is called) where the emerging champion is the auto qualifier into the national tournament. We recommend something similar New Jersey’s Tournament of Champions or California’s open division. Teams not quite good enough for the national tournament will still win state championships in other divisions.
Make Sacrifices
In order for this to work, sectional and regional playoff rounds have to be curtailed, so a national tourney begins early enough to be completed before the heart of the spring sports season. That means no more easy opening round playoff games that mainly exist for revenue reasons. No nationally ranked team should be winning its first two playoff games by 30 and 40 points. We see that all the time. The playoff games involving teams vying for a spot in a national tournament should be competitive from the very start.
Be Inclusive
Many state associations are very cognizant of being inclusive and equitable when it comes to gender. That means a national tournament for girls will need to run concurrent with the boys version. Our hope is that it would continue to popularize the girls game. All 50 states should also be involved. Wait, you say, "no team from Vermont or Montana can possibly win the tournament." Just the experience alone would be well worth it and a Montana team pulling off a first round upset would be huge national news.
How A National HS Tournament Can Be Executed
Make The Format Recognizable
The format wouldn’t be too difficult, and if the tourney committee (see below) would just follow the NCAA tournament, fans would understand how the champion would be crowned. 50 auto bids for the recognized state champion plus the bids for the states that have separate associations for public and privates. The rest of the 64-team field would be reserved for deserving independent teams and/or those that stumbled in their respective state tournament. We think the latter may be a rare occasion, as there will be plenty of independent teams that would confide by the rules in order to be eligible. Like the old March Madness, teams would be confined to their respective region (four regions to create a Final Four) in order to cut down on travel costs and create rivalries.
Create A Competent Tournament Committee ?
This committee should include a mix of people representing the media, national scouts, state associations, referees, sponsors, security, public relations officials, and a treasury to ensure the public’s faith in the event’s financial component. The group would have to decide whom or what group would be most suitable to seed each of the four regions.
Have Reasonable Expectations
As with any event, it would have hiccups and things that need improvement over time. And with those tweaks it would grow in popularity over time, no different from GIECO Nationals or any other now popular basketball tournament. Everybody involved would have to be on board that the event is a long-term deal and not a money-maker for all those involved in its execution.
Share The Wealth
There is a popular term in basketball “share the sugar” that implies unselfish basketball is critical to success. The same would apply here. Like anything else, greed would ruin a national tournament. Small states would have to feel just as involved and important as power states. State associations would feel their best interests would have to be served in order to back an initiative like this and allow their teams to play. Broadcast rights and streaming rights would have to include local distribution for the early rounds and be beneficial to the schools, not necessarily just the state associations. With out progressive thinking, this dream scenario for high school basketball wouldn’t work.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores
The post March Madness, High School Version! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.
]]>The post Coaches Speak On "Limited" June Live Events appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.
]]>
The NCAA federal bribery and corruption scandal rocking college basketball over the past year involves such a small percentage of young players who strive to play basketball after high school by attaining a college scholarship. The corruption uncovered, so far, has one common theme: it involves nondescript individuals whom most of the general public doesn't know and only the best of the elite players who soon will again be eligible to skip college altogether and whom a growing number of people feel should be compensated to play NCAA basketball in some form.
The terms of an athletic scholarship for a vast majority of student-athletes are more than fair. So, the irony of the NCAA's new recruiting rules for live periods in June is its negative affect on some of that large group of kids looking for the best opportunity to play at a Division I college.
At the request of the NCAA (as a result of the fallout from the FBI investigation into many of its member programs), the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) along with the National High School Basketball Coaches Association (NHSBCA) created two weekend recruiting windows -- June 21-23, 2019 and June 28-30, 2019 -- for high school coaches employed by state association member schools to develop live recruiting events.
As has been rumored and discussed for two months among high schools coaches with Ballislife, it is confirmed the NFHS is sanctioning one school athletic governing body per state for the 2019 June live period events. Across the country, plenty of states have more than one athletic governing body. The states with multiple associations are often broken by groupings of public and private schools, and some whose members are independent programs and don't play for state championships.
"There is only one member [association] in each state that has NFHS membership," Theresia D. Wynns, the director of sports and officials for the NFHS, told ESPN's Jeff Borzello?via email. "Only the schools that are a part of the members of that NFHS member can participate in the June evaluation period."
Needless to say, there are plenty of talented players whose school doesn't fall into the category of being the one official NFHS member state association in a particular state. Some of the finest basketball in the country is played at schools which are part of a governing body currently considered an affiliate member of the NFHS, thus making their association ineligible to create or host June live period events.
The interpretation of these new NCAA recruiting rules (which altered the July recruiting calendar and created two live June weekends for scholastic-oriented events) has created some unhappy coaches and confusion as to whom can actually participate and how the certification process works.
In North Carolina, association membership is separated by public and private schools. There are just under 100 schools that are part of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) and over 400 schools that belong to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA). Under the current setup, NCISAA member schools won't be allowed to participate or host live recruiting events for college coaches. NCISAA member schools have been particularly strong in boys basketball in recent seasons and have had multiple programs appear in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings. It can be easily argued the NCISAA produces more than half of the state's D1 level talent despite being approximately one quarter of the size of the NCHSAA.
Not only does that make NCISAA coaches unhappy, it limits the opportunities for its players to be seen by college coaches compared to their public school counterparts. A similar scenario for college basketball hopefuls in North Carolina will take place in other states.
According to a statement released on the NFHS website, the support for the criteria for these June live events, "has underscored the importance of maintaining an education-based focus on event formats and host sites."
Are these new June live events discriminatory in nature towards certain students' educational opportunities? Why should one student not be allowed an opportunity another student is afforded based on what accredited school it attends, specially if that same accredited school has been granted membership into an association the NFHS recognizes in some fashion?
"There is some disconnect between the North Carolina public school administrators and coaches and the private schools," said Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.) assistant coach Jeff Smith. "They don't want us (the NCISAA programs) to be sanctioned. From what I understand the NFHS stance is, if they sanction a tournament or event and allow non-members to participate, they have no way or enforcing rules or punishing if there are sportsmanship issues, or something of that nature."
In the two states with the most high schools, Texas and California, one has multiple associations and the other only has one. In Texas, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) is the only NFHS member association in the state, so kids who play for Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) and Texas Christian Athletic League (TCAL) schools won't be able to play in front of college coaches in June 2019 under the new recruiting format. California public, charter, private and parochial schools are part of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which the NFHS officially recognizes.
Besides the NCISAA and TAPPS, there are other prominent associations around the country with strong basketball programs which are not the one official NFHS member state association in its respective state. That's not even including the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), which includes boarding schools containing some post-graduates and plays some of the finest basketball in the country below the NCAA level. The recruiting calendar has changed, but it's not the same for each potential NCAA student-athlete and there is little commentary among coaches that the changes were beneficial to these same student-athletes.
According to the NFHS's statement, the criteria for hosting a sanctioned June event was developed by NFHS staff and several state association administrators, and reviewed by the NFHS Board of Directors, NHSBCA and key administrators from the NCAA.
The recruiting calendar changes were obviously made rather quickly and without serious input from the college coaches who must recruit student-athletes or the key stakeholders in a players' recruitment.
"The changes were a reaction to the FBI stuff, not thought out well, and approved by someone who doesn't understand the recruiting system and how AAU (grassroots basketball) works," said one prominent college coach with experience in coaching at the grassroots and high school level who chose to remain anonymous. "We have to figure out what kids we can see with one flight and it may be one. Coaches are going to be scattering everywhere. Some kids and parents are going to think 'if the head coach is not there, he must not be a priority recruit.' We want to see kids under one roof, so we're not happy."
Not only is there some confusion on the sanctioning of these June events, there could be some confusion as to which governing body has the final jurisdiction for schools that belong to more than one association. DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.), which annually produces D1 bound talent, is currently ranked No. 4 in the FAB 50 National Rankings and is one of the most well-respected high school basketball programs in the country. The Stags, however, belong to more than one association. They are members of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) and play for a Maryland private schools state title as part of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), which is a boys' sports conference for private high schools in Central Maryland. So which organization has jurisdiction over the other with regards to DeMatha Catholic? How about other schools that belong to and follow the rules of more than one association?
"We're trying to figure that all out, we don't know the answer," said DeMatha Catholic head coach Mike Jones, who also has vast experience as a coach for USA Basketball's youth teams. "It will be interesting to see if there is any adjustment in policy (with regards to June events). This might have a rough start, but the point is not to try and take away opportunities for kids and keep their best interests at heart."
Positives
? College coaches can evaluate a potential recruit in a high school environment during their own off-season, when they don't have to worry or prepare as much for their own college seasonal activity.
? Kids who don't play on a travel team or can't afford to travel could potentially be evaluated by a college coach.
? Kids who thrive with their high school team and may not perform as well in a grassroots or camp setting could have a better opportunity to make a favorable impression.
? Coaches and administrators that have a greater depth of knowledge and experience with a player's academic profile could be an asset to a college coach.
Negatives
? The new June recruiting calendar is available to some players and not available to others, even though the a majority of the latter attend educationally accredited schools.
? College coaches can watch and evaluate kids from associations such as TAPPS, NCISAA and NEPSAC during other live periods, so what's a great reason in making June off limits?
? College coaches want to view as many quality prospects under one roof as possible and playing for a travel ball team at a quality event is more conducive and economical for them.
? The relationship between travel ball coaches and players often begins earlier than high school. Just because the high school coach is now injected back into the recruiting system, doesn't mean said high school coach will increase his positive influence on the recruiting process or increase the player's trust of his knowledge of it.
? Some high school coaches simply don't want to be involved in the process, because there is a sentiment around the country many educators, even ones not involved in athletics, are severely underpaid.
? If the rules stay in affect over a period of time, you will see an increase in the number of transfers from neighborhood schools to power programs in order to take advantage of existing relationships coaches at power programs have with college coaches and the format of the new live period.
In summary, the negative points far outweigh the positives and makes it seem as though the NFHS is looking after some other self serving interests, rather than the interests of as many student-athletes from around the country as possible.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores
The post Coaches Speak On "Limited" June Live Events appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.
]]>