<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>