Basketball scholarships for HS Private/Independent schools

[Anonymous]

Hi, I’m fairly new to the DMV area and trying to understand the high school basketball landscape.

Coming from Texas, public schools are most prominent for sports. Here, it seems like top players tend to go to private/independent schools. Are these families paying for tuition or are athletes generally on scholarships?

How does all of this work? Are schools recruiting players? Trying to figure out next steps for my kids as they enter HS.

[Anonymous]

Kids are recruited nationally for the best programs, and those kids are offered — as I understand it — “aid”, not scholarships. A friend’s kid was told by a coach that kid should apply and they’d get aid (coach acted as if they had power to offer that with certainty).

If your kid isn’t a phenom, they may have trouble getting attention from those coaches.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and the best privates tend to be WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, I think) schools, esp. Paul IV, Gonzaga, DeMatha, and St John’s.

[Anonymous]

Athletic scholarships are not allowed in any of the DMV private leagues. Only Merit/need based and/or academic aid can be offered just like every other student has available to them same rules apply across the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and the best privates tend to be WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, I think) schools, esp. Paul IV, Gonzaga, DeMatha, and St John’s.

Not for academics.

Sports I guess.

[Anonymous]

You are correct that private schools here generally have stronger sports programs than the public schools.

A couple of things to keep in mind:
-if your child is not being recruited by the private school, you will want to consider playing time and whether your child will be able to play varsity as an upperclassman.
-I believe high school coaches are not supposed to proactively contact middle school athletes to recruit them. But if the player or parents reach out first, then the coach can continue the conversation. Not sure how strictly this rule is followed, but if there are particular schools you are interested in you should contact the coaches there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are correct that private schools here generally have stronger sports programs than the public schools.

A couple of things to keep in mind:
-if your child is not being recruited by the private school, you will want to consider playing time and whether your child will be able to play varsity as an upperclassman.
-I believe high school coaches are not supposed to proactively contact middle school athletes to recruit them. But if the player or parents reach out first, then the coach can continue the conversation. Not sure how strictly this rule is followed, but if there are particular schools you are interested in you should contact the coaches there.

I mean, coaches aren’t supposed to hire the parents of prospects as assistant coaches either, but it happens.

[Anonymous]

Your kid will have to apply just like everyone else. If your kid is a boy, he will have to be a reclass that’s really good or a freakish 3-5 star athlete to be recruited and most of the schools aren’t even recruiting. A parent has to contact the coach.

I contacted lots of coaches for my son who is pretty good basketball player and a great student. He’s not a 3-5 star and hasn’t reclassed, but there were coaches that liked him and felt he would fit into their program. He was able to get into some schools and a few gave the financial aid he needs. In our situation he needed 98% aid, but we need it.

My advice is look at the schools who are well known for sports, especially if you have a 3-5 star. Look at schools that want to be competitive (MAC and IAC), and check out the boarding schools.

[Anonymous]

One thing to remember is most of these schools will promise you more financial aid to get you in the door as a 9th grader. And then you may find there is less aid available in future years, especially if you are not a star player. The financial aid budget is very dynamic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing to remember is most of these schools will promise you more financial aid to get you in the door as a 9th grader. And then you may find there is less aid available in future years, especially if you are not a star player. The financial aid budget is very dynamic.

No they don’t do that unless your financial situation changes dramatically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to remember is most of these schools will promise you more financial aid to get you in the door as a 9th grader. And then you may find there is less aid available in future years, especially if you are not a star player. The financial aid budget is very dynamic.

No they don’t do that unless your financial situation changes dramatically.

That's what they tell you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to remember is most of these schools will promise you more financial aid to get you in the door as a 9th grader. And then you may find there is less aid available in future years, especially if you are not a star player. The financial aid budget is very dynamic.

No they don’t do that unless your financial situation changes dramatically.

That's what they tell you

I have had two kids in this situation. Both at schools with tuition over $50,000/year. I never had the school try to raise my tuition.

I could see it happening if a family is able afford the tuition, but a family shouldn’t be looking for aid when they can afford to pay in full anyway.

[Anonymous]

Kids lose their scholarships for 3 reasons: grades or behavior or their family's behavior. There are lots of kids who can bounce a ball who can get inflated A's and B's. There are really dopey kids who are so stupid in private school they end up with C's. Then there are the kids who are just bad kids due to social behavior or there own unrealistic expectations. The last one is when the parents demand too much from the school without giving back anything.

[Anonymous]

So if I have a kid that is a star player in 8th grade, a private high school coach would never come to me to recruit them? I need to approach the coach and express interest in their school…then ask for aid if I can’t afford it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So if I have a kid that is a star player in 8th grade, a private high school coach would never come to me to recruit them? I need to approach the coach and express interest in their school…then ask for aid if I can’t afford it?

Yes.