PREP Athletics Basketball Podcast

Dan McHale and Cory Heitz: Final Four Showcase + Get Recruited

• Cory Heitz • Season 1 • Episode 132

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When: April 4th, 9AM-12PM
Where: UNRNKD Hoops (6331 Crawfordsville Road Indianapolis, IN 46224)
Who: HS athletes from 9-12 grade, INCLUDING unsigned Seniors
What: D1 College Workout HOSTED BY D1 Coaches D2/D3 Coaches in Attendance

Dan McHale is back for a short, straight-to-the-point bonus episode, and we’re talking about what families actually care about right now: exposure, timing, and how recruiting really works in 2026. Dan is a former Division I head coach and longtime D1 assistant, and he breaks down why the old “just wait, it’ll come” advice is getting kids left behind. We also get into the CRC Final Four Showcase in Indianapolis, built to put players directly in front of college coaches during Final Four weekend, plus give parents a real education on what rosters look like in the transfer portal era. Dan explains draft boards, why coaches share information, and why being proactive matters more than ever for 2026, 2027, and 2028 prospects. If you’re a parent hoping a state title run will magically create offers, or a player trying to figure out the right next step, this is your reset. No hype, just the current market and what to do about it. 


💡Key Topics:
 📌 Final Four basketball exposure event for recruiting and college placement
 📌 Transfer portal era recruiting: why offers are slower for high school players
 📌 Draft boards, roster fluidity, and how coaches evaluate prospects
 📌 Parent education: realistic pathways D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and development steps
 📌 Proactive outreach: email, social media, advocates, and credibility signals
 📌 Coach-to-coach networks and why relationships drive opportunities

🏀 About Dan McHale:
 Dan McHale is a former Division I head coach and longtime D1 assistant coach who now helps families navigate college basketball placement and the modern recruiting landscape. He brings a coach’s view of roster needs, evaluation, and how offers actually happen in today’s transfer portal environment.

 🔗 Connect with Dan McHale: 

Twitter | https://x.com/CoachMcHale
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/dmchale01/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/mchale_basketball_academy
Website | https://www.crcathlete.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/collegiate_recruiting/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/prof

🔗 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:

iTunes | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/prep-athletics-podcast/id1546265809?uo=4
Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/6CAKbXFiIOhoHinzsReYbJ
Amazon | https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/3c37179d-3371-47f9-9d97-fd569e8802a7/prep-athletics-basketball-podcast #AmazonMusic

Cory Heitz (00:00)
Hello friends. I'm thrilled you're joining us on the prep athletics podcast and we have a bonus episode today featuring returning guest Dan McHale. Dan McHale is a former D1 head coach and D1 assistant and we are putting on an event the Saturday morning of the final four in Indianapolis this year and I brought Dan on so we could talk about it and then ask him some updates on what's been going on in the college recruiting world since our last talk. So thank you for tuning in friends. Enjoy the podcast. Thanks for coming by.

Cory Heitz (00:50)
Dan, welcome back to the podcast.

Coach Dan McHale (00:52)
Cory, great to see you. Thanks for having me on.

Cory Heitz (00:55)
Yeah, we had you on not so long ago to talk about your background as a head coach at the D1 level assistant coach and what you're doing now with helping families get their players placed into the college environment. But we've got an event coming up at the final four and wanted to get you on to talk about it. So why don't you tell us about the event and its inauguration last year down in San Antonio. Tell us how that went, the success stories were, and then we'll get into the one we got going on this year.

Coach Dan McHale (01:20)
Absolutely. Well, we are in the thick of basketball season, high school, college, NBA, and it's a lot of fun and teams are made in January, right? That's the old expression. So it's fun to watch. From my standpoint right now, we're in the thick of it with a lot of kids that we're working with to get them placed. But I'm excited to work with you and partner for our second annual CRC Final Four Showcase. Like you alluded to last year was our

Our first one in San Antonio was a massive success. We had ⁓ over 65 kids in attendance ⁓ from all over, obviously a lot of Texas kids, but it was so much fun to work with them and get them in front of college coaches. And my whole thing was always, all these college coaches go to the Final Four. And as you know, the D2, D3 and AI level, there's no dead period. So for them, it's given them an opportunity to wake up and attend the Final Four festivities.

hop in a quick Uber and go watch some kids play. So we had a lot of fun. We had ⁓ well over a dozen kids receive scholarship offers from that event alone, which was remarkable. And I think we made it kind of a one stop shop for the college coaches to go see some, maybe some unsigned seniors or some guys that they can get on their radar at the younger level. So excited to work with you this year. We partnered and we're going to have a great event in Indianapolis. ⁓ Registration went live.

little over a week ago and I could tell you registrations are just pouring in. I fully expect to have close to about 150 kids in attendance. And then obviously, know, the 50 plus coaches, 60 coaches that come to watch them. It's just a great environment and a great opportunity for kids to be seen.

Cory Heitz (02:50)
you

Yeah. And, you talking about this last year is why I wanted to partner with you on this because you've got it handled with the college coaches coming in. And now that you've done it the first year, right? This is the second year. So more people know about it. More people know about the town of players that came in last year and this year, you know, I'm biased and from Kentucky, but being in Indianapolis, you're going to have kids come in from Kentucky, Indiana, obviously the surrounding States and

Coach Dan McHale (03:25)
Chicago, Columbus,

it's been awesome just to see a three hour radius where they can come from.

Cory Heitz (03:30)
Exactly. And we put it out in our newsletter. If you're not subscribed, join the prep athletics newsletter, but we put the signup sheet on there already. and the angle I'm helping with is we are getting, ⁓ prep school players who are either ninth grade, 10th, 11th, 12th, or post grads that haven't signed yet that don't want to do a college style workout in front of these college coaches. ⁓ we want to let them know this exists. So we've already got prep school coaches that are signing their kids up. Mind you, they're signing up now cause this is in April, right? First week in April.

Coach Dan McHale (03:57)
Right.

Cory Heitz (03:58)
And that's when the transfer portal is going on still. So a lot of our

Coach Dan McHale (04:00)
Exactly right.

Cory Heitz (04:01)
placement for post-grads in the prep school world is happening now in April, May, even June. So these prep school coaches, especially those in driving distance are going to come down. We've got prep school coaches coming in too. So yes, Dan has his connections for the college side. We're bringing prep school coaches in to recruit the younger kids for their rosters. So we're, you know, if you're a kid in the area, even if you're not fly in.

And, uh, get seen because the whole name of the game is getting eyeballs on you. There's no guarantee what's going to happen, but then if you don't get the scholarship offers you want, Dan offers placement strategy for the college side. offer prep school placement for the prep school side. So you are going to be in front of people that know what's going on top of their game. Dan's going to be talking about his services and how he helps and what the reality is at the current market. I'll be doing same on the prep school side, which people have heard me. If you listen to this right now, you've probably heard me say this a hundred times already.

Coach Dan McHale (04:29)
. .

Cory Heitz (04:55)
⁓ but you've also got to adjust to the time. So that's another thing I want to mention aside from this, ⁓ this event, which by the way, in the show notes below will be signups for both coaches at the college and prep school level and for players. So like I said, we have got a lot of signups happening already. ⁓ it's going to come faster than, know, it, if you want to come from the other area, you've got to get hotels for a final four cities sooner than later. So this is not a, you know, a fire sale use cards pitch. This is the reality of what's going on right now.

Um, so sign up for that quick and we'll have everything ready to go. So with that being said, we were trying to get kids placed, but since you and I last talked, a lot has happened, right? We've now have G league players coming and guys that are NBA draft picks now playing in D1 one kid at Baylor. know it create a Gonzaga is trying to get another kid like you seeing as a former D1 coach. What are your thoughts on this? Just, uh, from a 10,000 foot view.

Coach Dan McHale (05:50)
Look, it's the reality of it right now, whether I agree with it or not, whether coaches agree with it or not.

It's the reality. it unfortunate it hurts high school kids, right? Because now coaches have another pool they can dip into to get players and the old adage get old stay old is kind of with college coaches are thinking right now. So that being said, whether I agree with it or not, whether it's going to change, I don't know, but this is where we are in January of 2026. So right now it's more important than ever for high school high school kids.

Cory Heitz (05:58)
Yeah.

Coach Dan McHale (06:21)
Whether there are 26 prospects, 27, 20, just to be seen, just to get exposure, just to listen to the right people. Between my background of coaching at the highest level, Division I for over 20 years, and your background placing kids, and obviously successful college basketball player that you were, we know what it looks like, And we can give the advice to these kids and their parents that so often that other coaches or AOU coaches or ⁓ whoever they seek advice from, they're not giving you the right advice.

Big part of this showcase is yes, I want these kids to have exposure and play in front of college coaches and go through a real Division I college workout that will put them through. But I'm going to talk to the parents. I want to educate the parents of what it looks like. And it's a lot different than it was three, four years ago. And it's going to keep changing and evolving. So parents need to be aware of what it takes for their child to play college basketball, whatever level it is. And we're here to help.

Cory Heitz (07:15)
Yeah. And I mean, one thing I still hear from families, I don't know if you hear it too, is like, a little Johnny or a little Sally just won the state title. Right. And they're kind of waiting around for scholarships. Cause that used to happen in the old days, especially in Kentucky. You could have a team that made a run in the sweet 16 there in rep arena and a player might come off the radar. And 10 years ago, that kid could pick up a D one offer. Right. Um, it happened almost every year. Yeah. You've coached former coach at East Kentucky. Um,

Coach Dan McHale (07:37)
Right. It's not happening anymore.

Cory Heitz (07:43)
can attend to test to that and that happened in other states too and those days are over. Right now at D3 or NAI school might pick that kid up, right? Unless he's a real special talent. So what are you seeing, like what are you hearing from families nowadays that you just wish you could take a hammer and say that's not how it is. This is how it is. Like are you hearing any same trends or stories from families or players?

Coach Dan McHale (07:48)
They are.

I am

and it's unfortunate because not to say the high school coaches or the AU coaches don't understand the landscape, but. They're giving them advice to hey, just just hang around. You know we'll get you something late. It doesn't work like that anymore. It really doesn't. So the more exposure they can get, it's really not about the level anymore, right? Everyone's journey is different. So listen, there are a handful of kids that should be playing Division 1 basketball, but the reality is it's only 13 scholarships and.

There you might have to go play D2, D3 and play well and then see what happens a year or two from now. So everybody's journey is different. ⁓ They can't panic, but they have to be proactive, right? And that's what I tell the parents. They have to be proactive in everything that they're doing. You don't want to self promote your child, but you want to get them around the right people that are going to help navigate and open doors for them.

Cory Heitz (08:54)
Is there a correct way, if a parent wants to reach out to a college program or a player, what's the best bang for their buck?

Coach Dan McHale (09:01)
Yeah, I mean, by all means, they can try to get in touch with them on social media. That really doesn't happen that often, especially in the middle of season right now. College coaches, this is what they're thinking. Look, their rosters are fluid right now. They might have two scholarships open. They might say, you know what, we're going to use them both on transfers. That's just the reality. Or they're saying, look, our kids are playing pretty well. The reality is we're going to lose a couple of kids because they're going to transfer out of our program. We might have four or five open in the spring. Open the lines of communications. We call it draft boards, right? Kids need to get on these coaches' draft boards.

Cory Heitz (09:28)
Mm-hmm.

Coach Dan McHale (09:30)
because as college programs come and get players, they lose players, they're gonna wanna see who's out there. So getting that exposure, having an advocate is the biggest thing. And that's what I think you and I talk about. Having a guy like myself with all the experience that I've had, having a guy like you pick up the phone and call these college coaches because you have relationships with them, that's who coaches are going to listen to. And they wanna know that they can trust the source that it's coming from.

Cory Heitz (09:56)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So if I'm a kid and I'm reaching out to a college, ⁓ is it best to do it via email, via social media, have a coach reach out? Like is, does it even matter to you as a former D1 guy, like what method you get the communication in?

Coach Dan McHale (10:11)
Yeah, a

little bit of everything, right? College coaches are on their phones too. They check their email on the phone. They check their Twitter accounts on their phone. So yeah, a little bit of everything. And not to get discouraged. The college coach might see it. He might not respond. A lot of these coaches won't respond. But being able to say, hey, I'm reaching out to talk to you about the potential of playing at your school. ⁓ I also spoke with Dan McHale or Cory Heitz, who I'm working with. You might know them. That's going to be the buzzword, right? College coaches need the buzzwords.

And they need to be able to, okay, this isn't just, you know, Timmy from St. Axe High School reaching out. Timmy's reaching out, but he's also going through a collegiate service or a prep school service that has deep relationships that I know that I can trust.

Cory Heitz (10:55)
All right, and walk me through this too. And this is pertinent to our event we got going on, but college coaches talk to each other, especially about players. Tell families how that all works.

Coach Dan McHale (11:01)
Yes.

Yeah, college coaches are constantly talking, whether it's about the next opponent might have a similar, you know, scout or hey, what are you looking for the next class? And this is what this is what I need. Who's out there, right? Everyone shares information. So the more you can get in front of college coaches, you might want to be able to go to, I don't know, Indiana. Indiana might not have that scholarship and he might be talking to a coach at Ball State and say, you know what? There's a kid that reached out. He's pretty good. I think he could play at your level.

Why don't you take a look at them? That's the way it works. And that's the way I recruited. You have your colleagues in the business. You want to know who's out there. You want to know who other coaches are recruiting. Because if they don't have a need and they're going to pass them along to you, then go for it. So the more exposure, more talking to college coaches, the better because they're all going to talk and they're all going to try to help each other.

Cory Heitz (11:53)
And this is a PSA for families out there. I know a lot of kids will say, hey, this school is reaching out, but I'm not getting back to them because I'm not interested. We don't know where that assistant is going to be in a few months. So you always want to make sure you keep up good communication, don't burn any bridges, no matter what the current situation is, because we just never know where that guy might be. And he might go to a new job and say, hey, I got this kid. I knew from my old program. I think he's a good fit for us.

Coach Dan McHale (12:01)
That's it. That's it. Exactly.

⁓

Cory Heitz (12:16)
And voila, that's happened many, many times.

Coach Dan McHale (12:19)
100%. I was at Seton Hall back in the day and I was recruiting a couple kids and next thing I know I was in the Big 10 and the kid was a Midwest kid and he wanted to go to Minnesota with us and it was a kid that I had been recruiting, you know, during my time in the Big East. So again, that's just one example. There's many examples out there like that. So PSA, any kid out there or any family out there, all exposure is good exposure. Talk to as many coaches that you can. You never know what it's going to look like six months from now or even a year from now.

Cory Heitz (12:46)
Yeah. Was there ever a player that came across you like via email or via a coaching recommendation that like you just passed on didn't think he worked for you and then blew up? Was there one that got away? Is there one you can remember their story on?

Coach Dan McHale (12:54)
Many times, yeah. yeah,

there's a couple that I wish I had seen in touch with that, you know, it could have helped us so without a doubt.

Cory Heitz (13:05)
Any examples you want to share? want to keep that close to the heart? Okay.

Coach Dan McHale (13:07)
I'll probably keep that one close to the vest, there is there

is a couple that once I became a head coach, I said, wait a I remember this kid. should have. I should have recruited him a little bit harder, so name of the game.

Cory Heitz (13:17)
All right, for current high school seniors and juniors ⁓ that want to play at the next level, like what can you give them as a prescription to focus on? even whether they come to the event, hire us or not, go to prep school or not. Like what are some like steps you can give them? Hey, make sure you're doing this and this junior year and then senior year.

Coach Dan McHale (13:36)
Yeah, obviously, you know, playing with the right program, right, playing with the right travel club team or high school team, you always have to represent yourself the right way. You never know who's watching, right? You know, anytime you step on the court, anytime you do an interview, anytime, you know, you post on social media, you're filming an infomercial of yourself, right? And these days, this is what college coaches are looking for. They can't make mistakes. They don't want to make mistakes. They want to understand the total package of the kid they're getting. So...

Cory Heitz (13:45)
you

Coach Dan McHale (14:04)
You know, obviously put your best foot forward is a crazy expression, but it's the truth. You always have to represent yourself in the right way. Be a great teammate. You know, be a kid that's going to be a great representation, representation of the program. So plan as many exposure events as possible ⁓ and not get frustrated. Times have changed. Kids were picking up offers, you know, freshman, sophomore, junior years. That's not happening as much anymore because coaches don't want to really be tied down to a high school kid. That being said, keep playing.

Keep playing, keep playing. Everybody's journey's different.

Cory Heitz (14:38)
Some colleges now D3 and even D1 are saying, we will be a feeder school. We come to us, we'll help prepare you and then help you transfer up a level. What are your thoughts on that?

Coach Dan McHale (14:47)
It's the reality.

It's the reality. ⁓ It's a good recruiting tactic for some coaches because they say, look, we know we're not going to have you for four years, but you'll come, you'll play 20 plus minutes a game and then we'll see what happens. Right? A little different from the, you know, I recruit the kid not for four years, but for 40 years. You know, I still have kids that I played for me that are in my life to this day and I help them get jobs, whether it's in the corporate world or whether it's the coaching world.

Not saying it's more transactional these days, but that's kind of the way the landscape is going and kids need to know that and coaches need to know that.

Cory Heitz (15:25)
Absolutely. Who's your pick to win it all this year in the college ranks?

Coach Dan McHale (15:29)
Kind of wide open, right? ⁓ You know, it could be anybody. You know, I think the SEC is obviously very top heavy. The Big East is top heavy. UConn looks really good. The Big 12 every night is a crazy one. ⁓ I don't know. I haven't decided yet, but ⁓ it's going to be a great one. Duke looks really, really good. ⁓ Could be anybody. How about you?

Cory Heitz (15:52)
All right, and for those of,

for me, I hope Purdue makes it to the final four, because I think having that in Indy with Purdue ⁓ would be kind of electric with the fan base. And they're good. I mean, they've been together for quite a few years. They've had the right transfer pieces. They've only lost one game. So I think I'd like to see them win. Will they win? I don't know, but my Wildcats,

Coach Dan McHale (15:57)
Yeah.

Yes.

Cory Heitz (16:14)
are struggling in Kentucky and then Air Force were really struggling and West Virginia is doing not bad. So we got, have a family conference where like where everyone played, we kind of follow, but I'm my money on Purdue this year. So, all right. So for those that are listening to this right now, might not see the show notes. can they go to register or learn more about this event?

Coach Dan McHale (16:17)
I like it. Good pick.

Absolutely. You know, you can go to www.crcathlete.com and that takes us to our homepage and there's registration link on there. Like I said, we've been live for about a week and we've already had close to 30 registrations. We are going to cap it. We have three courts, probably going to cap it at about 125 kids. So we fully expect that to sell out within the next month or so. And it's going to be a great event. Like I said, it's not just a showcase event.

A lot these are money grabs. is the farthest thing we are. We're going to give the parents and kids advice about what it looks like in the recruiting landscape, put you through a great workout. ⁓ Every kid's going to have a personalized jersey with his name and number on it. And the college coaches are going to have a packet and it's going to say number 44, Cory Heitz And it's going to list your, your measurables. It's going to list your contact information. And then the goal is to, you know, if we had over a dozen kids get scholarships.

I want to have close to 50 kids walk out of there talking to college coaches and have an offer. And that's the goal, just to educate and have fun and doing the fun environment. The Final Four for any kid that's never been is an amazing, amazing experience. I've been fortunate to take my son. I know you've been with your family. think you said your dad is coming. It's just a great environment. Indy does a great job of hosting it. And it's just our event is just going to be a small part of what should be a lot of fun that weekend.

Cory Heitz (17:52)
Yeah, it was my first Final Four two years ago in Phoenix when Purdue was in it with my cousin Brad and it my first Final Four and everyone there was happy. So it's kind of like going to Disneyland where everyone is happy and if you're a hoofs junkie like we are, it's Mecca, right? So it's awesome. All right. Well, Dan, thanks for joining us. Everyone, thanks for listening today to this short bonus episode of the Prep Athletics Podcast. you have any questions, reach out to Dan or myself. Would love to see you in Indy. I'll see you next time on the Prep Athletics Podcast. Have a good day.

Coach Dan McHale (18:21)
Thanks, Cory.