http://www.scout.com/college/california/story/1657007-offer-in-hand-kigab-has-faith-in-martin

It looks like Cuozno is going after two local kids from Napa that are both Rivals 150 players in the Class of 2017. Abu Kigab and Ira Lee. They are both Oakland Soldiers as well. It is so important for Cuonzo to keep these stars home and away from Arizona. Keeping Ivan home may have laid the foundation for the future.

Great news that Coach is currently recruiting these kids and offering them. Hopefully this means he is confident in staying and the outcome of this ridiculous investigation will be over soon

"Coach Martin offered me, and I had a really good conversation with him," said the 6-foot-6 three-star forward out of Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep. "We not only spoke about basketball, but we also spoke about family, and life outside of basketball. Overall, it was a great conversation, and I can't wait to have more conversations with him."

"To be honest, that whole situation*is very unfortunate," Kigab said. "I've talked to coach Yanni, and we've talked about how the situation is at Cal right now, and I told him to stay positive. I still have confidence in the Cal program. Their resum speaks for itself. They went undefeated at home, and how many teams can say they did that? Moving forward, it's going to be really great. I have a lot of faith in the program, and, hopefully, they have a lot of faith in me."

+1 Have to defend "home court". Makes lots of sense to keep the focus local.

I find the idea of attending a basketball academy instead of a regular high school a little absurd. But, as long a Prolific Prep in Napa is a thing - Cal needs to be all over that roster. It's too bad they couldn't seriously get in on Josh Jackson.

I had to go back and read about Prolific Prep, as you reminded me that they attend other schools.

-from January 30, 2015
http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Bay-Area-prep-team-without-a-school-changes-the-6052610.php

[INDENT]Prolific Prep offers academic support but doesn’t include a school — its players attend pre-existing accredited schools, including three at nearby Catholic Justin-Siena High and three at public Vintage High, both in Napa.

“It’s basically an advanced placement basketball class,” head coach Philippe Doherty said. “We’re like eighth-period basketball. There’s no AP test at the end of the year, but you’re getting ready for college.”

Moraga Campolindo's Matt O’Reilly — one of the East Bay’s top hoops players — doesn’t suit up for the Campolindo Cougars. Instead, he gets into his car nearly every day after school and makes the 47-mile drive to Grace Church in Napa. That’s where Prolific Prep, an elite club team in its inaugural season, practices for an ambitious schedule with games across the country, from Kentucky and Ohio to Las Vegas and Southern California.

Their roster includes five Bay Area teenagers: O’Reilly, Micah Elan of San Francisco, Nick Lombardi of Pleasant Hill, Ryan Stewart of Benicia and Sasha French of Napa. Three other players are from Africa (two from Mali, one from Guinea), one is from Hungary and two are from Michigan. They were drawn to Northern California by Russotti’s reputation as a top basketball trainer, and also by the chance to face strong opposition and gain more exposure to potential college suitors.

But is this a good thing, or the latest treacherous example of a sports-obsessed culture?

Doherty put together a schedule against other basketball academies and prep schools, because Prolific Prep is not sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation.
[/INDENT]

I checked it out, and O'Reilly committed to Bucknell in May 2015 and logged 46 minutes in 12 games as a frosh this last season.

concordtom;842673138 said:

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I had to go back and read about Prolific Prep, as you reminded me that they attend other schools.

-from January 30, 2015
http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Bay-Area-prep-team-without-a-school-changes-the-6052610.php

[INDENT]Prolific Prep offers academic support but doesn’t include a school — its players attend pre-existing accredited schools, including three at nearby Catholic Justin-Siena High and three at public Vintage High, both in Napa.

“It’s basically an advanced placement basketball class,” head coach Philippe Doherty said. “We’re like eighth-period basketball. There’s no AP test at the end of the year, but you’re getting ready for college.”

Moraga Campolindo's Matt O’Reilly — one of the East Bay’s top hoops players — doesn’t suit up for the Campolindo Cougars. Instead, he gets into his car nearly every day after school and makes the 47-mile drive to Grace Church in Napa. That’s where Prolific Prep, an elite club team in its inaugural season, practices for an ambitious schedule with games across the country, from Kentucky and Ohio to Las Vegas and Southern California.

Their roster includes five Bay Area teenagers: O’Reilly, Micah Elan of San Francisco, Nick Lombardi of Pleasant Hill, Ryan Stewart of Benicia and Sasha French of Napa. Three other players are from Africa (two from Mali, one from Guinea), one is from Hungary and two are from Michigan. They were drawn to Northern California by Russotti’s reputation as a top basketball trainer, and also by the chance to face strong opposition and gain more exposure to potential college suitors.

But is this a good thing, or the latest treacherous example of a sports-obsessed culture?

Doherty put together a schedule against other basketball academies and prep schools, because Prolific Prep is not sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation.
[/INDENT]

I checked it out, and O'Reilly committed to Bucknell in May 2015 and logged 46 minutes in 12 games as a frosh this last season.

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OK. I am just stupid but could someone explain something to me.

1) Now I am assuming that these families are NOT taking out a second mortgage or going to see the local neighborhood loan shark. If they are it is even worse but I will assume some slight amount of human compassion
2) So where is the revenue stream? I have a passing familiarity with some of the sports clinics/training centers. You HAVE to have volume even charging mom and dad a couple of grand to help Biffy hit a fast pitch softball.

socaltownie;842673142 said:

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OK. I am just stupid but could someone explain something to me.

1) Now I am assuming that these families are NOT taking out a second mortgage or going to see the local neighborhood loan shark. If they are it is even worse but I will assume some slight amount of human compassion
2) So where is the revenue stream? I have a passing familiarity with some of the sports clinics/training centers. You HAVE to have volume even charging mom and dad a couple of grand to help Biffy hit a fast pitch softball.

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Well, in that article I linked:

[INDENT]Russotti and Doherty do view Prolific Prep as akin to a startup company. Russotti secured several sponsorships, including one from Adidas, and he also supports the program through his online business (Global Sports Innovation) selling products he invented.

Most players’ families pay a fee to cover travel expenses, though Russotti declined to specify the amount. [/INDENT]

Doesn't seem like a stretch to suggest that D-1 programs (and their supporters) could circuitously fund a program like this, and then in return receive some preferential recruiting treatment. It's a messy world!

concordtom;842673147 said:

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Well, in that article I linked:

[INDENT]Russotti and Doherty do view Prolific Prep as akin to a startup company. Russotti secured several sponsorships, including one from Adidas, and he also supports the program through his online business (Global Sports Innovation) selling products he invented.

Most players’ families pay a fee to cover travel expenses, though Russotti declined to specify the amount. [/INDENT]

Doesn't seem like a stretch to suggest that D-1 programs (and their supporters) could circuitously fund a program like this, and then in return receive some preferential recruiting treatment. It's a messy world!

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Got it. The article was behind a paywall. I know that some of the academies are "exploiting" charter school rules.

socaltownie;842673149 said:

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Got it. The article was behind a paywall. I know that some of the academies are "exploiting" charter school rules.

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Well, point is, I don't think that Prolific Prep is a school at all.
It's like, I take my kid to school, and then afterwards drive them to ballet, to soccer practice, to whatever. This is just another after-school activity, particularly for the local kids. For the kids that come from further than a car-commute away, Prolific puts them into homes and local schools.
It's a weird arrangement. I get it, these folks are like the Russian gymnasts who move away from home at age 10 - our culture is a bit nuts. I love sports, but can't see making it be the center of my family's/child's universe. Then again, we are not 7 feet tall, or with 36" verticals. My kids are going to have to earn their money the old fashioned way.

...there's a pun in there.... ouch.

So it's not really local...but is. Sounds like they know starting a real school and maintaining it is a very difficult task and better to let existing schools provide that.

So this is really an elite after school athletic prep program and kids from out of the area get placed with host families?

I wasn't that enthused about Prolific Prep but have come around on them. A LOT of the high school coaches stink in terms of game coaching and developing players. PP's workouts and they're better than what 90% of the high schools do in terms of player development.
O'Reilly is a great kid from a great family. Bucknell had a lot of seniors this year, he might get to start next year.

They don't waste anytime throwing around bullshit statements, "...its players attend pre-existing accredited schools,...". How about, "its players attend high schools". 'Pre-existing'? Is that different from 'existing'? Red flags go off in my brain when I read stuff like this. Hard to imagine the O'Reilly kid not being able to get a scholarship from a place like Bucknell had he just played for Campo. Ridiculous.

The players attend Justin Siena in Napa, so there's another big check someone is writing. I wouldn't call Ira Lee a local kid, he just transferred from Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth.

Ira Lee just transferred up there from my son's school down here in So. Cal. He told my son that his first choice was Cal. He is the real deal. I saw him receive a pass at the free throw line, take one step and elbow dunk it.

Go Bears!

rclee;842674293 said:

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Ira Lee just transferred up there from my son's school down here in So. Cal. He told my son that his first choice was Cal. He is the real deal. I saw him receive a pass at the free throw line, take one step and elbow dunk it.

Go Bears!

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Ideal class for 2017:

G - Troy Brown
G - Jemarl Baker
G - Alec Hickman
W - Abu Kigab
PF - Ira Lee
C - Brandon McCoy