<p>My senior is entertaining all options for school in 2012. He wants to continue as a student athelete playing basketball but has been lightly recruited. He is a three year varsity starter with solid numbers. All the typical acknowledgements First Team All-League, First Team All-County etc.,. He has just flown under the radar. The schools that are intersted in him are D1 but want him to walk on. D2 and D3 options are more aggresively pursuing him. He has played out of position do to the lack of size on his team (2/3 position). However in the AAU circuit he plays the 1/2 which would be his natural position at the next level. We are wondering if Prep school might be a good option for him and if so how do find a good one that will engage him. He is 3.0 student with an SAT of 1750.</p>
<p>Are the D1 schools Patriot League, America East, Ivy, etc.?</p>
<p>If so, I remember one guy from Holy Cross, Chris Spitler, was a walk-on as a sophomore but ended up playing in a starting role for Holy Cross as a senior. He worked hard, hustled, and helped the team out in every possible way. Walking on doesn’t automatically mean benchwarming the season; if he works hard and proves that he can play, he will play. Good luck.</p>
<p>One of the challenges that your son is encountering is that at the 1-2 positions, supply exceeds demand. The vast majority (90%+) of D1 players are recruited with the academic threshold being the minimum NCAA standards. As a results, there are hundreds of jump-out-of-the-gym guards that are recruited and get D1 slots with their athleticism being the primary driver, with skills being the second, and academics a distant third.</p>
<p>One of the things that a PG year can do for him is reboot his recruiting to the D1 (and D2 and D3) conferences where there are academic as well as athletic requirements for admission.</p>
<p>The last poster was right in referencing the Ivies, the Patriot League and the America East. His GPA and test scores are little low for the Ivies, but if he is good enough and he uses a PG year to build his SAT scores, it could work.</p>
<p>The bottom end of the Patriot League might consider him. I would also recommend that he expands his scope to include D2. The Northeast 10 conference has several strong basketball programs that are also great academically (Stonehill, Bentley, etc.). There is also a lot of great ball played in D3 (NESCAC, UAA, Centennial League, ODAC) to name a few conferences with strong basketball and academic members. Although the D3s do not give athletic scholarships, it is remarkable the significant financial aid that students receive at these schools for leadership, community service, etc that also happen to be athletes.</p>
<p>By rebooting his recruiting with a PG year, he would have the summer to go to camps that attract coaches of high academic schools (All Academic Camp at Brandeis, the Hoop Groups Academic Elite Week, etc and get on these coaches radar.</p>
<p>It is getting late to apply to some preps, but if you contact the coaches, they’ll let you know if they have need and if it is too late.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Also, browse the Athletic Recruiting site. There are a lot of interesting stories and help to found there.</p>
<p>[Athletic</a> Recruits - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/]Athletic”>Athletic Recruits - College Confidential Forums)</p>