June 29, 2008
This was my last Sunday of relaxation before the NCAA’s first designated evaluation period which begins on July 6th. There are two 10 day periods in July where college basketball staffs are allowed to have three coaches on the road to watch prospects play. So I spent the morning playing a round of golf with my brother Seth….who is a hitting the ball beautifully this summer, Radford attorney Jimmy Turk….who had a great round, and Radford men’s tennis coach Mike Anderson…who hit the ball often! And Sunday afternoon I took in the 2008 Euro Football Championship Game between Spain and Germany with friend and huge Radford basketball fan Dr. Bill Epstein. Los jugadors de futbol para Espana estan muy bien. Next Sunday I hit the road at 6:00am to drive to Charlotte to begin watching two full days of basketball where elite AAU squads from NC will compete. And from there I travel to Myrtle Beach to watch a monster AAU event run by former VT player Jeff Schneider. The typical schedule for these events is a series of games on multiple courts scheduled from around 9am until around 11:00pm. Each event has players we will watch numerous times to get a thorough evaluation. During the first “eval” period from July 6-15 our staff will cover the following events:
Prep Stars in Charlotte, NC
Big Shots I in Myrtle Beach, SC
Atlantic Slam in Myrtle Beach, SC
Eastern Invitational in Trenton, NJ
Five Star Basketball Camp I in Pittsburgh, PA
Reebok All American Camp in Philadelphia, PA
Reebok Summer Classic in Teaneck, NJ
Big Shot II in Myrtle Beach, SC
Five Star Basketball Camp II in Pittsburgh, PA
Harley Davidson Jam Fest in Morgantown, WV
And miscellaneous HS workouts to evaluate select prospects And that’s just in the first 10 day period!
I will fill you in from Charlotte next week before heading to Myrtle Beach. Have GPS will travel!
Go Highlanders
Brad
June 22, 2008
Many of our players are back on campus after a week off between Summer I and Summer II classes. And our incoming freshman scholarship player Aaron “Bleek” Austin arrived over the weekend to begin college life. It’s great to get our new players on campus for part of the summer so they can get acclimated to college life before the fall semester. And we rely on our veteran players to help all new players learn their way around campus. Teams with good chemistry are teams with unselfish people who try to help each other on and off the court. I continue to be impressed by the young men on our team and the way they carry themselves and look out for each other. It is a good sign to see Joey Lynch-Flohr and Lazar Trifunovic heading to Muse Hall or Peters Gym to work out together. It’s a good sign to see Eric Hall helping Chris McEachin and Chris in turn already showing an appreciation of our unwritten team “code” to help Aaron Austin make a smooth transition to college.
Last week was the first session of the Brad Greenberg Highlander Basketball Camp at the Radford Rec Center. The coaches and staff had a great time. And from the comments we have gotten from parents and campers, it appear the young players really enjoyed themselves. Two of our players also worked at the camp and they did an outstanding job. Eric Hall and Phillip Martin were camper favorites for sure. We had campers as young as 5, 6 and 7 years old and Eric was the Pied Piper; leading those young players through drills and contests. He is a natural working with young kids; showing tremendous patience and enthusiasm.
Congrats to the Boston Celtics and an old friend GM Danny Ainge on winning the NBA Championship this past week. A long time ago when I was the Director of Player Personnel for the Portland Trail Blazers I helped put together a trade that brought Danny to the Trail Blazers. He was one of the best all around athletes in Oregon HS history making All State in football, basketball and baseball before an All American college basketball career at BYU. And he was one of a very select group of professional athletes who competed in Major League Baseball and the NBA. He is also a scratch golfer! We played a few rounds of golf together back in those days in Portland and he is always a lot of fun to be around.
It’s always a funny time of the year when there are no more basketball games to watch. The NBA draft is this week and watching it will bring back memories of drafts I was involved in during my NBA days. I hope one day in the near future we will watch a NBA draft and one of our Highlanders name gets called!
But no basketball means we turn to another sport. Wednesday afternoon we get a chance to watch something different. That afternoon, Turkey plays its first ever Euro 2008 Soccer Semifinal against Germany. We will support Coach Ali Ton, who will no doubt be wearing his country’s Red that day.
Go Highlanders
Brad
June 15, 2008
Every year, Division I coaches have to hit study hall and pass the NCAA recruiting test to be certified for off campus recruiting. RU compliance guru Dr. Robbie Davis and RU Faculty Rep Dr. Betty Dore oversee the testing process for all RU coaches. Dr. Dore administers the test. Dr Davis helps with our preparation by offering some study sessions on new legislation. So you want to be a coach and hit the recruiting trail? Let’s see how you do on this mini quiz.
1. A men’s basketball coach may not be employed, volunteer or guest lecture at a basketball camp owned and conducted by a scouting service in which prospective student-athletes participate, even if the camp or clinic is operated in accordance with the restrictions applicable to institutional camps or clinics.
A) True
B) False
2. While evaluating a summer men’s basketball certified event during a permissible evaluation period, an institution’s basketball coach leaves a note for a prospective student-athlete in the event prior to the start of competition. After the completion of the first game, the institution’s coach meets with the prospective student-athlete’s nonscholastic coach to discuss the game. After the student-athlete has completed his last game and has been released by his coach, the coach calls the prospective student-athlete’s parents at home to tell them how great the prospective student-athlete played. Which of the following are violations of NCAA rules?
A) The note to the prospective student –athlete.
B) Contact with the prospective student-athlete’s nonscholastic coach
C) The phone call to the prospective student-athlete’s parents.
D) A & B
3. A representative of an institution’s athletics interest (i.e. booster) may attend a game in which a prospective student-athlete participates, notify the prospective student-athlete of the institution’s interest, and correspond with the prospective student-athlete through e-mail.
A) True
B) False
Here are the correct answers:
-
A) True
-
D) A & B
-
B) False
If you got all three correct, meet us on the recruiting trail in July!
The Brad Greenberg Highlander Basketball Camp June session begins Tuesday. Call Ross Condon at 540-831-5125 or email him at for details if you have a child looking to have some fun and improve their game.
Go Highlanders
Brad
June 8, 2008
This is a continuation on the B-RadHoops primer on recruiting and NCAA regulations. The NCAA determines an athlete’s eligibility to play as a freshman. The NCAA has created a “sliding scale” made up of a prospect’s high school grade point average and the prospect’s SAT or ACT test score. If a prospect has a very solid high school GPA, he has ‘a cushion of sorts regarding his test score. If a prospect has a strong test score he has a cushion with his GPA.
A prospect must have a core GPA of at least a C or 2.0. Here is an example of how the sliding scale works. If the prospect has a 2.0 GPA he would be required to have a SAT score of at least 1010 or an ACT score of 86 to be eligible for a scholarship and eligible to play as a freshman. As the GPA moves higher, the test score requirements move lower. The SAT score uses only the critical reading and math portions. The ACT score is the sum of English, Math, Science and Reading.
This sliding scale applies to ALL Division I prospects. The same rules apply for ACC, Big 10, SEC, BIG EAST as well as the Big South Conference or Ivy League!
The other element in play is how the GPA is calculated. The NCAA counts 16 core courses from a NCAA approved list of courses in calculating GPA’s. The core courses are comprised this way:
4 years of English
3 years of Mathematics (Algebra or higher)
2 years of a Natural of Physical Science
2 years of a Social Science
1 year of an additional English, Math or Science 4 courses from any of the above areas and or a language, religion or philosophy course
SAVE THE DATE ALERT!
This year’s Radford Basketball Tip-Off Banquet is November 5, 2008. And I excited to announce John Feinstein, national sports commentator and best selling author, will be the featured speaker at the banquet in the brand new Covington Center. We will host sponsored tables and a special cocktail hour with John. Be sure to reserve your spots soon as we expect another sell-out.
YOUNG HOOPERS ALERT!
We still have openings for the Brad Greenberg Basketball Camp on June 17-20 at the Radford Rec Center. Call Ross Condon at 831-5125 for details or email him at rbcondon@radford.edu.
rbcondon@radford.edu.
Go Highlanders
Brad
June 1, 2008
On Sunday June 1 a “dead period” ended which means prospects are once again allowed to visit campus and meet with coaches. And that’s what we try to do this time of year. Get as many young prospects to make an “unofficial visit”. It gives us a chance to show them our beautiful campus and talk to them about how special Radford University is. We get to know a prospect and his family better. And it gives us an opportunity to talk about our vision for Radford basketball. We can’t go off campus to watch prospects until July. And we can’t go off campus to visit with prospects and their families until next fall. So for now, we work to encourage prospects and their families to take the time to visit our campus on their dime. And that’s what we did on Sunday afternoon – show a prospect and his Mom around to help determine if Radford is a good fit for the player and the family.
Athletic Director, Robert Lineburg, recently returned from the Big South meetings for AD’s where he learned we will count 18 regular season league contests to determine the regular season Big South Champion and seeding for the Big South tournament. So despite the fact Presbyterian does not qualify for the conference tournament while they are still in the process of becoming a full-fledged D-I program, the games with them will count in the league standings next year. Gardner Webb is the other new entry in the Big South and they return 6 of their top 7 scorers from last year’s team that won at Kentucky. You may recall we split with them last year with each team winning on the road. The league also reviewed the conference schedule and is considering adjustments to eliminate any competitive disadvantages teams might face in regards to days between league games. The amount of time between league games affects the amount of preparation time a coach and team have to install a game plan. For instance, there are currently six occasions next year where we play a league game on a Saturday and another on Monday. Two games in a three day period on SIX different occasions. Winthrop NEVER has that happen! In fact, no other team in the league faces that situation six times. That is something that needs to be addressed. It is a necessity to play two games over a short period of time to lessen the travel days of a conference schedule and avoid student-athletes missing classes. However, there should be more parity than currently exists. One option being discussed is for all teams to play league games on Saturdays and Mondays. Regardless of the scheduling quirks, we will be ready on the road next year.
Congrats to Radford junior Kyle Morse from Northfield, Massachusetts for winning the NCAA East Region Hammer Throw Saturday at Florida State to advance to the NCAA National Championships Morse threw 66.35 meters on his first attempt to win the regional title and qualify for the nationals.
And congrats to Radford women’s tennis player Cassandra Price of Chuckey, Tennessee who won the Big South Conference George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence. The award honors the one graduating female student who attains the highest GPA during their college careers. Price graduated on May 3 with a 4.00 in international finance and economics.
And final Congrats to the Lakers and Celtics! The NBA Finals begin this Thursday in Boston. And I guarantee this matchup will be more compelling than this past Saturday’s mixed martial arts event featuring Kimbo Slice!
The Brad Greenberg Highlanders Basketball Camp is June 17-20. Any young boys or girls between the 1st and 8th grade who want to improve their game and have some fun are encouraged to sign up for our day sessions. Any boy or girl between the 6th and 12th grade who wants to improve their shooting should consider our evening Shooting Stars session. If you need any more info or have questions about any of our camp sessions call the Camp Hotline at 540-831-5125 and ask for Ross Condon.
Go Highlanders.
Brad
