PREP Athletics Basketball Podcast
PREP Athletics Basketball Podcast
Sean Crocker: Mercersburg Coach on D1 Guards
Mercersburg Academy head coach Sean Crocker brings two decades across college hoops, Hoop Group, and the MAPL to this no-fluff episode. Sean breaks down exactly what college coaches need from a Division I guard—defend multiple positions, handle pressure, and make open threes—then shows how he develops those habits: 1,000–1,500 made shots per week, “500 threes on Saturdays,” fall strength and conditioning three to four days a week, and film-driven footwork (“the eye in the sky doesn’t lie”). He’s candid on MAPL vs NEPSAC exposure—why relationships still get phones picked up—and how Mercersburg’s location opens doors beyond New England. Families get real recruiting strategy: honest evaluations, stubborn advocacy, and proof points (a Ghanaian PG to a D2 full ride; Eric Oliver-Bush from NE10 Rookie of the Year to Manhattan). We also unpack the two-postgrad rule, when a two-year reclass beats a PG year, and why transfer-era decisions can cost kids the college experience. If you want straight talk on development, exposure, and fit, this is it.
💡 Key Topics
📌 D1 guard traits: defense, shot-making, pressure handling
📌 MAPL vs NEPSAC exposure: relationships, geography, visibility
📌 Player development plan: high-volume makes, S&C, film-based footwork
📌 PG year vs two-year reclass strategy and the MAPL two-PG rule
📌 Honest recruiting/placement: evaluation, advocacy, real outcomes
📌 Transfer-era realities: risk to “middle” players and college experience
🏀 About Sean Crocker
Sean Crocker is the Head Boys’ Basketball Coach at Mercersburg Academy (MAPL). With prior stops at Hoop Group and multiple college programs, he blends college-style development with prep-level placement, emphasizing honest evaluations, high-volume skill work, and strong college relationships.
🔗 Connect with Sean Crocker
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/coachcrocker/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/mburg_boysbasketball/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/mburgathletics/
Website | https://www.mercersburg.edu/athletics/winter-sports/boys-basketball
Twitter | https://x.com/CoachCrocker
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandukecrocker/
🔗 Connect with Cory:
Website | https://www.prepathletics.com
Twitter | https://twitter.com/PREP_Athletics
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/prep.athletics/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/PrepAthletics
Email | coryheitz@gmail.com
Phone | 859-317-1166
🔖 Subscribe to the PREP Athletics Podcast:
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Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/6CAKbXFiIOhoHinzsReYbJ
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Cory Heitz (00:00)
Welcome to this week's episode of the Prep Athletics Podcast. I'm proud to have coach Sean Crocker on from Mercersburg Academy. Sean grew up in New England and he played at Comm College and then he spent a lot of time in the coaching ranks. He was in the college and prep school world. Spent some time at hoop group and is now entering his 11th season at Mercersburg Academy. And we get into all the questions we ask all the coaches, you know, what's it take to be a D1 guard? What's your college placement strategy? What's it like playing in the Maple League?
⁓ and learn more about Mercersburg. So thank you so much for tuning in and stick around for this week's edition of the Prep Athletics podcast with Coach Sean Crocker from Mercersburg Academy.
Cory Heitz (01:02)
Sean, welcome to the podcast.
Sean Crocker (01:04)
Cory thanks for having me.
Cory Heitz (01:06)
It's a pleasure to have you on and we've been trying to get you on for a while now. ⁓ First tell us where you grew up and what got you into basketball.
Sean Crocker (01:14)
Yeah, sure. ⁓ You know, I bounced around New England most of my growing up life, I guess you could call it. ⁓ I was actually born in Northampton, Massachusetts, ⁓ which ironically is where another head coach from the Maple League was also born. Joe Mantegna, Albert Blair, his dad was actually the head coach at Northampton High School when I was real little going there. And so
Cory Heitz (01:33)
Who's that?
Sean Crocker (01:43)
You know, it's a small basketball world, but, you know, we lived there for 12 years and then moved to Vermont. I played high school basketball at a small high school in central Vermont, Thetford Academy. You know, didn't really have much guidance in terms of the college process. Ended up going to Connecticut College thinking, oh yeah, it's Division III, you know.
Again, didn't know it. That was Glenn Miller's last year at Connecticut College. That'll date when I was there. But ⁓ they had just gone 29-1 or something like that. Their only loss was in the semifinals and brought in bunch of recruits. So it took me a couple days at captain's practice to recognize this was not small town Vermont anymore. And I loved the game, but I wanted to be involved. ⁓ And so I went and met with the coaching staff and became a student manager.
And, you know, I think every job I've gotten since then has really connected to those, you know, the head coach and the assistant. The assistant coach was well connected with the hoop group ⁓ where I spent a lot of summers working and then two years full time. The head coach kind of connected me with Bob Sheldon at Tufts where I spent four years in assistant ⁓ in Boston. ⁓ You know, ended up getting a full-time teaching job.
you know, the grind of the Division III college assistant, you know, trying to stay above water at Boston Latin, you know, enjoy teaching, interviewed for a couple of head Division III jobs, met my wife. And, know, then, you know, when you meet your, when you start a family, that kind of changes your perspective on things. I spent 18 months working full time for Rob Kennedy and the Hoop Group.
And then ⁓ my wife was finishing up her PhD and so needed to move down to Harrisonburg, Virginia. And so ⁓ took a volunteer spot with Adam Hutchinson at what W and L Washington Lee University in Lexington. ⁓ And we happened to move to a small town in Stanton, ⁓ which is kind of right between Harrisonburg, where my wife was working and Lexington, where I was working. And there was a small ⁓
Cory Heitz (04:01)
Mm-hmm.
Sean Crocker (04:09)
boarding school there named Stuart Hall School. And I got a part-time job tutoring math there while I was working for Adam. And then ⁓ after that first year, they had a math teacher opening and said, Hey, would you be interested in this? And at that point they'd only been coed for like 12 years. And I said, look, you know, my wife and I want to start a family. You know, we'd love to be here. ⁓ I'll take this job, but you know, I kind of want to be the boys basketball coach too. And they hadn't had very much success. And ⁓
You know, wasn't sure what they were going to say to that. You know, they had a boys basketball coach, but you know, he was a part time guy. Didn't have a lot of experience. So, um, you know, took that on. Um, that was, that was kind of our first part of our journey. Um, did that for three years, um, brought in, uh, Adam Pickett who ended up playing at Winthrop score scored like 1400 points in two years for me at Stewart Hall. I should say I got to watch him score all those points.
You know, it was just a blessing to coach him. And then I think we were in a place where we weren't sure kind of what the next step at Stewart Hall was going to be. ⁓ And I started kind of looking around and mercersburg popped up. And, ⁓ you know, I've been a college assistant, I've recruited the other schools in our league. ⁓ But I didn't really know much about Mercersburg at the time because it had kind of been a little bit dormant. ⁓ And so when I got on campus,
You know, I still remember texting, texting Tricia and being like, we might be home, you know, she wasn't here. ⁓ But, you know, it's an awesome campus. ⁓ You know, and so 10 years ago, ⁓ 10 years ago, August, so this is our 11th year here now. ⁓ You know, we, took the leap. ⁓ I was maybe a little more excited than she was at that time. But, you know, we've now we've now raised our three boys here. ⁓
You know, and, you know, had had some ups and downs with with the program, but kind of got it back on good footing now and, you know, get the coach in a league that's got really high level coaches ⁓ teach at a place, ⁓ you know, work in dorms with with great kids and, you know, we're home. And so we've been here since 2015.
Cory Heitz (06:34)
So after graduating college, like you just mentioned, you coached at colleges, you coached in prep school, you coached at the hoop group. What are like three top takeaways, Sean, that all this basketball experience you had after graduation and playing that you use now at Mercersburg Academy?
Sean Crocker (06:50)
I mean, think my first boss at Tufts really taught me that you have to enjoy the experience, right? Like if you're not enjoying it, the guys are gonna recognize that. Bob was always cracking jokes, ⁓ was very serious. I think the hoop group, working for the hoop group is, you gotta show up early, you gotta be the last one there, you gotta do the work, right? Whether people are recognizing it or not. ⁓
You know, and I think, you I spent one year coaching at a small college named Wheelock College right in the Fens near, ⁓ you know, where we didn't even have our own gym since it's closed. And, you know, I think just just treasuring every opportunity you get, right to play, to coach. And that's kind of, you know, I think it's taken a long time for me to recognize how important those things are. But I think as I become a dad and all that stuff.
You know, something that I definitely want to impart to our guys and recognize like, hey, we have workouts today at four o'clock. You know, let's enjoy this moment, right? We're here and we get to have fun playing basketball.
Cory Heitz (07:54)
Yeah, that's smart. I'm glad you get, you know, make them think about that as teenagers because they don't always think that that maturely at this age. ⁓ see, so like you mentioned, you ended up at Mercersburg after this long road. You've been there 10 years now. Give us your pitch on Mercersburg as a school and then Mercersburg as a basketball.
Sean Crocker (08:00)
They certainly don't. Yeah.
Sure, mean, think, you know, think Mercesburg as a school is, you know, we have 300 acre campus, you know, our facilities, you know, I still remember the first time I saw facilities and thought, you know, I went to the net, I was in the Nescak and these facilities are nicer than those, you know, small class sizes, you know, teachers always want to help work in the dorms. If you're on, you know, if you have a math question, you can go find your math teacher.
you know, just people that really care about you. I know it's somewhat cliche, but, you know, I think the community here is really awesome. You know, if you popped on campus right now, we've been in session for about a month. I think outside of size maybe, you know, it'd be hard to figure out who'd been here for, you know, for four years and who'd been here for, you know, a month and a half. You know, I think in terms of basketball, you know,
You get to play in the best league, ⁓ know, prep league, least in the outside of New England. ⁓ You know, I think all of the schools in our league go up to New England and play some NEPFSC schools and usually don't come back without at least one or two wins. ⁓ You know, plus I think for Mercezburg, I know the other Maple schools don't love it, but we're a lot closer to the DMV in Baltimore and T.C. than even to New Jersey or Philly.
And so, you know, we've been able to go into Virginia and play Blue Ridge. so you're getting and going to play Bullis and places where, you know, you get to go play against really good competition outside of that, you know, mid Atlantic or that New Jersey prep school region. And so you're opening yourself up to other coaches and and, you know, I just I just think this is an awesome place. I guess that's the end of it. But yeah.
Cory Heitz (10:10)
Well talk to us about that because you know when you're recruiting players a lot of them are looking at the New England schools and you're obviously in the Maple League. Tell us about the Maple League. What makes it so strong and like what do you say to families that ask you like hey we're looking at a Nepsac school how does the Maple compare like I know you must get that a lot so how do you how do you share your opinion on that?
Sean Crocker (10:13)
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, think, you know, I think the Maple League is especially on boys basketball. I think it's as good as it is because, you know, I've been here for this is my 11th year now and I'm like the fifth most senior coach in the league. So you got guys that have been here, you know, since I was in high school, since I was before I was in high school, ⁓ you know, who have have long track records and and, you know, ⁓
And so, you you're really competing. You're having to figure out, you know, how to make plays against defenses and kind of getting lost here in the stands. But, ⁓ you know, I think it's just a high level league. then, you know, I think in terms of the New England's, you know, quite honestly, ⁓ one of the things I've learned in 10 years here is that
We don't necessarily, if somebody wants to play basketball at a high level, they're going to be found wherever they are. Right. And so if you feel like you need to go to a New England prep school so that 80 coaches can see you, you know, that's I'm going to support you in that. Like we had a kid, we had a young man that ended up going up there this past year that we were.
you we thought I thought we had strong connections with and and his dad just told me like he just felt like he was going to get more exposure up there. You know, and that's their opinion, right? I think ⁓ the nice thing about my track record and being a Division three assistant and working for the hoop group is that ⁓ we might not get as many coaches in the gym. I'm just being honest, but coaches are going to pick up the phone when I call them and they're going to, you know, these are guys that I have long term relationships with.
You know, we've never had a kid come through here who didn't get recruited at the levels they needed to get recruited at. You know, and that's in 10, 11 years. And so, you know, it kind of all depends on what you're looking for. I mean, if you want to be seen in a lot of different regions, then, you know, this is the location for you. You know? Yeah.
Cory Heitz (12:52)
Yeah, love it.
Yeah. All right. Perfect. Thanks for sharing that. Now, one question parents ask me a lot is, well, how does this school develop versus this school versus that school? So when families ask you what the development is for their players at Mercezburg, how do you answer that?
Sean Crocker (13:08)
Yeah, I mean, think we we kind of approach our development kind of like we used to when I was coaching in college, you know. I think preseason, you know, I think the most highly coveted skill you have a shooting right, and so we want to make sure our guys are making between 1000 and 1500 shots a week. And so we will spend Saturdays when there's not a volleyball game or we maybe we work around the volleyball game and everyone's got to make 500 threes.
right, to really work on that. ⁓ You know, we have a strength and conditioning coach who has some background in professional baseball. And so we're in our weight room, you three or four days a week all fall. You know, we have a ⁓ basketball program tailored for our athletes all fall. ⁓ You know, and then we try to, we try, we play and we film that a little bit in the fall. And then we look at our film and we say like, here's a read you might want to make or, you know, ⁓
Here's where you got to get to two feet instead of one feet. You know, think just looking at it on film, because one of my coaching mentors used to say, the eye and the sky don't lie. Right? And so then getting in the gym and working on her footwork and doing a lot of those J. Wright Villanova pivoting drills that no one likes to do, but you have to have great footwork. so, yeah, I mean, think those are the things that we really kind of hang our hat on.
to try to get them ready so that they're a little bit better ⁓ when we hit November and the season starts.
Cory Heitz (14:47)
Perfect. Now walk me through it. Mercy's Bird, your basketball players have to play multiple sports.
Sean Crocker (14:53)
⁓ Kind of, you know, ⁓ so we have transitioned over the last two or three years where ⁓ they can do a fall basketball. You know, we do have a couple guys that are really good soccer players and so they choose to play soccer in the fall and they can come work with us a little bit. But the vast majority of our returning guys this year and our new guys are doing fall basketball. ⁓
And then, especially for our seniors and our post grads, I generally ⁓ push them in the springtime to do something where they're giving back to the school. Right? So whether that's track and field, if they're athletic, you know, we had the kid, Colin Metcalf with us a few years ago, who's now playing at Maryland, and he won the state, Pennsylvania state championship in the javelin. He'd never thrown a javelin until he got here, but he was 6'9", and the coach figured out his field from there. ⁓
Our younger guys will in the past have done some track and field training and then our track coach is awesome. She's great. ⁓ Especially if the kids are going to score for us in the Maple track meet. She will generally be pretty flexible with them on, A, you practice as long as they're there for that Maple track, that Maple meet, which is like one meet in May where it's a not a live period weekend anyways. ⁓
So and there are other options. We have had some guys do baseball ⁓ who enjoyed that and the coach would usually be, our coaches are all in it for the kids. And if the kid's gonna go to college to play basketball, no one's holding him back just because he might be the ninth best hitter in your lineup or something like that.
Cory Heitz (16:40)
Gotcha. All right, thanks for sharing that. Now, the Maple League teams have had two post-grads allowed per year. Is that still the case?
Sean Crocker (16:49)
Yes, two post grads. That's the rule. That's a league rule. That has been a rule since before I got here. I've always been told that it traces back to the very beginning of the league when Lawrenceville was loading up and Honan Blair and Hill, because we joined the league like three years after it was founded.
Cory Heitz (16:53)
What, what, who made that up? I'm just curious. Is that a league rule?
Sean Crocker (17:19)
And so I think they got together and said, is getting ridiculous. And so they ⁓ shut it down and made it to. So it's been through the whole time.
Cory Heitz (17:29)
And what's the challenge for you on just having two postcards? And we connected on a kid this year. That's one year too, but like, how do you strategically figure out who you're going to give those two spots to or offering to or try to get.
Sean Crocker (17:34)
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, I think honestly, think for me, Cory, it's it's it's about. You know, because we can't have as many post grads as the New England schools, you know, a post grad almost becomes a luxury, right? So it's kind of a plug and play. ⁓ You know, our post grads have often been our best players. But two years ago, we showed we had seven seniors and we chose not to take any post grads and just kind of brought in some younger guys. ⁓ You know, so.
You know, Michael Kremers, who's with us this year, you know, he came in a lot of a lot of the reasons that he came in is because he was a great fit for what we had coming back ⁓ for the for the school and for the program. And so. You know, I think I think in the Maple, I don't want to speak, I can't speak for the other coaches, obviously, but there's a little bit less of a focus on the post grad.
⁓ You know, we obviously want some impact post grads and we get probably more inquiries about that than other positions. ⁓ But I also think that there's a, you know, we're much more in the market for like a reclass 11th grader or reclass 10th grader. But it definitely, you know, when we didn't have that post grad, we also noticed that we didn't have that injection of two really talented kids that year. Now we had a bunch of seniors, so.
We didn't necessarily need that injection, but that's the biggest thing is that when we don't get two or when we only have two, there has to be other pieces around those guys.
Cory Heitz (19:11)
Gotcha, gotcha. Okay, perfect. Now we're going to play a game called guess the famous alumni from your school. Okay, so I got three names here. I think they're softballs for you, but you've got a long list of famous alumni from Mercer's Berks. I picked out three. I think the public will know. So first up, Jimmy Stewart.
Sean Crocker (19:17)
All right.
Cory Heitz (19:32)
Do you know who that is? No, I'm just saying, do you know who he is? Okay.
Sean Crocker (19:32)
you're talking about when classy graduated? yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a
wonderful life. ⁓ Mr. Smith goes to Washington. yeah.
Cory Heitz (19:41)
I don't know if the younger generation knows who Jim Stewart is or James Stewart, but big time Hollywood actor from the old days. This one they might recognize, Benicio Del Toro. Who's that?
Sean Crocker (19:47)
Absolutely.
Yeah, actually
actually didn't act at Merceburg was a three sport varsity athlete for all three years he was here. Played basketball for action for the for. A science teacher that's still here, Jim Malone. He played basketball for him, so really got into acting after he left.
Cory Heitz (20:10)
Okay, and then last one, Jim Ursay.
Sean Crocker (20:13)
Yeah, owner of the Colts. Yeah. Recently passed away, believe, didn't he?
Cory Heitz (20:17)
Nope.
Recently passed away a couple of weeks ago. Yeah. So anyway, we, we work with some prep schools and do this, Sean. We're like, we're, really going deep into Wikipedia and, ⁓ the coaches sometimes don't always get them. So we just make that a nice softball round to let people know who has gone to Mercer's. So, all right. You just played this week's edition of do you know your famous alumni? So you three for three. Congratulations. ⁓ what are you looking for in a player when you're recruiting?
Sean Crocker (20:20)
Yeah.
you
I like it.
There we go. Thank you.
Yeah, I think this is where, this is what I love to talk to our guys about. First and foremost, we need guys that really love the process. If I jump on a call and everything about, everything a family's asking me is like, what are you gonna do for my kid? And how are they gonna get their shots and all that stuff? That's important, but it's like,
I wanna know that they wanna get better, right? And they wanna push themselves. ⁓ And so I will usually ask a family to send me, send me your best game and then maybe a game where you don't think you did that well. Cause I kinda wanna see how that kid's acting when they're not doing so well, right? Cause especially with post-grads, there's a reason they're reaching out to prep schools, right? Whether they're...
That could be that they're not satisfied with their college recruitment. They just need an extra bump. They want to have an extra year to mature. Those are all valid reasons and that we can help with. ⁓ But ⁓ if they're not going to be bought in, that's tricky. And then we want guys that are pretty skilled, that can shoot it, ⁓ but that are really going to be scrappy defensively.
You know, we're going to play hard. You know and play and play play to win right and not not just for themselves.
Cory Heitz (22:16)
Yeah, love it. Love it. And you can tell that through talking to them and watching film, right? Yeah.
Sean Crocker (22:22)
You can try, can try. A couple
of snuck by in my 11 years, but we figure that out pretty soon in the fall too.
Cory Heitz (22:29)
All right, here's a question I love getting from families, but they say, we're make this investment and leave our school and go to a prep school, how do we determine how much playing time we're gonna get there? So how do you address that question when families ask?
Sean Crocker (22:42)
Yeah, I I think I think what I my general response to that is, look, I probably wouldn't be on a Zoom call or making a time out of my day to come talk to you if I didn't think your son could play here.
But everything you get, you're going to have to earn when you get here. And so I've never seen the kid play with our guys, haven't seen how he interacts with campus or anything like that. And so ⁓ I think we generally have an unwritten rule because we only have the two postgrads that we're not really going to bring a postgrad in unless we think they are pretty close to being able to start for us. ⁓
Cory Heitz (22:58)
Mm-hmm.
Sean Crocker (23:22)
You know, we're at very least play a lot of minutes off the bench. ⁓ But for younger guys, it's really about, you know, we need guys that want to come in and compete and figure it out. you know, I think that just is another way of measuring, you know, kind of how hungry and humble a kid is. Right. And ⁓ because those are the kids that end up making it. Right. The ones that fall in love with that. The idea of getting better and. ⁓
You know, had a couple kids, we got a junior right now whose dad asked me that question two years ago and they were just happy to be here and they came in with no promises and then it came to the second, I I knew the kid was pretty good ⁓ but in the first fall open gym, was like, crap, this kid's gonna have to play 29 minutes a game, right? Like, you know, so he was being modest, like, you know, and so, you know, I think those are the kinds of kids we want.
⁓ who are going to work for it. ⁓ Because generally those kids who are going to work for it are the kids that are going to earn it anyways.
Cory Heitz (24:31)
Yeah, yeah, smart thinking on that. Okay, perfect. Now a kid has committed to play at Mercezburg. Walk me through your process of your conversation with the kid and the family about how you plan to get their name out there, how you plan to get them placed in college. What's your recruiting strategy?
Sean Crocker (24:48)
Yeah, so I think the cool thing that has happened over the last few years is that with the June live periods, sometimes you get to coach the kids and get to know them a little bit more as a player than you used to before the June live periods. So generally, I'll tell families, let's sit down or get on a call or Zoom call in July if they're really eager.
Because then I have a sense I can actually talk to coaches that have seen the kid play a lot and that I've been coaching. But, you know, I think in this market with how many high school freshmen or how many college kids are getting recruited as high school seniors, you know, my approach is really like here's what I'm hearing from coaches. Here's what I've seen. You know, here are some options if we wanted to go early.
here's maybe what could happen if we wait, but there's no guarantees. You know, I think we did a we did an internal kind of coaching leadership thing and in the summer here at Merceasburg and and we had to kind of define our our coaching style and it took me a while and I just decided I'm stubborn. Like I'm going to believe in these kids. I'm going to keep calling coaches until until we find them a spot that they're happy with. And so
We had a young man from Ghana that was having a hard time because he needed a high level scholarship. It was June and he had graduated, but we kept calling and we got him a full ride to West Virginia Wesleyan in D2. Like I said, there's never been a kid that's come through here that hasn't gotten recruited and placed at the level where they belonged. ⁓ In this market,
the way the name of the game is get somewhere where you're going to play, play really well and then move up. Right. Like, ⁓ I mentioned Colin Metcalf earlier, but like we had Eric Oliver Bush here who was a post-grad two years ago. He went and was rookie of the year in the any 10 at St. Anselm is now going to probably start at Manhattan. ⁓ because that's how we get there, but Manhattan, you know, John Gallagher recruited some of our guys pre COVID. So he knew about Eric. He just needed Eric to go to prove it.
Cory Heitz (27:01)
Hmm.
Sean Crocker (27:11)
at St. Anselm's. so, so yeah, I mean, I think I just tell them the stories that we've had of other guys that have been here and how how it's worked out for them. And, you know, recognize that I'm going to be honest, right? Like people can call me a lot of things in my life. But the one thing I really work hard that they can't call me is a liar. And so, you know, if I think your kid is probably a fringe D2.
high level D3 player, I'm gonna tell you that. And if you think your kid's a Division I player, you may not love that. But I'm at least gonna be telling you my honest evaluation after however many years, 20 years now, holy smokes, I'm getting old, coaching in college or prep school. so, yeah, I I know that's a long answer there, but I think that's kind of my approach with Amos.
Cory Heitz (28:07)
And the nice thing too is you've only got a few players every year you got a place, right? You got one team, you got maybe post-grads, maybe not, maybe a few seniors. So you get to spend way more bandwidth on those few kids each year, which I think is something you probably tell families versus some of these teams that have larger rosters or potentially second teams. So it's about your bandwidth.
Sean Crocker (28:11)
Right.
Absolutely, yeah. And that is something else. You mentioned it. So that is another way, I think, that we differ from maybe a New England prep school or a bigger prep school is that because we have fewer post grads, if you are here, you get a lot more of my attention in terms of that work.
Cory Heitz (28:40)
Yeah.
If a family reaches out and they're thinking about reclassing and doing two years at Mercersburg or just graduating and doing a post-grad year, what's your advice when that question comes up?
Sean Crocker (28:53)
I think it's always a case by case basis, but I would say nine times out of 10, and this is going to sound self-serving, but doing two years with a program, you're going to be able to have an adjustment year, get to know the campus, get to know the coach, get to know the style of play, all that stuff, and then be able to worry about getting placed and having a good senior year to impress the colleges. Whereas if your company is a post-grad, sure, you get the June period.
but you don't really, I mean, like you have to hit the ground running and be ready to perform. And so it takes a special kind of kid ⁓ to be able to do that.
So I would generally recommend the two.
Cory Heitz (29:34)
Yeah. I,
yeah. And what I sell families to it, they got to make their own decision, right? If you're at a good high school, you want to play with your buddies, maybe when a, you know, when a state title, stay in your, stay in your high school. Cause if you do a post-grader, you're like I did, you don't know any better, right? You don't even know there's an adjustment period. You just, you're doing what comes and you adjust pretty quickly. So I see the pro and con to each, but families got to make that decisions in my opinion. Cause you know, like you said, everyone's different.
What do you see as the future of prep school basketball? Like how does this world look in five years from now?
Sean Crocker (30:07)
Yeah, that's a great question. I think it's one that I talk to some of my college buddies about a lot. I mean, I think if I don't know how drastic the shift is going to be in five years, I would imagine that we're going to get a lot closer to a European model in the next 10 to 15 years. I mean, you got all these schools popping up where they're very, very, I mean, at least in basketball, they're very focused athletically and
Okay, yeah, you get to go to class for three hours in the morning. You know, I think there'll still be a place for prep school basketball. ⁓ You know, but I think that's, you know, it's going to be a special kind of kid that wants to be here, right? And so I think at schools like all the schools in our league, you know, there's a reason to go there. You know, because you want more than just basketball out of that.
out that experience. But yeah, it does seem more and more like, you know, college moved very quickly into a pro model, and I don't know how much longer we have to hold out before high school gets fully invested in that. I mean, I'm sure there are high school kids getting paid now, but yeah.
Cory Heitz (31:27)
I think, ⁓ I agree with you. There's going be more options out there now. I think it's going to take away from a lot of kids that might go. Juco maybe, ⁓ they'll go to these academies, but I think Juco's are more established and more stable than maybe some of these newer places. But to me, I think with a lot more prep school teams being on ESPN now with social media and with so many good players come out of the prep school world, I'm seeing the demand on our end go up through the roof. And I think it's only going to be stronger and families got to make the choice. You know, we want to go to a athlete specific school.
Sean Crocker (31:35)
Hmm.
Cory Heitz (31:57)
We want to have more structure, like a traditional prep school. ⁓ so to me, I think it's, it's going to be a great option, but you know, you and nor I have the crystal ball to see how exactly it's going to be that your school has been around so many, you know, hundreds of years. ⁓ there's still going to be a demand for that. I think.
Sean Crocker (32:06)
That's right.
Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. I think it's just going to potentially shift a little bit with the highest level kids. And so.
Cory Heitz (32:20)
Yeah, for sure. For sure. They're going
to have way options. Now we got an OTE, do we do an IMG? Do we maybe get an NIL deal at this place? They're going to be fine. I'm never worried about those kids. It's the kids, it's the kids like, you know, you know, three on the depth chart through the end of the bench. That's the kids I always wonder about and want to make sure they're being taken care of at these places. Cause some of these places will just take their money and use that to fund the hiring kids and those kids get left behind. I think that's too bad when it happens.
Sean Crocker (32:29)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
No, I agree. I agree. I mean, think it's not really prep school basketball, but the biggest thing, and I told some of our guys as they head off to college about this, like, because a number of our, even our guys from last year, they're like, yeah, we'll go there for a year and then we'll try to transfer up. It's just losing that college experience, right? Like the social network you build from living with somebody for four years and getting to know guys. And maybe at prep schools, they get that for a couple of years.
Cory Heitz (33:11)
Mm-hmm.
Sean Crocker (33:15)
So they're getting it early so they don't need it as much later. that's the part about the transfer portal and all that stuff. Because again, the top guys, they're getting a life changing amount of money. It's the kids that are transferring D3 to D2 for 10 grand or whatever it's going to be. Those are the ones that maybe they're going to look back in 20 years when they got the gray in their beard like you and I do and think, well.
Maybe that maybe that wasn't as worth it of staying home, but.
Cory Heitz (33:48)
and then there's the folks, the thousands of kids that put the name in the portal and their careers just over. That, that to me is what somebody needs to a story on like who are those kids and who gave them advice and what happens to them? Cause had a player once, former D1 kid put his name in the portal and he didn't get picked up for some other reasons, but he became a school teacher, you know, a few months later, it was just over. So that doesn't get talked about enough. Sean, what does it take to be a D1 guard?
Sean Crocker (33:53)
Correct, yeah.
Yeah.
I think that's been shifting over the last three or four years, but I think you gotta be able to handle the ball under pressure. And I think you gotta be able to make open threes. And then you have to be able to you have to be able to guard probably three different positions, because a lot of these college programs now are switching a lot more.
But yeah, I I think making shots, handling the ball under pressure, and really being able to guard, maybe not even in that order. It might be guard, it might be guard and then make shots and then handle the ball. But I mean, think those are definitely the keys.
Cory Heitz (35:05)
We're gonna finish up here with some quick hitters, okay? Who's the best player you ever played against?
Sean Crocker (35:15)
I don't even, I can't even remember. My playing career ended so long ago. ⁓ Well, here's the, here's the, I'll give you, this is a quick hitters. I once played in a pickup basketball game in Durham against Chris Collins when I was working at Duke Camp. So I played in the pickup game. think Woes was on my team and Chris Collins was there. There's just a bunch of guys working camp. So there you go.
Cory Heitz (35:39)
Good one, Chris Collins. All right, perfect. Best player you've ever coached against at Mercersburg.
Sean Crocker (35:40)
Thanks, Jacqueline.
I'm going to irritate somebody. I think probably Derek Lively. Yeah, when he was at Westown coming out of COVID, that was our first game in like 18 months. And Seth was not happy because it was like a six point game at the end of third quarter. And they had a couple of kids make big shots. But I think that game, you could see that potential.
Cory Heitz (35:52)
yeah.
Sean Crocker (36:16)
And then I think that game actually how well Colin Metcalf played against Derek Lively is what got him to Northeastern and eventually transferred to Maryland.
Cory Heitz (36:23)
Gotcha, okay, favorite movie.
Sean Crocker (36:26)
⁓ Depends on my mood, honestly. But I think the first movie that comes to mind is Dumb and Dumber. You don't want to take things too seriously.
Cory Heitz (36:35)
Okay, classic. And then lastly, what are your hobbies when you're not coaching or hanging out with your family?
Sean Crocker (36:41)
I am a, and this used to get a lot more sympathy, but I'm a die-hard New England sports fan. you know, any Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, you know, like I'm not in the great mood. Luckily I went for a run this morning because the Sox blew their game last night against the Yankees. But yeah, a lot of that. ⁓ And everything else is really my family. I got three kids and a wife that I know I could be better. ⁓
with in the season, you when after the season. it's a lot of time with them.
Cory Heitz (37:14)
Perfect. And then is there anything you want to touch on we didn't mention in this interview?
Sean Crocker (37:19)
No, I mean, think we've covered ⁓ everything we need to.
Cory Heitz (37:25)
Awesome. Well, Sean, I appreciate you coming on today and good luck this season. If anyone has any questions, we're to put all your contact information in the show notes below and we appreciate it and thanks for being a partner with Prep Athletics and connected on Michael this year and wish you the best of luck this season.
Sean Crocker (37:41)
Thank you so much.
Cory Heitz (37:42)
You guys enjoyed this podcast with Sean Crocker, coach of Merseysburg Academy. Make sure you follow us on all the major podcasting platforms and subscribe on YouTube and make sure to go to the website, prepathletics.com, the signup for the newsletter. Any questions you have about the prep school world, feel free to reach out. We answer everyone that comes our way and would love to help you if this is something you might be interested in. So thanks so much for tuning in. We'll see you next time here on the Prepathletics podcast.