<p>I'm trying to think of useful suggestions for my nephew, who is in a tough situation (the father is out of the picture). It's not the usual CC kind of issue, but any input would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>My nephew was a good but not spectacular HS basketball player (a guard, unfortunately) in the Philly suburbs. He was recruited to play at a nonselective private school--an above average team in a below average DIII league. Not surprisingly, the coach (apparently) overrecruited--eight freshmen on the roster--and my nephew was cut. He desperately wants to continue playing basketball and is looking to transfer. Money is an issue, and while I don't get the impression that he is a great student, I think that he is a good student by any standards outside CC. He wants to stay in the Philly area.</p>
<p>I could think of only two general ideas--look for bad DIII programs in the area, or consider playing at a community college (one which is not a "feeder" program for college-quality players who are looking to improve their academics). The difficulty, of course, is that he might run into the same problem at another school.</p>
<p>One thought would be to look into club basketball programs at various colleges. My nephew is a very good hockey player, but not quite a recruitable D1 athlete. He chose a good academic D1 school with a competitive club hockey team. Club differs from intramural in that they actually travel and play against clubs from different schools - it can be quite competitive</p>
<p>EMM1 - Here is my two cents…Why was he cut? If he was cut because he is not good enough then I think he needs to look at basketball for recreational of club level. All athletes stop playing competitive sports at some time. The young man needs to take a long look at his basketball skills and be honest with himself or seek advice from people he trusts. Varska suggested club ball, and that is a great suggestion if he likes the school he is at. You did not mention if he likes the school he is at, so I don’t know if that is an option. My hope is that he selected the school for academic compatability too. </p>
<p>If he has the basketball skills, passion & capability then I think JUCO or transfer to another D3 school should be his next move. There a no NCAA rules that I know of that would prevent him from going D3 to D3 or JUCO. I would look for a JUCO (2 year school) that has a history and reputation for developing and moving players back to 4 year schools. I would also start building a list of D3 basketball schools within a specific radius of Philly if that is where he wants to stay. He may have to go outside his Philly comfort zone on this, to find a place to play. I would also recommend he hit the books hard to boost up his academic profile to give him more options. </p>
<p>With $ an issue for him, has he looked into any of the PA state schools, such as PS-Altoona (farther away), or others in DIII Allegheny Mountain Conf. or even Millersville, Westchester, Kutztown (all DII)? I don’t know basketball, but thought if it was a strong DIII team he’d been recruited to, DII could be a possibilty if the team wasn’t super-competitive. Those schools would be less expensive to attend. As others mentioned, club ball would always be an option if he’d consider it if a varsity position isn’t going to be likely.</p>