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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Did Bullis kidnap these students from Prep and Landon?

Shouldn't one rather ask why these other schools have done such a poor job of holding onto these students, if they value them?

Transferring schools is a big deal.  They leave behind a school community, close friends and importantly for student athletes, teammates they've forged a close bond with over the course of months or years.

It sounds as if, according to the Gazette article, the transfer student mentioned had to shore up his grades and heal physically before being able to transfer, and that  he was able to find a softer landing at Bullis than elsewhere.

I say, good for Bullis if they are able to provide a better fit for some student athletes than might have been achieved at other schools. The kid -- who might not have found academic success elsewhere -- gets to be the beneficiary of a very fine education (although, yes, I understand that many on this board question just how fine it is) and the school get a terrific athlete who seems thrilled to be there, and is having success on and off the court.

What am I missing? Where is the problem here?

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There are a few issues.

First, at least in lacrosse, a source of many of the recent transfers, Bullis actually recruits the students when they are still at the prior league school.  This has been reported by a number of families with talented younger players.  (Has also been seen in at least one girls' sport, btw.) Most people would agree that it is not particularly healthy for 8th/9th/10th graders to be the subject of recruiting pitches from other high schools -- it is distracting and confusing.

Second, as the recent case of the Blake football player suggests (one semester -- the football season -- then he transferred back to his original school), this is about the sports, not the academics.  It was the high school equivalent of the "rent a player" scenario in major league baseball where teams in contention pick up a player whose contract will expire at the end of the current season to help with a "stretch run."  Not a great example for other students, whether athletes or not.

Third, there are strong indications that Bullis is functionally giving athletic scholarships -- for example, giving a full ride to an athlete with two professional parents who did not qualify for aid under the "regular" standard at the prior school.  Although the local private school leagues are not the NCAA (they are fairly loose on many things), this would be absolutely against the rules -- so Bullis is seen as out and out cheating to get an advantage.  In the non-sports context, it is also unfortunate if Bullis is using their available financial aid on athletes who don't need it to the detriment of students with a real need.  (Maybe they are meeting all available need, but in general, that's a pot of money that's not unlimited at a school.)

Fourth, sports work because of the concept of a level playing field.  Don't get me wrong -- it seems obvious that sports are clearly overemphasized at the high school level in the USA and these private schools are no exception.  So I get the "what's the big deal" response.  Nevertheless, the kids, coaches, and families do care about the outcomes, and when one school operates like a junior college (athletic scholarships, short term transfers, trying to recruit athletes away from league schools), people see the results as tainted and question the motives/integrity of the institution in general.

Most longtime observers shake their heads, chuckle, and say "that's Bullis" -- there is a feeling that this is cyclical, and that it will ultimately be financially unsustainable to bring in a team of scholarship football players, for example (there's no TV contract or gate receipts here), and that the "Bullis as Good Counsel" experiment will run its course.  If this conventional wisdom that it is unsustainable is wrong, and Bullis does put together a long-term string of dominance in the private school equivalent of "revenue sports" (football, boys' basketball, boys' lacrosse), you may see a movement to expel them from the league (as happened with Georgetown Prep for football).

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