(8-5-18) – A very high profile basketball star out of Ft. Wayne (Indiana) North Side Keion Brooks decided this week to leave the Legends program and travel to western Indiana and play his Senior season in LaPorte at La Lumiere. Recently another Mr. Indiana candidate made the move to play with a prep school, Valparaiso’s Brandon Newman earlier this summer transferred and will play his senior season at Montverde Academy in Florida.

Prep school recruiting has no rules or regulations to follow when it comes to adding players. Prep schools, like La Lumiere, are not members of any state association  who oversee transfers in their state, there is not a prep school association to add guidance. So any player at any time during his career is fair game for prep schools to recruit from anywhere in the country.  This is all taking place while many of these players are being recruiting by college programs.

So what can state association like Indiana do to stop the pilfering of the state’s top players?  Nothing…and that is why top ranked players have decided to make the move and leave behind a school they grew up in. It is much simpler to do that then transfer to a state association school, who in the recent past has made a player like this ineligible for a season. The goal for most of these players is to play against the highest caliber of players in the country, to get the best college offer they can find and be ready to play at the higher level when it is time move on to college. Many say it is worth leaving home and friends for this opportunity.

So what does a prep school offer a player besides those items mentioned above? A boarding student who attends La Lumiere can expect to pay $47,500 a year, while a non-boarding student can expect to pay $16,975. Promises made for extended playing time, travel across the county, national exposure, etc. Do prep schools offer other incentives?

Most national publications group these prep schools and rank them along with schools who are regulated by the state associations.  The only thing these prep schools have in common with state association schools, they both have players who are still in high school. Is it fair to say that prep schools and AAU teams operate in the same manner?

Despite all of the defections of these public school stars, Indiana will still have a basketball season, will still have four state tournaments and will still name a Mr. Indiana. But this is the new norm, it happens numerous times during the year. It may be out of control, but there is no way to stop it from happening. Don’t expect prep schools to change their ways anytime soon.

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