Looking for a high school with amazing boys basketball coaching and academics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Sidwell coaches offer any summer camps or training? I see STA does.

Also, would be interested in strengths and weaknesses of STA coaching.

primary weakness=head coach who thinks he can win by focusing on a single player. Only star was allowed to shoot. No investment in other players and development of the team overall. Known to be verbally harsh, dresses dowjn players for stupid sht not related to playing ball. comtrol freak who doesnt listen to his asst coaches who. Are better coaches. Given feedback after two varsity teams had 1/3 of players quit team. Seeing a little more shooting from other players this season. Still a focus on the star recruit.

JV team did well last year with solid coaching from asst coach.

Interesting. Same issues with baseball team with head coach at STA. Favored certain players. Harsh on certain players. No oversight from Athletic Director.

Not to mention no addressing some of the bullies on the baseball team that graduated in 2021 and 2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Sidwell coaches offer any summer camps or training? I see STA does.

Also, would be interested in strengths and weaknesses of STA coaching.

primary weakness=head coach who thinks he can win by focusing on a single player. Only star was allowed to shoot. No investment in other players and development of the team overall. Known to be verbally harsh, dresses dowjn players for stupid sht not related to playing ball. comtrol freak who doesnt listen to his asst coaches who. Are better coaches. Given feedback after two varsity teams had 1/3 of players quit team. Seeing a little more shooting from other players this season. Still a focus on the star recruit.

JV team did well last year with solid coaching from asst coach.

Interesting. Same issues with baseball team with head coach at STA. Favored certain players. Harsh on certain players. No oversight from Athletic Director.

some of the baseball grads 2022 were real bullies and got away with it - no oversight from sta baseball coach
Not to mention no addressing some of the bullies on the baseball team that graduated in 2021 and 2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:O'Connell?

Their sports are horrible. If you never want to win at any sport go here.

Pretty sure their boys basketball team is #14 in the country right now… check the ESPN high school rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:O'Connell?

Their sports are horrible. If you never want to win at any sport go here.

Pretty sure their boys basketball team is #14 in the country right now… check the ESPN high school rankings.

To anyone reading, please don't use rankings to determine best school. They usually change from year to year. Schools with losing record can jump up be following year with new transfers and teams that were ranked can take with one grad and a transfer. This happens every single year. Better to go off academics, ability to contribute, and longevity of coaches. Don't apply based on rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Sidwell coaches offer any summer camps or training? I see STA does.

Also, would be interested in strengths and weaknesses of STA coaching.

primary weakness=head coach who thinks he can win by focusing on a single player. Only star was allowed to shoot. No investment in other players and development of the team overall. Known to be verbally harsh, dresses dowjn players for stupid sht not related to playing ball. comtrol freak who doesnt listen to his asst coaches who. Are better coaches. Given feedback after two varsity teams had 1/3 of players quit team. Seeing a little more shooting from other players this season. Still a focus on the star recruit.

JV team did well last year with solid coaching from asst coach.

I watched them play vs Sidwell and they seemed to be pretty balanced and it looked like he played many of the bench players. I think most high school programs focus on star recruits but agree that way too much talent has transferred away from STA. I just could never figure out if it was more related to academics or coaching. They seem to have some very big named assistants this year, as well.

17 years without an IAC championship when you’ve got plenty of tall athletic players whose parents can afford private training?

You have to balance between the star recruit and creating a viable team. Even stars like LeBron, Giannis, and Steph can’t take their teams to victory on their own. Basketball is a team sport. You gotta have a team.

The more evenhanded play you saw at the Sidwell game is a result of many upset parents and players talking to the HOS. The AD has no backbone and no influence over his coaches.

Not all who can play can coach. To early to tell whether the big named assistants will make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Sidwell coaches offer any summer camps or training? I see STA does.

Also, would be interested in strengths and weaknesses of STA coaching.

primary weakness=head coach who thinks he can win by focusing on a single player. Only star was allowed to shoot. No investment in other players and development of the team overall. Known to be verbally harsh, dresses dowjn players for stupid sht not related to playing ball. comtrol freak who doesnt listen to his asst coaches who. Are better coaches. Given feedback after two varsity teams had 1/3 of players quit team. Seeing a little more shooting from other players this season. Still a focus on the star recruit.

JV team did well last year with solid coaching from asst coach.

I watched them play vs Sidwell and they seemed to be pretty balanced and it looked like he played many of the bench players. I think most high school programs focus on star recruits but agree that way too much talent has transferred away from STA. I just could never figure out if it was more related to academics or coaching. They seem to have some very big named assistants this year, as well.

17 years without an IAC championship when you’ve got plenty of tall athletic players whose parents can afford private training?

You have to balance between the star recruit and creating a viable team. Even stars like LeBron, Giannis, and Steph can’t take their teams to victory on their own. Basketball is a team sport. You gotta have a team.

The more evenhanded play you saw at the Sidwell game is a result of many upset parents and players talking to the HOS. The AD has no backbone and no influence over his coaches.

Not all who can play can coach. To early to tell whether the big named assistants will make a difference.

Looks like STA is having a great season and is on the up and up. I have heard that they also have some middle schoolers from good AAU programs so looking to build a pipeline. Are the upset parents and players feeling any better about the season?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Andrews

St. Andrew's doesn't hang with the top teams.

[Anonymous]

Bullis crushed STA yesterday.

[Anonymous]

Well, STA was missing its starting PG last night, who is one of the top 2 players on the team.
STA is not going to beat Bullis this year, though, even if everyone is available. The question is how they are doing against everyone else. So far, the results are mixed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, STA was missing its starting PG last night, who is one of the top 2 players on the team.
STA is not going to beat Bullis this year, though, even if everyone is available. The question is how they are doing against everyone else. So far, the results are mixed.

In fairness, it sounds like mixed results are better than previous years where they were all losses. It doesn't seem like too many seniors on the team, so perhaps buildable talent base.

[Anonymous]

Good counsel beat DeMatha! Great win

[Anonymous]

If your son is like 6’3 and a mediocre basketball player so far after playing only in middle school for school team but still developing as a player where could he get some development and playing time between the Catholic high schools and Bullis and SSSAS?

[Anonymous]

If he is 6’3 and has any modicum of skill he could likely make at least the freshman team at any school around here. This would give him the practice and game time to develop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he is 6’3 and has any modicum of skill he could likely make at least the freshman team at any school around here. This would give him the practice and game time to develop.

Ok thanks for that insight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your son is like 6’3 and a mediocre basketball player so far after playing only in middle school for school team but still developing as a player where could he get some development and playing time between the Catholic high schools and Bullis and SSSAS?

Bullis and many of the Catholic schools here have excellent basketball programs filled with kids who have played basketball year round for many years. IOW, I wouldn’t be so sure that there’s room for a tall but mediocre basketball player there. Is your son a mediocre athlete or has he just not played much basketball? No offense but I’m not sure why a 13/14 year old who is that tall is mediocre at basketball. No AAU coach ever talked to you and encouraged a tryout? I would go to a lower tier basketball program - Landon, STA, GDS, etc