Cory Heitz: Prep School Recruiting & NCAA Rule Changes Explained

Join Cory Heitz, founder of PREP Athletics, as he breaks down the latest updates in prep school basketball, NCAA rule changes, and the importance of finding the right fit for young athletes. In this episode, Cory shares insights from the Final Four showcase, discusses the new NCAA transfer rule, and introduces the upcoming Masters Athlete Institute. He also pays tribute to the late Whit Lesure and welcomes Paris Horne as the new head coach at Bridgton Academy. Whether you're a parent, player, or coach, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you navigate the prep school journey and maximize college basketball opportunities.

💡 Key Topics:

📌Prep school team structures: Main vs. second teams and what it means for players
📌NCAA transfer rule changes and eligibility concerns for post-grad athletes
📌The role of prep schools in navigating NIL and transfer portal chaos
📌Introducing the Masters Athlete Institute and its coaching staff
📌Honoring Whit Lesure’s legacy and welcoming Paris Horne to Bridgton Academy
📌How to evaluate prep school options for academic and athletic development

🏀 About Cory Heitz:
Cory Heitz is the founder of PREP Athletics, a leading resource for families navigating the prep school basketball journey. With years of experience in player development and recruitment, Cory provides honest, practical advice to help athletes and families find the right fit for their academic and athletic goals.

🔗 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  

Transcript

Cory Heitz (00:22)
Welcome to this week's episode of the prep athletics podcast. What we're going to do today is just kind of do an overview of what's going on in the basketball and prep school world out there and give you some updates on information we've learned and some stuff we've done. So thank you friends for joining us. If you liked this podcast, be sure to share it with a friend. We try to make it information that everybody can use out there in the high school basketball landscape boy or girl prep or normal high school. So we were at the final four.

In Indianapolis and we ran our event Saturday morning before Dan McHale and I Dan's a former D1 head coach in the Patino Family tree and we were in the CRC prep athletics 2026 Final Four showcase had about 50 kids show up about 45 coaches to include over 10 prep school coaches and a lot of kids got seen there were write-ups from a scout that was there we had a lot of social media and six scholarship offers were given out

and we might be getting some kids to some prep schools. So overall a success and next year with it being in Detroit, we were trying to figure out if we can make that work as well. So stand by for that. This is bananas here. I don't know if you've seen her before. She's the new prep athletic puppy to go along with our other puppy, Maple. So this is banana. She's just bothering me right now. So we're just going to put her on my lap. I see she can be on the podcast with us.

Next up, I just got back to from going to Whit Lesure's memorial last Friday at Bridgton Academy in Maine. And it was held in my hockey arena. It was a packed house. Got to hear from his brothers. And what's uncanny is one of his brothers had the same mannerisms, tics that Whit had. So was really, if you close your eyes, it was almost like Whit was there. But I hear Whit every day in my head saying certain things. And I think about our conversations we've had.

And, ⁓ Bridgton last week just announced that they've got a replacement for wit and that's one of which former players and a former assistant coach in Paris Horne Paris Horne. We're going to have him on the podcast here shortly in the next couple of weeks. He played at Bridgton Academy and played at St. John's play professionally overseas and even had a stint in the NBA. So he was the interim coach in January after what passed away and led the team to a pretty successful end of the run of their season. So really happy for Paris.

excited to work with him and excited to him on the podcast. You guys can learn more about him. One thing I'm hearing a lot right now from families is more clarification on a prep school that has two teams. Okay. So if a prep school coach is talking to a family and there are obvious kids, they're going to be on the main team, right? Like you're a seven footer or if you're a guard, it's got D1 offers, you're going to be on the main national team. Mind you, when it comes to

what these schools name their second teams. It's all semantics. Some use colors, some use regional, some call it prep versus varsity versus national. They're second teams. Okay. So whatever these guys tell you, ⁓ it's second teams, not to mean it's less than a less of an experience, but you need to know your, your, your options when you go in. So when you talk to these coaches, a lot of them are not going to be able to tell kind of borderline players if they're going to be on the main team or the second team.

Right? So if you're one of those kids that are not sure what it's going to be, because mind you, some of these rosters aren't set until school starts in August. So a prep school coach is very wary to promise minutes to anybody first team or second team or schools that even have one team because they just don't know what the kids are going to be like until they show up on campus or in June at the live scholastic showcase. And they don't know, ⁓ you know what the roster is going to be. Like I said, until August. So it's really hard to promise playing time.

But if you're a family that might be looking at a second team option, one thing I suggest you do is talk to the head coach and make sure you talk to the second team head coach and find out, all right, who am I playing for in June? What is the situation in the fall? Who's going to be coaching me? Who's going to be doing workouts? And what's it look like once the season starts for practice? Do we practice all together? Do the teams separate? Who am I going to play? Who's going to help place me?

in college. If I do great on the second team, can I bump up to the main team? ⁓ Some scenarios that prep school coaches talk about is, hey, you might be my 10th guy in the main team and play five minutes a game, or you might be a starter in the second team and play 25 minutes a game. Court time is key, but also being in the right program with a coach you trust is key too. So if you're looking at a school that has two teams, just make sure you do your due diligence, talk to the second team coach as well, and make sure you're comfortable. Okay.

next up, there's a Trump executive order that came out recently talking about college athletes have five years and one transfer. Now, when does that start? They're saying after you graduate high school. So does that mean a post-grade year now counts towards that fifth year? ⁓ there's a lot up in the air, a lot of discussion. ⁓ we've heard in the past few weeks and no one quite knows yet, and I'm guarantee you there's going to be lawsuits from families that, you know, need to transfer twice.

or you know, like the Juco rolling that came out a couple of years ago about Juco, not counting towards eligibility. Don't hold your breath on this. but if we do have this enacted into law or however it works with executive orders and the NCAA, we'll have to adjust, right? So maybe if we're looking to do a post-grad year, maybe you, don't know, we're going to have to figure this out. You might have to make decisions earlier. We don't know yet. We'll keep you posted here on the podcast, but that's something that came down, which could help college sports, but it also,

infringes on free market capitalism and movement that college coaches can can get but do players have to do it? So stand by on that. When I was up there for Whitlajure's memorial, I had a chance to go tour the new Masters Athlete Institute, which is being ⁓ put together by Peter Masters in Stowe, Massachusetts at the former Bose corporate headquarters.

And they got a lot going on there. Construction was going and working 24 hours a day, getting ready to have it ready for this August. And in big news, MAI, which is the initials are going by, it hired Jason Smith from Brewster Academy where he'd been for over 20 years to be their national team coach now. Their second team, and they're only going to have two teams the first year is also going to be from a former Brewster Academy alum, Mander Tharpe, who played at Kansas and has been working with Jason at Brewster as well. So

Good pedigree there. Jason Smith and John Carroll have always been worried about a place like this opening in New England. And now it's going to be open in August. So I'm very curious to see how that's going to go. Um, how their talent's going to be, how the recruiting is going to go. I'm going to be working with them, but also monitoring as well. And I hope to get those guys in the podcast soon to kind of explain it in more detail to those that are interested, but all four options in progress. And lastly, um,

I think prep schools are more important than ever now, right? You're seeing everything going on with the NILs, the 40 % of D1 basketball players, maybe 50 % now at the time of this recording that have put their name into the transfer portal. It's so fast moving right now that you still need an advocate. And if your high school coach can do it, your AAU coach, that's great. A lot of them, fact, the majority of them do not have the contacts that prep school coaches have. So always be sure.

to look at that as an option. If you do want to look at prep school as an option, go to my website, prepathletics.com, fill out a free assessment on the homepage and we'll let you know if this is a viable option for you. And if so, we can help you navigate the prep school world, which has tons of great options out there. And we help families find the right fit for their individual situations. So that was the latest update. I just wanted to do a quick check in a little bonus episode and thanks so much for tuning in and we will get back to full length prep athletic podcasts here in the near future.

So have a good one, share this with anyone that you think could enjoy it, and we'll talk to you