"Catholics vs Transfers." Prep school recruiting gone too far?

[bison13]

I went to a private school and it didn’t recruit. My nephew went to another private school and it didn’t recruit. As an adult, one of my best friends had two sons and a daughter that all went to private school and that school didn’t recruit and that was in a different state. One of my employees here (in yet another state) has a son that goes to a private school and that school doesn’t recruit. In fact, I’ve known numerous kids at numerous private schools over the years and I only know of one private school that actually recruited and that was Cathedral Prep in Erie. So I think outside of some of the football factory type private schools, the idea of private schools recruiting is overblown.

I dont know where you live but lucky you if you coach. Western PA private schools most assuredly recruit and here in MD every private good or bad recruits to some extent.

 

[AWS1022]

I dont know where you live but lucky you if you coach. Western PA private schools most assuredly recruit and here in MD every private good or bad recruits to some extent.

Some Western PA schools recruit and many don’t. I grew up and coached in Western Pa.

 

[BBG65]

Most private schools don’t recruit or give scholarships. It’s not like all private schools are football factories. A vast majority of private schools are small Christian schools that get totally stomped by almost every public school they play. The handful of football factories shouldn’t ruin it for all the small private schools just trying to be competitive.

Football factories might be overstating it for most of them, but the majority of them do very well and hold an advantage over the public schools. It is even more true in basketball. And yes they do recruit, just some better than others. If a public school coach sees a position weakness on his team, he just has to make the best of it. A private school coach goes out looking for players to fill that weak spot.

 

[wlawn]

Since it is a PIAA violation why has no one turned a team in? I got news for you public schools get as many if not more transfers then privates. All you have to do is look at the MID-Penn area(Harrisburg)happens all the time. I have been a high school coach for 30+ years from the Reading area and we played those teams. Reading High would not of won their only state title if it wasn't for a transfer from a private school.

 

[Art]

That's few and far between from my experience. My daughter graduated from a catholic school last yr and my son is a sophomore at the school this yr. My daughters boyfriend comes from a single parent family with very little money. When things got tough with their finances and they approached the school for help they told the parent to go to a public school...pretty callus no? And the kid is a very good athlete.

And I know of 3-4 Catholic schools in my area where there are kids who pay little or no tuition. Is it an open-door-policy at those an other schools? Of course not, it can't be

 

[Connorpozlee]

Wish that was the case here in MD. I've got kids that are on my JV team who transfer to play varsity at horrible private schools its so bad.

It’s good for athletic purposes, but not if you have a kid that wants to play sports but wants to transfer to a private school. On athletic terms, I agree with you that it’s a good rule.

 

[PS4814]

And I know of 3-4 Catholic schools in my area where there are kids who pay little or no tuition. Is it an open-door-policy at those an other schools? Of course not, it can't be

Public schools are open-door. Private schools are closed-door. Different rules, different schools, therefore they should not compete with public schools in any way, be that on the field, in academic competitions, band competitions etc. You don't see kids who play on intramural flag football teams competing against the ones who play in Beaver Stadium do you? One team anyone can join - one team recruits and offers scholarships.

 

[wlawn]

And I know of 3-4 Catholic schools in my area where there are kids who pay little or no tuition. Is it an open-door-policy at those an other schools? Of course not, it can't be

Yea I heard this too about our school and our parents response to that is "would you like to see my check that I sent in". Anyone that gets assistance must show their income, if there is any other assistance financially it could come from other sources but not from the diocese. They also need to meet academic standards which isn't the case at some public schools.

I have been accused of recruiting my whole career, I have a full time job and had two little kids, I asked them, when would I have time and how do I do it. Home visits haha, just laugh at them. The school recruits itself. God, Family, Academics, Fun.

 

[Pizzaboy1]

I dont know where you live but lucky you if you coach. Western PA private schools most assuredly recruit and here in MD every private good or bad recruits to some extent.

I second these statements!

 

[Connorpozlee]

Public schools are open-door. Private schools are closed-door. Different rules, different schools, therefore they should not compete with public schools in any way, be that on the field, in academic competitions, band competitions etc. You don't see kids who play on intramural flag football teams competing against the ones who play in Beaver Stadium do you? One team anyone can join - one team recruits and offers scholarships.

The public schools are recruiting as well. Just not as well as the private schools are.

 

[Art]

Public schools are open-door. Private schools are closed-door. Different rules, different schools, therefore they should not compete with public schools in any way, be that on the field, in academic competitions, band competitions etc. You don't see kids who play on intramural flag football teams competing against the ones who play in Beaver Stadium do you? One team anyone can join - one team recruits and offers scholarships.

Fine with me. Now go sell the concept to the authorities who govern high school sports competition wherever your little heart desires.

 

[Pizzaboy1]

I don't have the expertise of you guys when it comes to HS coaching and teaching.I was only a head coach in the Wpial for 35 years and an assistant in another sport for 30 years.If you think its an even playing field between public vs private schools I have some beach front property to sell you in Greene county !bwdik

 

[wlawn]

So why does it only apply to basketball and football?

 

[LionJim]

Gonzaga dad here. It is a very fair point that public’s should not have to compete with this. (And they don’t generally in the wcac). The fact that Gonzaga’s pa equivalent (st joes prep) does in pa is baffling to me.

I have mixed feelings about this. To the bad, it’s the gateway to all the stuff that is wrong with hoops. And really bizarre stuff like the kris Jenkins situation in hoops. But more importantly it has the potential to deprive regular parish kids the opportunity to play varsity sports. To the good, it enhances the diversity of the schools and turns out some fine young men off the field. Gnz, for example, may be the only school in the country with a homeless men’s shelter in the basement and that creates unique service and social justice opportunities. I think the biggest part of the whining down here is the sheer magnitude of planks gift to St. John’s (and of course the ua affiliation) , which is otherwise a fine school. But make no mistake: all of these schools are plenty liquid.

Ultimately, in my case, I was actually comfortable with the gnz experience because (I) they fielded multiple teams (eg 3 hockey teams!) to make sure the opportunity to play was there and (ii) they took kids into niche sports like rugby and crew and turned them into scholarship (and even world class in the case of crew) athletes. I don’t think my son would have traded his experience for anything.

Side note: the tuition at these schools is well below that of the other privates in dc like gt prep, Landon, and the like. So it may also be that the sense of esprit de corps helps fundraising in ways that benefit all

Gonzaga dad? Cool. Say hi to my cousin Pam who works in the library.

 

[Ceasar]

Honestly I think some of you guys have a distorted perception of the "recruiting" that goes on. First, how much money do you think Catholic schools have to pay the tuition of athletes? Maybe they are giving a break to a few kids, that's about it. You think the players at big time public school programs all live within the boundaries of that district? About 4-5 years ago Susquehanna Township HS (suburban Hbg) played Imhotep for the state championship in basketball. I remarked to a friend whose kids attend ST how great that was for the district; her response, "you realize none of the starters on the team live in the district, they all come from Harrisburg". Maybe that's an exaggeration. But again, using the Micah Parsons example, he moves from one of the nicest suburbs in Dauphin County and a great Central Dauphin school district into Harrisburg and his team ends up one of the state powerhouse teams? Okay...
A lot of kids end up at Catholic schools because they want a great education; they want to play for a really good program that wins a lot; they have friends who attend the private school and they want to attend the same school; and also some kids do in fact transfer from large publics to privates because they would not make the team at their large private school. That is not at all uncommon and I can think of 3 kids off the top of my head who transferred from CD to McDevitt to play either basketball or baseball and each one was initially cut by CD. I guess some of you guys would prefer those kids not get the opportunity to play high school sports. By the way, for the ability to play a sport at McD each of those families also gets the privilege of paying $880 per month.

 

[wlawn]

I'll admit, Philly Catholic schools I believe allow 2 scholarships(not sure if they do this anymore) the PIAA made a mistake allowing Philly schools to enter.

 

[AWS1022]

Football factories might be overstating it for most of them, but the majority of them do very well and hold an advantage over the public schools. It is even more true in basketball. And yes they do recruit, just some better than others. If a public school coach sees a position weakness on his team, he just has to make the best of it. A private school coach goes out looking for players to fill that weak spot.

And they recruit because you say they recruit? If you have proof, turn them in. I heard for years that the private school I went to recruited while I was there and I knew for a fact they didn’t and they still don’t. The level of recruiting is not anywhere near what people think it is.

 

[bison13]

Some Western PA schools recruit and many don’t. I grew up and coached in Western Pa.

As did I, and I saw privates at our summer league basketball games at the Bronson House talking to kids. There were kids from Washington that went to Central Catholic, Seton Lasalle, Canevin, Weirton Madonna.....

Hell the worst was when we had some kids that went to camp at Pitt with Paul Evans. One of the HS coaches from a private was working the camp, he tried to get a dozen kids to transfer.

 

[PS4814]

And they recruit because you say they recruit? If you have proof, turn them in. I heard for years that the private school I went to recruited while I was there and I knew for a fact they didn’t and they still don’t. The level of recruiting is not anywhere near what people think it is.

How about you show your proof that the private school you attended didn't and doesn't recruit?

 

[wlawn]

How about you show your proof that the private school you attended didn't and doesn't recruit?

 

[PS4814]

Just showing the stupidity of asking for proof on a freaking message board, and trying to use that as a way of "proving" you're right.

 

[AWS1022]

How about you show your proof that the private school you attended didn't and doesn't recruit?

Well, I played basketball and baseball for four years and I know for a fact none of the guys I played with were recruited to go there. There were also two absolute stud basketball players that applied to go there while I was there and they got turned down because their grades weren’t good enough. Years later my step nephew was being recruited by Cathedral Prep but he wanted to go to my school but he got turned down because his grades weren’t good enough. Just recently my other nephew tried to get in (also a very good basketball player) and he got turned down because his grades weren’t good enough. I don’t know how many examples you need, but I’ve got a bunch of them. I also was good friends with the guy who coached their basketball team for years and he never recruited because he would have gotten fired. But that still doesn’t stop the public school parents in the area from accusing them of recruiting. I also coached girls basketball in the area for a while and my brother coached for years, we had some really really good players and never once lost one to a private school because they couldn’t afford the tuition and they weren’t recruited.

 

[psualt]

Don’t worry about the scholarships for you that live in PA. Your tax dollars are already funding the private schools through the educational improvement tax credit and the opportunity scholarship credits. Their fundraisers are out full force in the community to raise these dollars. When a 20,000 donation nets you 18,000 in tax credits that’s not too bad. Before the IRS blocked this those private schools were working everyone over as the return was greater than the amount paid.

 

[bison13]

Well, I played basketball and baseball for four years and I know for a fact none of the guys I played with were recruited to go there. There were also two absolute stud basketball players that applied to go there while I was there and they got turned down because their grades weren’t good enough. Years later my step nephew was being recruited by Cathedral Prep but he wanted to go to my school but he got turned down because his grades weren’t good enough. Just recently my other nephew tried to get in (also a very good basketball player) and he got turned down because his grades weren’t good enough. I don’t know how many examples you need, but I’ve got a bunch of them. I also was good friends with the guy who coached their basketball team for years and he never recruited because he would have gotten fired. But that still doesn’t stop the public school parents in the area from accusing them of recruiting. I also coached girls basketball in the area for a while and my brother coached for years, we had some really really good players and never once lost one to a private school because they couldn’t afford the tuition and they weren’t recruited.

I notice you have yet to mention what school you went to.

 

[AWS1022]

I notice you have yet to mention what school you went to.

Mercyhurst Prep.