Matt Mihalich: Avon Old Farms Coach on Playing Time, Reclassifying, and College Placement

Unlock the Secrets of Prep School Basketball with Avon Old Farms Head Coach Matt Mihalich

Join Cory Heitz and Matt Mihalich, Head Coach at Avon Old Farms, as they dive deep into the world of prep school basketball, player development, and the path to college success. Matt, a veteran coach with D1 experience and a basketball legacy (his father was a D1 head coach), shares honest, no-nonsense advice on what it takes to thrive in prep school, the importance of multi-sport athleticism, and how families can navigate the complex recruitment process.

Matt also reflects on his journey—from growing up in a basketball family to coaching in the WCAC (the toughest homegrown league in the country) and now leading one of the most respected prep programs in NEPSAC Class A.

💡 Key Topics:

📌 Prep school basketball development and the Avon Old Farms difference
📌 Playing time in prep school: Setting expectations for players and families
📌 Reclassifying vs. post-grad years: Academic and athletic considerations
📌 Multi-sport athleticism: Why Avon Old Farms encourages it
📌 College recruitment strategies in the transfer portal era
📌 D1 guard requirements: Skills, basketball IQ, and intangibles
📌 The future of prep school basketball: Rivalries, traditions, and player development

🏀 About Matt Mihalich:

Matt Mihalich is the Head Coach at Avon Old Farms, a prestigious all-boys prep school in Connecticut known for its elite basketball program and commitment to academic and athletic excellence. With a background that includes coaching at Bishop O’Connell (WCAC), George Mason University, and the University of Hartford, Matt brings a wealth of experience to player development. As the son of a D1 head coach, he grew up immersed in the game and now leads one of the most respected programs in NEPSAC Class A. Matt’s philosophy centers on teaching, culture, and preparing players for success beyond basketball.

🔗 Connect with Matt Mihalich:

Twitter | https://x.com/CoachM_AOFhoops
Twitter | https://x.com/AOF_Basketball
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/aof_basketball/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-mihalich-78294336a/
Website | https://www.avonoldfarms.com/

🔗 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 (00:00)
friends and welcome to this week's episode of the prep athletics podcast. So glad you're joining us here today to learn something about the prep school basketball world and beyond. we've got coach Matt Mihalich on today and Matt is the head coach at Avon old farms. And, ⁓ he grew up in a household where his dad was a D one head coach. And we talked about that. was a two sport athlete in college.

And then he coached against me in the WCAC in Washington, DC, when he coached at Bishop O'Connell. And after that, he coached at the D1 level before getting to Avon Old Farms in 2019. So we talked about all the usual stuff, his background, his development, talking about playing time, what it takes to be a D1 guard and much more. Great conversation here. Also just got back from the final four, we ran our CRC.

Uh, unsigned player event and had about 50 coaches there, 50 players, bunch of prep school coaches showed up. So it's great to see those guys college scholarship offers were given out. Preps school coaches were reaching out to kids as well. It's a great time there. And then big Mike and I went to the final four that night. Got to see a lot of friends there. I got to see two not amazing games, still fun environment, great atmosphere. And I'm excited to kick off the spring right now. So it's not too late to join prep school. If you're interested, please reach out to me.

If you'd like to share with someone who might enjoy these kinds of conversations and enjoy our conversation with Matt from Avon Old Farms here on the Prep Ethics Podcast. Thanks for tuning in.

Cory Heitz (01:52)
Matt, welcome to the podcast.

Matthew Mihalich (01:54)
Cory thanks for having me. This is a lot of fun.

Cory Heitz (01:57)
Yeah, we have known each other a while, but I don't know your background. So why we start by telling me where you grew up and what got you into the sport of basketball.

Matthew Mihalich (02:05)
Yeah, our backgrounds. Yeah, there's some overlap here. So there's a teaser for the listener. yeah, I was born into a basketball family. My dad coached I was born. He was a coach at La Salle University in Philadelphia, which is just an awesome basketball town to be from. Went to high school in Buffalo when he got the job at Niagara. And then my first job was ⁓ in DC. I knew that the WCAC was one of the best

leagues in the country. And I always thought it was the best homegrown lead in the country. And I believe that I think the NEPSAC is ⁓ also the best league in the country. Obviously not local. You can recruit all over. have post grads. There's some differences there. But I wanted to get started in the WCAC, which is where you and I were able to go toe to toe a few times, which was great. That was at Bishop O'Connell High School. I learned a lot from Joe Wooten. ⁓ I was at George Mason for a year. And then

the University of Hartford as the director of operations for two years and assistant for two years while they were a division one program. And then that's what brought me up to New England. And here I am at Avon Old Farm for the last seven years. So that's the, the cliff notes there.

Cory Heitz (03:16)
awesome.

Awesome. I want to dig into those cliff notes a little bit. Okay. What's it like growing up in a household with a dad as a D1 head coach? Like what do you absorb from that?

Matthew Mihalich (03:28)
It was a lot of, ⁓ first of all, I loved it. I loved every second of it. mean, ⁓ was, what I'm trying to say, guess baked in. A lot of the basketball was just baked into every day. lot of the, just even like, just words we used or ⁓ just the mindset of being on a team and being a player, which was great.

That's like the subliminal things. I used to go to practice after school. When he was in Niagara, I would just go to practice after school and kind of have a side basket and listen in. ⁓ I'd be sitting in the car listening to make recruiting phone calls and just learning a lot of stuff that was ⁓ just by osmosis, ⁓ which was really great. ⁓ My dad is somebody that I've always admired just as a father.

But as a coach too, I he's had a lot of success over the years and just to be able to have that front row seat, well, it was just an absolute gem. ⁓ feel I can hear myself halfway through a sentence and realizing I've heard that before, ⁓ usually coming from one of his practices. So, yeah.

Cory Heitz (04:43)
When you're recruiting families

for Avon Old Farms, do you find yourself saying things that he said in his recruiting pitches?

Matthew Mihalich (04:50)
⁓ yes, yes, there are a few. ⁓ I think that, I think that, one of the things that I get, lot of stuff that I get from him, he got from Morgan Wooten. ⁓ and I got from Joe Wooten. So, ⁓ a lot of the things that some of the, some of the stuff that I'm hearing, you these phrases, I'm talking about phrases in general ways, but I would hear things from him that, you when I, when I went and worked,

Cory Heitz (05:02)
sure.

Matthew Mihalich (05:17)
Wooten basketball camp and Morgan was still running it with his son Joe, who I ended up working for. ⁓ A lot of those things, a lot of those things come through. I think the number one thing, it's just, it's a big pillar in how I treat this job is always refer to yourself as a teacher. Yeah, I remember my dad saying that and then I believed it. And then as I was saying, you know, I'm going to be a coach for my career. And I jumped on board. ⁓

Cory Heitz (05:36)
Hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (05:45)
with Morgan Wooten and predominantly his son Joe, but ⁓ I hear them saying that all the time. And I realized that that's one of those things that kind of filters through. ⁓ It also adds like that philosophy adds to how passionate I am. I think there's a lot of people that get into coaching or athletics. Maybe, maybe they don't know why. Maybe they were good, you know, they were a good player or they like, you know, they like wearing sneakers and I don't know. But ⁓ if you remember you're doing this to teach, then a lot of it, a lot of it becomes

really fulfilling if you remember that you're a teacher. So I'm grateful for those, you know, those little things that you learn along

Cory Heitz (06:21)
Yeah, love that. ⁓ After high school, you chose to go to John Carroll University. What led you to choosing that school?

Matthew Mihalich (06:28)
⁓ that was close to home. was, I was able to play there. I mean, I was, I was on the team there. Let's be specific with our, with our, our language. I'm not going to see me in any, ⁓ in any, record books, but I was on a team there and they actually, I thought my career, I thought it was going to be a, a sports writer and they had the number one student run newspaper. It was ranked number one. think that's on a national ranking. You could be a one or two or three. There was the, there was one of the best student run newspapers.

Cory Heitz (06:31)
Cough

Matthew Mihalich (06:58)
Certainly within driving distance and with my ability to be on the basketball team. ⁓ And then high school in Buffalo and college in Cleveland, those are kind of an easy transition. Those cities are ⁓ sports towns, they lovable, they understand those kinds of things. And I just kind of good about going to JCU.

Cory Heitz (07:22)
Yeah. And we were there. You also did another sport. Tell me about that.

Matthew Mihalich (07:26)
I ran track. Yeah, I ran track. I didn't do it as a freshman. I actually ran track as a senior in high school and my brother, I have a twin and my twin brother was really good at track. And when he was a senior, he said, look, this is just fun. know, if you don't, even if you don't love it, it's fun. You're outside and ⁓ you know, I went to an all boys school. There's girls at the track meets and you know, like it's, just a lot of other reasons, but I ended up loving the sport.

Cory Heitz (07:35)
Mm-hm.

Matthew Mihalich (07:54)
I just liked, I liked competing and again, you're outside and you're, you're, the, races are, the races are quick. Like I enjoyed it. Like I liked how, ⁓ you got results pretty fast. And, ⁓ so I, and then, you know, when I, when I got to college, said, I'll, you know, refocus on just the one sport, but then I realized like, I think I would regret it. I kind of regretted in high school, not doing track for more. And then I just said, let me, let's do it. Let's do it the whole time. ⁓

And then, from junior year till senior year, but it was a great way to meet other athletes with, ⁓ different, it's easy to get kind of wrapped up in the basketball world and you, but, just to see how other athletes treat things, ⁓ and competition and workouts and stuff like that. was really fortunate.

Cory Heitz (08:28)
Mm-hmm.

Now, some people that look at prep schools where they have to play multiple sports shy away from that because it's taking time away from basketball development. So weren't you taking time away from basketball development or were you getting benefits athletically from doing track and field specifically?

Matthew Mihalich (08:55)
No, I really, there's enough time in the year to really find that balance. think when you do something else, it just keeps you from feeling a burnout. I'm not saying, like I say this to people, because at Avon, we strongly encourage multiple sports. The older you get, the less you have to play multiple sports.

Cory Heitz (09:11)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (09:20)
But we really want people to do it. mean, if we have some seniors that have played two or three sports, we're really thrilled about that. anyway, it's a requirement for when you're younger. And then ⁓ as a junior and a senior, you're more of an encouragement. ⁓ But it keeps you from getting burnt out. It keeps the game fresh. think that if all you did was work out 300s. And I did. I I worked out.

Cory Heitz (09:28)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (09:47)
When I was a player, I worked out 365 days a year. didn't think anything of it. But just to not have to add pressure to yourself of trying to just play as much as possible. It's nice to feel that you got something else going on. And I was starting to say, I cut myself off. It's nice to have a sport that maybe you're not prioritizing. When basketball is and always has been a priority for me.

Cory Heitz (10:14)
Right.

Matthew Mihalich (10:17)
I'm not saying I have to prioritize it. doesn't have to be more important, but it's nice to do it. And it's fun.

Cory Heitz (10:25)
Yeah, that, makes sense. ⁓ back to now your time at Bishop O'Connell. And obviously I've said this for years at the WCAC is the top homegrown basketball conference in America, but you tell me what, why is the Washington Catholic athletic association with schools like Gonzaga, DeMath, O'Connell, Paul VI, St. John's, Bishop McNamara. Like, what is it that makes it so special?

Matthew Mihalich (10:51)
I think it goes back decades. think that ⁓ you look at, let's say, I'm going to speak from the O'Connell perspective. ⁓ You look at the guys with the pictures on the wall and that jersey, you want to wear that jersey someday. again, I'm a, my dad was at Dematha and nobody ever had explained to me what Dematha was.

Cory Heitz (11:03)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (11:21)
You know, I saw like the varsity jackets from the seventies and eighties, you know, hanging in the closet. 20. I remember, I just remember saying it was like, you know, I'm going to make up the numbers, but it's just about the same. was like 28 and three, ⁓ 30 and one. And there was one year it was like 25 and five. And I remember asking, like, what happened that year? It's like a 25 and five year. It was like, Ooh, that was an off year for you guys. ⁓

Cory Heitz (11:42)
Right.

Matthew Mihalich (11:46)
And it just those jerks that wearing the colors means something. And I'll tell you what, like, I don't have to apologize for saying this. Like the, the, the best rivalry I've ever been a part of or seen up close. I'm happy. I'm glad I was a part of it was O'Connell versus PVI. Like to get a ticket to the game that we didn't, we weren't able to sell tickets to the games until the very end of the game before. So we would play.

a game on a Tuesday night, knowing that the PVI game was on Friday and the line out the door at the end of the Tuesday game was just wrapped around the building because the rivalries really mean something. The jerseys mean something. The school that you play for means something. ⁓ I know that that's kind of an antiquated philosophy these days, but maybe that's why the WCAC was always so great was that those rivalries, the history, the games, it all really means a lot.

Cory Heitz (12:43)
yeah. And when I got to Gonzaga my first year, were top 10 in the country. DeMath was top 10 in the country. I'm sure you guys were top 25. And I called my dad in Kentucky. said, I think you want to fly up for this DeMath Gonzaga game we're doing. It's not even at our gyms. It's at American university. It's on ESPN. Nike has sent us both teams personalized shoes for the game. was like, I think you want to come up here and see it. And sure enough, he came up and we won by one point. Our students stormed the court afterwards at the restaurant. Like people are buying us beers. I'm just like.

This is not normal. This is not like Kentucky. You know, I came from Kentucky and I spoke very highly of it when I got there. But after the first game, I'm just like, this is, this is not normal high school basketball in a good way.

Matthew Mihalich (13:20)
Yeah. I remember

a friend from, from, uh, John Carroll was my first year and we can't, he, said, look, I got a game. We're playing to math. It'd be great for you to come and watch. I didn't tell him much about it. And it was, and it was just, I just, I remember they had a point guard. was like the point guard went to pit. Uh, there was a kid that went to NC state, the kid that went to, um, uh, Georgetown kid, Mikhail Hopkins. Um, one of the grants or a couple of the grants, uh,

Cory Heitz (13:39)
Yeah.

That's right.

Matthew Mihalich (13:49)
You know, and, and he was like, feel like I'm watching a ⁓ high major basketball game. I'm watching a high school, local high school basketball game, but yeah, it's a, it's, it's something special. won.

Cory Heitz (14:00)
All right. In front. Yeah, there you go. There you go. And I would concur. think

Gunn, I think Gonzaga St. John's is like the oldest rivalry in the WCHC. That gets pretty heated more so in football, but you'd this is just you and I talking here. Is Bishop O'Connell PVI a more important or bigger rivalry or Demetha Gonzaga? I feel like it's Demetha Gonzaga, but I don't know. Yeah.

Matthew Mihalich (14:22)
Yeah, I guess it just depends on when you ask any one of those four schools and that's

what it's going to be, but.

Cory Heitz (14:26)
And St. John's will be pissed if they're not in that conversation. Cause I think they go, think them and Gonzaga go back like a century. Yeah. Fun games, fun games. All right. So you went from there to D1 level at George Mason and University of Hartford. So now you grew up in a D1 household. You did your stint in college. You went to the WCHC and now you're at the D1 level, you know, where your father was. What was the biggest difference for you just like basketball wise?

Matthew Mihalich (14:29)
Yeah, right.

Yeah. yeah.

⁓

I really liked at the division one level. ⁓ The day before a game. Like the day before a game, a lot of times like if you weren't if it wasn't a home, even if it was a home game, but but if when George Mason was playing against Davidson.

You go down the day before you practice at their place. You have dinner somewhere in town. You wake up in the hotel. You just shoot around. I mean the 24 hours that lead up to the game was was was one of the is what I miss. I mean I that's what I miss the most, but now I find more similarities than differences because I remember thinking. Starting the career work in camps and thinking like OK, that's all well and good to do the to do like you know to do these drills during camp.

it's it's it's age appropriate, it's skill level appropriate for camp. And then ⁓ when I got to high school, it's okay, now I got to up, you know, I got to bring it up a notch. And the same drills, you can do the same drills, and it's and it's still fresh and new for a lot of the guys. And if it's not fresh and new, then it's stuff that they've come to expect. We're talking like ball handling drills, and just move without the ball and the philosophy, those kinds of things are actually just as relevant, like when you're teaching camp.

You know, 12, 13 year olds at camp to varsity players. And then I was okay. I did the same thing. Same thing happened when I was at George Mason, like, boy, you know, I, I'm going to have to step up somewhere. ⁓ and a lot of this stuff is the same. Obviously it's a, it's a, it's a, you can spend more time and energy on it. ⁓ but teaching, you know, screening angles or, or footwork, like some of the stuff you can't take for granted and still, still fresh, new and welcome by all the, all the players.

You can get a lot more in depth with a scouting report, but I think a really good scouting report, whether you're high school, college, whatever, think is you can get it down to what's the front and the back of a page that these guys really need to know. ⁓ I think that you can make a 15 page scouting report and they're gonna remember one or two pages of it, or you can make one or two pages and make them sure they know it. think that those are the things that some small differences was that, but again, a lot of similarity.

Cory Heitz (16:58)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing that. And in 2019, you moved to where you're at now, Avon Old Farms, um, in Connecticut. So tell us about your school. Give us your elevator pitch on the school and your basketball program for those that don't know anything about it.

Matthew Mihalich (17:29)
So this school is, ⁓ this school is, it's in, it's in two, two categories, which I'm really proud of. ⁓ The, the founders league, which we talk about academics, athletics and character. mean, this, the, is the, embodies what the founders league is. And we play against teams like Chote and Hotchkiss and Loomis. And I could go on. There's, there's, there's nine, nine schools that compete. ⁓

you know, for, us in the boys division, um, which really, really matters. The academics, the athletics and the character. And then Nepsak class a, um, is the other, know, you try to win a league title and then like a conference title. And those are the Nepsak class a I've learned like, there's a lot of personalities. I think that the basketball, um, the depth is different. The, the, the, you get a few really high level guys here and there. Um, but I think that, um,

The NEPSAC, the class A is when you really want to have a real strong commitment to academics and athletics. I think that those are the school that's like the characteristic that binds all of us together. And then look, every school, I don't want to sound like that you can't find those things elsewhere. But I think if you want to find that incredible balance, you do that in the Founders League, you do that in the class A. ⁓

And it's not a worst product. People ask me, they think that the more A's you have, the better it is. Or if it's class B, then it's really not. We'll play against teams, whether it's summertime or scrimmage. It helps to play teams within your class. There's more games you can in your class. But you look at some of these schools. ⁓

I tell people even I said, said, well, yeah, we're kind of looking at a couple of the double or the triple A's. I said, well, that's, that's great. I said, don't, don't forget about the class B's too, because there's no level of basketball. It's not exclusive. You look at some of these, you'll get some of these schools from, from any one of those classes and you're going to find some, some really special, a special product. But you asked me about, about where we compete founders league and class a, and those are titles that I, that would be just so thrilled to win.

Cory Heitz (19:49)
Oh yeah. Tough ones to win. So tell me about Avon though. All boys, you have uniforms, you have to play multiple sports, location. Give us the rundown on, on your school and then your program.

Matthew Mihalich (19:55)
Yeah.

Yeah. So

yeah, an all boys school. you know, I, were, we were a tie. got to wear a jacket and we'd have a probably a traditional, um, probably of all the schools, maybe, maybe you consider the most traditional of, of the dress code. Um, but, um, and it's an all boys school. So, so what we really, what we really want to do is, is, um, you know, teach guys the structure.

Cory Heitz (20:01)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (20:25)
And a lot of guys, want to make it so that, and again, I'm talking about the school in general and not just the basketball, but we want people to be prepared ⁓ once they step off campus. We want people to be professional. We want people to be self-motivated. We want people to be accountable. ⁓ You know, it's the little things, know, Dale Carnegie, he would always say like, the way you look is one of the ways you connect with people. They see you. And we want to make sure that we are professional in that way. ⁓ But...

Yeah, all boys school. It's the way we can commit to academics and athletics. And I feel like I'm being redundant here because that's characteristic of a lot of schools. But the way we do it here, I think is what I'm really most proud of it. I think that the faculty is expected to teach and coach.

I mean, you look around, everybody's coaching something and they're all the teachers are, know, so it's not just something that we ask of the students. Um, but we are, we are teachers and we are coaches. And then when, when a student, like when a student is a, if you're an excellent football player or basketball or it doesn't matter hockey, um, what you're hearing from is, is the teacher that is teaching you math is using a voice that really reaches you.

It does make it allows us to really maximize the messaging. think that being all boys and being athletically inclined, like our school, it allows the teachers to say, to, to, to, to reach the audience of we got, you we got 10 kids in the room. It could be eight, could be 12, whatever ballpark, eight to 12 kids in the room. And they're hearing a voice that they're used to hearing. And the teachers are using a voice and messaging that they're used to, they used to, to sharing. So, you know, can sit there and I teach geometry.

We're talking about geometry, but ⁓ you can find the messaging that reaches their ear in a really great way. And I think that it's the culture of the school. ⁓ Everybody's different. There's 400 kids that go here and they're all different. can't say that they're all an athlete or they're all this high major kid, whatever. Everybody is different in that way, but you do kind of find a lot of that through line through all the guys. And I think that being in that all boys environment,

where you are, where there's a commitment to athletics that makes it really streamlined for a really good messaging.

Cory Heitz (22:53)
I love that. Thank you for sharing that. ⁓ Another question, a question every single family that hires me asks me is tell me about this prep school's development program. How do they get their players better? So when families ask you that, Matt, how do you answer that?

Matthew Mihalich (23:09)
We, we really, first of all, the culture drives itself. That's one of the ways that, that this, that we get better is that this is, this is part of how we, how it's ingrained into what we're trying to do. ⁓ but we do have a full time strength conditioning coach. We have nutritionists, we have sports psychologists. ⁓ these are all ads to the development. Now it's one thing too, that, that, that I pride myself on is I get on the court with the guys we have, we have, ⁓

We have our mornings start a little bit later than maybe I'll say a typical public school morning. Our morning started at 8 45. And in our hour, remember my high school started at 7 45. But our the head of the school will say, hey, look, we start late. If you need sleep, get some sleep. If you want to work out, get a workout. Like we say that and we broadcast it. So we do have those pockets in the morning where where where kids do that.

We have practice, you know, the day, as the day goes, we have the, um, the more, every, the mornings start officially at eight 45. You got a dog in the room or something like that? Have ever parakeet?

Cory Heitz (24:21)
I

got a puppy, sorry. I hear her digging.

Matthew Mihalich (24:27)
Now you're good.

Cory Heitz (24:32)
Yeah, got a small office and I hear something. I'm sorry, Matt. That's unprofessional of me, but just the reality of the prep ethics podcast. So, all right. So keep going.

Matthew Mihalich (24:36)
You're No, We're just talking. We're just talking. We're all good. ⁓

so, ⁓ so anyway, it's, it's part of the, it's part of the whole, the whole program without even saying anything is, is, the doubt of the day goes, you can, the day can start late sleep if you want the weight room's open. The gym is open. You that's it. And that's so then you have, then you have a classroom. Then you have.

Cory Heitz (24:58)
Peace.

Matthew Mihalich (25:03)
practice the athletics period between three and five or 530, depending on how it breaks down. ⁓ dinner is ⁓ depending on the day, some point between five and 630. Then we have enrichment hour, which is like, I don't know how many schools do this, but Avon, the teachers go back to their classroom from 645 to 745, and you can meet with the teacher just to get started on your work.

do that. It's just what we do. you know, that's that we each each teacher has two sessions a week of enrichment, and then their study hall. But one thing I will say about I remember when I was in I was in high school. ⁓ Again, I went to there was some similarities. went to an all boys school. It was a was a Catholic school in Buffalo. And I loved it. I loved every second of it. But if I wanted to get if I had a free period, and I want to get to get shots up in the gym, there was a lot of loops to jump through.

And ⁓ I needed you needed to have an adult there and a note and whatever you need you could and and here we just we hate to see an empty gym. Like we want you know we want guys who can get in there on their own. I love working out with guys on the in the gym as well. ⁓ But also once I would say like if you if you give a man a fish he eats for the day if you teach a man to fish he eats for life. So if I work out a kid

Cory Heitz (26:25)
Yeah, I love it.

Matthew Mihalich (26:26)
They learn and they can, hopefully they can, you they're, getting something out of it, but I want them to be able to do the workouts too. Um, you know, when they have that, that, that hour on a Saturday or, or on a, see everybody picks their own morning, you know, on a Friday morning where I'm going get on, I'm going to get in the gym and, get 40 minutes of work in. Um, but we, but we like to do that. Um, you know, like I said, it's part of the culture that all the teachers are coaches as well. So there is, um,

There is always an available where coaches want to get in there with you. And it's really good for the guys. You get out of it, put into it.

Cory Heitz (27:00)
Love it. That's yeah. I love it. I love it. That's,

that sounds very mature letting the kids choose what they want to do and they can get better if they want to, they can get rest or I like that. ⁓ post-grads, what do they have to do academically at Avon Old Farms?

Matthew Mihalich (27:18)
⁓ everybody's you're going to take five classes. ⁓ you gotta take a math. You gotta take an English. we, we want you to take a science. We, we, we don't, we, what you can't do is take underwater basket weaving, ⁓ five times. We want you to take a class that that's meaningful. Definitely math, definitely English science history. ⁓ obviously there's, there's room for electives, which is, know, which is important. ⁓ we know why post-grads are here.

One thing I'll say about Avon is we know the guys. We know the guys well. It's funny, like when I first started, people used a first name basis and I'm like, can you give me the first last name? And then I realized like as time goes on, you don't need to. When we talk about Cory, we're talking about Cory and we know Cory, we know Cory's needs are. ⁓ So some kid will come in, like there's been kids who maybe need to boost their GPA.

Cory Heitz (28:06)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (28:13)
And there we try to give them the course load that reflects that or the courses that they need to get stronger. I remember I had a Navy was the Naval Academy was recruiting one of the guys and they require all their first years to take chemistry. So they say, can you put them in a chemistry class just so it's not brand new? You know, that's just another one of those functional things that they need. That'd be good. I think a lot of the post-grads we have are excellent students. Like they'll take AP classes.

or very advanced level classes that we offer. We make it so that even the smartest kid, the most accomplished kid, there's something else for him to take, something he hasn't taken yet. ⁓ So we have a level of that for every discipline. then, again, I said this, but we know why the post-grads are here. And a lot of them are here, like you come in as an athlete, you're treated as the big picture, the person, but.

Cory Heitz (28:43)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (29:08)
A lot of these guys want to make sure that their resumes are strong for athletics. And we don't want them doing seven hours of homework either. When they're here, they're this close to getting a scholarship or this close to being recruited at the next level and they're just getting buried by homework. We want to find that balance. It's really all about balance. And again, in knowing the kids as well as we do, that's how we can find that balance.

Cory Heitz (29:32)
Okay, great. What about when families ask you about playing time?

Matthew Mihalich (29:37)
Yeah, I really don't like to make any promises about playing time. ⁓ I think that it's fair. mean, look, it's a significant financial decision. And whether it's us trying to meet them where we can meet them or them trying to meet us, whatever, it's not cheap coming here. So I think it's good to give them an idea of maybe what kind of role to expect. ⁓

⁓ I really don't like to, I can't say, you know, this is the role that you're going to play. I say this is the role that we need to fill. I can say a kid needs to fill that role, but ⁓ you know, I remember one of the best kids that ever came to us. I said, like, I can't guarantee you're going to start. And I think that's what he wanted to hear. ⁓

Cory Heitz (30:34)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (30:35)
You see, you never know. and, and he, of course he started like he was, you he was, he was great. And I probably, you know, I, if I said you were, think that's what I see him doing. You know, I don't know how it would have gone, but like in, looking back there, like, yeah, you know, part of the reason why we wanted to do this is because we wanted to make sure that, that everybody's challenged. It's, a challenging environment and iron sharpens iron. And, know, so I think that was one of the things that, but I do think that, I think that, you know, again, this is a Morgan Wooten thing. ⁓ as a head coach, you have to be prepared for an uncomfortable conversation.

And ⁓ I think that just living in the truth, making a point without making an enemy ⁓ just saves you maybe this uncomfortable in the moment, it's ⁓ an inch deep of discomfort, but it saves you a mile of headaches. And I think that if you can just be honest with guys. And then the other thing too is, and this is growing up in a basketball household. I remember my dad saying, know your role, respect it.

and protect it. So I want these guys to know that, you know, one through three, that's a really valuable role. Then the next three and then the next three and you can look at these tiers. Everybody's got a role that's really important. I'm going to make sure they know how to respect it, too. I think that's part of my job is is is you're always going to basketball is a metaphor for life. You're going to be playing different roles. Sometimes you're going to be the starting point guard and sometimes you're going to be the backup.

Cory Heitz (31:35)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (32:03)
the backup, know, three minutes, whatever. And that's true for life. And I think that as long as kids can really respect their role, know their role, respect it and protect it, I think that's best way to feel people feel at home. ⁓ One of the management things I've learned though is I really want those conversations to happen with players, like me directly with players. And I think that if, you I remember thinking, I learned this from one of my colleagues here who coaches another sport. ⁓

He said like, I said, yeah, it's good to have the standard line for most people is like, yeah, 24 hours before a parent calls. And he was like, do you need to be available at all for that call? Like, does it have to be 24 hours? And I'm like, well, I don't know. I mean, guess that's the unwritten rule. ⁓ But I try to say, any questions about playing time? Let's start with me and the kid talking first.

And if you want to talk about that, I said during the season, I send a letter out to the parents. said, look, I really don't want to have conversations about playing time. I like to talk about development and well-being. We can have those conversations, but playing time, that's going to be between the players and I. And if you want, we can talk about how to go about those conversations. ⁓ But I really think that's between us. I think that's going to be helpful for them to see how to do it, how to get more of it, or if they're not happy with it, how to make the most of it. I think that's the way to do it.

Cory Heitz (33:30)
Yeah. And you know, so tricky because families are making this big investment, like you mentioned, and they want to know, like, make sure Cory, we're talking to schools where little Johnny has a chance to play. All right. With little Johnny, I've seen his tape. I'm seeing the same tape the prep school coaches are seeing. And, know, if it's a AAA school that's got 81 guys, probably, you know, going to be not as good of a chance to play versus there might be a school at the B level where he's got more of a chance, but maybe he wants more of a challenge daily. So it's just, it's like having a crystal ball from

Matthew Mihalich (33:59)
Thanks

Cory Heitz (33:59)
Our end, right? The family's in, the consultant's in to try to figure out, all right, what's the best place where little Johnny has got a chance to get quality minutes. Now I always fall back on the coach as well, because if you're in a program where you don't like the coach, but you're playing, how successful is that versus being under a coach you really like, you're really learning under, but you might not be playing as much. You know, these are decisions families have to make on their own. There's no right or wrong answer. It's just where's little Johnny going to play? And I mentioned this too. You tell me if I'm true in this or not.

Every player has to play in prep school because guys like you need film on them to show college coaches. So even the last guy on the bench is going to be getting minutes, you know, maybe against some lesser competition or in a blowout, either you're getting blown out or you're winning. like we're true on that response, aren't we?

Matthew Mihalich (34:47)
Yeah.

I mean, if a kid is like a, you want to say like a basketball recruit, it's be honest, be honest with, ⁓ with all the conversations, and, and set the expectations pretty, pretty early. think, I think that one thing I've been lucky at, you've, you've, you've alluded to this, but, guys who play two sports, like it's, it's very encouraged here. ⁓ at some point it's mandatory and at some point it's not. ⁓ but I think there's such good athletes here.

that the kids that I've I've I've got kids that that have won a New England championship on the football team who don't need film. You know, they don't need playing time. They don't need promises. They don't need the ball. Like they don't need any of those things, but they're they're gifted athletes and just big strong kids who are just they've won. They know how to win. I like I like having lunch with them, you know, and those are the kids. It's it's nice like

Cory Heitz (35:35)
Yeah.

Matthew Mihalich (35:46)
you know, for, for them to, to have a great value add to the team, ⁓ without me having to be indebted to them or to have to kind of spin a promise, even if it's not flat out making one, you know, they, they're like, no, just want to be part of this. It's fun. I like it. And, ⁓ I can dunk and, I can, I can, I can do, I can mimic what the deer field team looks like, you know, it's just, I'm throwing stuff out there, but, ⁓

Cory Heitz (36:10)
Right.

Matthew Mihalich (36:13)
But yeah, that's where some of those themes all kind of come together. But I think that if a kid is really serious about basketball, I think it's fair to wonder if they're gonna be in the top eight. That'd be the top half of the team, or if I see them having that chance, think that's, I think, is a fair conversation. Certainly, part of the rotation, think you need eight guys. Ten is great.

four, you definitely need more players. ⁓ I think that if somebody's trying to make a decision for ⁓ thousands of dollars, I think it's fair to them to say where you think they could be and project.

Cory Heitz (36:54)
All right, with that being said,

it's now it's not April 7th, right? Transfer portal is getting ready to open and you have to place your prep school players at the next level in college, right? So being as 2026 in April and you just finished a season up, what's your strategy in today's day and age, Matt, for getting your players placed at the collegiate level?

Matthew Mihalich (37:18)
⁓ well, I think the best, there's no great answer to that. think any, any prep school coach, this is such a, this is such an ongoing and evolving, I want to say hurdle for us, for us to have to, to work around or to, to, go through. ⁓ I don't know if there is a clear answer to that, but I think the, the, the, the best thing I can do is make sure that they are, ⁓

Make sure that they can be seen and I think that the NEP SAC does that like we do that. We we we run a great event. ⁓ I I make sure that they're seen. Things that I can promise is I'll make sure that the coaches know who they are. Make sure that they see them. Make sure that I can advocate for them. Yeah, I want the I want the players, but I said I said to a kid, don't don't make me a liar though. I can't lie. I'll do all these things, but I'm not going to lie like if I if if a player. ⁓

works his tail off, will make sure I will call, I'll call every coach and try to strengthen my relationships with as many coaches I can and then tell them the truth. ⁓ You know, just give me, make sure that I'd say to the players, like, just make sure I can tell the truth. I'm gonna make sure that they're, that when I say that you are in the gym first and stay there last and you, you you wanna, you wanna be coached and you wanna be learned from, you can handle film rooms and all that kind of stuff like, you know,

make sure you hold up your end of the deal. want to, the other thing I can do, so, so I want to make sure that they are, I want to make sure that they're prepared. Like I, I want to, I want to create an environment where ⁓ you're going to see things at the next level. Like I mentioned film sessions and scouting reports or ⁓ skill work. These are things that, that, that you hear about at the collegiate level. ⁓

I can do that. I can't make this portal go away. I can't make the appeal of the portal go away. I can't do that. But I can make sure that these kids understand what it takes, how hard it is to be a college basketball player and give them that sort of ⁓ trial run at this level of preparing like they're gonna play in college. then just, I'm very fortunate in that ⁓

I've been able to make a lot of contacts at the collegiate level. ⁓ will, I keep in touch with these guys regularly ⁓ and I just want to make sure they know like if I'm advocating for a telling the truth about the kid. ⁓ And I've been fortunate, I haven't had to spin a lot. The kids that have come in here are driven to be college players and ⁓ some kids realize that

Cory Heitz (39:57)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (40:13)
being a great high school player is an awesome accomplishment in and of itself. And then if you guys can realize, they can look to their left and right and realize, okay, maybe I am in that very, very slim margin of people that, of the 5 % of kids that go on to play in college, maybe I can be warrant, know, inclusion in that. And hopefully those guys are ready. You know, it's funny though, like a lot of the kids that go here, there's been a lot of the last few years that have gone here.

And I've called a lot of schools on their behalf. And it's like, yeah, yeah, sounds good. You know, we're going to, but we're going to look at the portal and then some of them now fast forward a few years and they're in the portal and the same schools that are that could have had them three years ago or like, what do need to do to get them? And I'm like, well, you could, know, if maybe you could have had them already, you know, but these are guys that, ⁓ they got lucky and, kudos to the schools. And I don't want to be specific here, but kudos to the schools that did take chances on the, on the prep.

Cory Heitz (40:48)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Matthew Mihalich (41:10)
is because here they are and if you go to a good school and it's whatever level, it doesn't matter, go to a good school and you're averaging 12 points a game, ⁓ you're averaging, that's good. That's a good thing that you did for that school. And so that's kind of what's happened with some of these guys. ⁓ And then sure enough, their appeal is through the roof because they're in the portal. that's another conversation.

Cory Heitz (41:36)
Another conversation. How about this? A 10th grader reaches out to you. I want to come to Avon. What do you say to the family about should they reclassify or not?

Matthew Mihalich (41:46)
Yeah. Reclassing. think that doing five years of high school is anybody that does four. It's, it's, ⁓ it's, it's almost, you don't hear too much about guys that just do four. think that if you're a top hundred player, a top 50 player in the country, you can, you can probably get away with doing four. You have a bunch of offers as a sophomore or junior. And then, you know, by the same time you're a senior, you're, committed early and you know, that's, you see those kids. ⁓ but I think that most people.

⁓ it benefits them. It benefits them to be in, in high school for an extra year. ⁓ 10th graders, I guess some, some people you see it, you see it rarely. I think some, younger that they are, the younger they are, ⁓ they're, they're, they're warm to the idea. I it happens a lot. There's been a bunch of guys. I don't know the numbers, but there's a lot of guys that come to Avon as reclass students and get that extra year. ⁓ there's a tremendous value. ⁓ but.

You know, everybody's got their own journey to run. think that, ⁓ I think that one thing that I tell people is, is if you have really good grades, reclass, you can reclass. ⁓ but I think that if you have, if you have grades, if you have like a couple C's or a D on your transcript as a freshman or a sophomore, ⁓ you're not going to be able to replace those classes unless you graduate and do a post-grad year.

So that is a conversation that I wanna make sure people that I'm upfront with is, and this is what it's helpful to have had college experience and we look through transcripts and we've done that. But if you can replace a class ⁓ if you graduate and do a post-grad year, but if you don't graduate and you just reclass, you're not gonna replace any of those classes. You just continue on.

And your post-grad year just meets the graduation requirement. So if you have good grades, this is said, I it sounds kind of counterintuitive. If you have good grades, reclassing is good. You get older and you just, you get the extra year. But if you don't have good grades, you're probably better off graduating and then doing a post-grad year, but do a fifth year nonetheless.

Cory Heitz (43:47)
Okay.

And Avon, if you graduate from there, can you stay there to do a post-grad year?

Matthew Mihalich (44:03)
We try to, we don't do that. It's mostly, we want people to kind of, we don't have a lot of people who are, that would be like doing two senior years and senior year has, everybody in America knows your senior year has got a little bit of a different feel. ⁓ So I think that we try to make sure that if a kid is going to do a post, if a kid's going to graduate from Avon, that he's going to do a post-grad year elsewhere. But there's a lot of kids that do five years here. There's a lot of kids. I mean, I've had a few in the program.

Cory Heitz (44:17)
Yeah.

Matthew Mihalich (44:31)
I've met a few guys who have done freshman, sophomore, junior, and they realize, you know what? They kind of see the trajectory and they say, you know what? I'm going to have to do a fifth year. I love Avon. I'm going to reclass and just do all five here. But to see that a little bit early is more beneficial than saying, you know what? I'm not done yet. I'm going to graduate and then stick around for another year. We don't do that very often.

Cory Heitz (44:57)
Gotcha. Matt, what do you see as the future of prep school basketball?

Matthew Mihalich (45:09)
That's a good question. I what I hope I kind of think that we're I don't know 20 to 25 years behind college and I hope there's things that don't change. I hope that there's traditions that that that that carry on. I certainly would hate to see. I don't know how many people are really pleased with the state of college athletics. I don't want to speak for everybody, but I just feel like the general tone.

I'm sure that the kids, some of these kids that are getting a million dollars to play a super high level basketball are pleased with it. ⁓ but I think that, ⁓ I think that the future and I'm going to speak, me, let me, maybe I can, maybe I can, can, can throw this into the universe. And hopefully I hope that the future of the future of, of prep school athletics is that the traditions get stronger. ⁓ I hope that the jerseys

Cory Heitz (46:01)
Hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (46:04)
I always say it's a metaphor, but the Jersey means something. I hope that the rivalries ⁓ are getting stronger. And when you hear you and I are talking about ⁓ the WCAC for hundreds of years of, of, of, of rivalry, and I'm hoping that, I'm hoping that you're some of the, I've great friends who are in this league and they know how much I love when we, when we play. ⁓ So when, when, when we, we go toe to toe with Williston North Hampton or with Loomis, ⁓

No, those are those are those are great games and it means something I want. I want the future of prep school athletics to be like that. That's a big game and we got people from around town who know that hey, that that's good one to go to. I don't know that I don't know if that that's I don't know, but but I know you didn't ask me what I hope is the future. You asked me what is the future. That's what I hope is the future is that the traditions get even stronger.

Cory Heitz (47:01)
That's great. And then lastly, ⁓ what does it take to be a D1 guard in today's game?

Matthew Mihalich (47:06)
a D1 guard.

I think that you need to play extremely hard. That's to play college basketball. ⁓ I think that the other thing too that people don't think about very often is that the level that you are is market value. It's not like if let's say you're a junior and you're good, you're very good.

Cory Heitz (47:27)
Hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (47:35)
And you play against this kid that's committed to that division one school and you get the best of them. You had a better game than him. ⁓ that doesn't make that junior a division one guard. Cause the next year it's a different market, different opportunities, different, ⁓ there's different, different competition level. ⁓ I think that that's one people think this, that's something that people get caught up in is like, well, that kid went division one and I, then I beat him. So I'm division one.

⁓ And I think that that's really important to know that it doesn't work like that. It's not nothing. It's it's it's good but ⁓ But I really think that to be division one guard you need to play extremely hard You need to have a really good feel for the game I think that it's to you have to be I say this to a couple I've said this, you know We were postseason meetings with some guys like watch ball and listen to what they're saying I'm not saying every announcer has all the ideas but like

Just be in those basketball conversations and listen to ⁓ things that we think are kind of ⁓ goes without saying. But when you watch an end of game situation, just listen to what the people are saying, watch how, watch what the coaches are running and listen to the interviews. these are things that true hoops junkies ⁓ just can't take for granted. I think that a lot of people, live in a highlight, this is a highlight environment.

And I think if you, if you watch the game and you get a feel for it, and even if I know that the intention spans are just getting shorter and shorter with kids these days, but, ⁓ if you watch a game for, how it got to, a, a four point game with three minutes to go. ⁓ and then you, you can kind of really that that's a feel it's a feel for the game. And I think that that's going to be really helpful. ⁓

Cory Heitz (49:00)
That's right.

Matthew Mihalich (49:25)
But that's, you know, that's a, it's an inexact science. It's alchemy making a, making a division one prospect. But, but there's, there's a few answers for you.

Cory Heitz (49:34)
Yeah, I used to, my college coach told me to ⁓ watch games and keep notes. And nowadays, you know, kids got the phones and who knows how much you're paying attention, but you're right. I'm so glad you said that because you've got hall of fame coaches, hall of fame players, just giving knowledge, every possession. If you're listening to it and picking up on it. So I love that you said that.

Matthew Mihalich (49:53)
You know,

one way I think kids and that's good. You would keep take notes. I take notes, but sometimes I do get a notebook and draw stuff. sometimes, ⁓ you know, I'll see, I'll see a clip and I'll bookmark it on, Twitter. Like that's, and I go back if I, know, sometimes I have, you know, I got, I got, you know, 15 minutes between one thing or the other. And I go look at like, ⁓ this is what they ran. This is how they got a really good catch for a shooter.

Cory Heitz (50:07)
Hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (50:18)
And I just look at, somebody clips it up. It's just so easy to keep notes, because all this content is available. so that's another way of doing it. Kids may not think that they're taking notes, but get a folder on Twitter or Instagram. Look through your likes and see like, all right, this was a really good play. This was a really good set, or this situation was, that's a great way to take notes, but not with a notebook and a pencil. Although that's a pretty nice way to do it too.

Cory Heitz (50:23)
Yeah.

Yeah, I'm talking not drawing a place, but just like little tidbits they might say and yeah, I love it. Yeah, that's great too. Use the technology.

Matthew Mihalich (50:50)
Yeah. I think you learn a lot from interviews.

You learn a lot from interviews too. mean, you just like, you catch Tom Izzo 30 seconds after the halftime horn sounds. ⁓ it's hard for him to, he's not putting on the, the, the filter that he's, you're getting like, you're getting like authentic hall of fame thoughts. You know, it's, it's hard to stop yourself, whatever your train of thought is. So you're here. Like, I think it's really important for kids to be aware of what's out there and, and make note of it.

Cory Heitz (51:21)
Absolutely. We're going to finish up with some quick hitters. Okay. Best player you ever played against.

Matthew Mihalich (51:28)
played against. ⁓ Johnny Flynn, the notorious pick right before Steph Curry. It's not Johnny Flynn who played in high school. He went to the Timberwolves. He was his number six pick in the NBA draft. I remember playing against him. We were both 10 years old and then throughout high school, but he was really good.

Cory Heitz (51:48)
I did not know he was the guy picked before Steph Curry. That's good trivia right there. All right. That's best player you've ever coached against at the college level and then the prep school level. Yep.

Matthew Mihalich (51:51)
Yep.

Coached against?

⁓ I, when I was at Hartford, we played Duke. That was my scout. ⁓ so that was the year that like Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett were, they were on the, they were at their, their prime college days. ⁓ I do think watching that really closely, I mean, Zion was like famous for being a highlight reel, but I was locked in RJ Barrett and I was so, so impressed. ⁓ Cam Reddish was on the team. I think the singular answer I, it has to, it has to be.

R.J. Barrett.

Cory Heitz (52:31)
Okay, and we're about in prep in your prep school years.

Matthew Mihalich (52:35)
prep school years. ⁓ Ryder Frost was excellent when he played for Exeter. ⁓ I remember it now. He was good when he was ⁓ young. People kind of heard about him. I saw him going from being pretty good to being one of the top guys. And we play Exeter every year. And he played for Jay Tilton, who's another good friend of mine. And ⁓ I knew they were going to be pretty good. But then Ryder Frost, I remember when we played them, he had like

Cory Heitz (52:56)
Mm-hmm.

Matthew Mihalich (53:04)
six threes in the first half, a couple dunks, was really good.

Cory Heitz (53:08)
It's your favorite movie.

Matthew Mihalich (53:11)
Good will hunting.

Cory Heitz (53:14)
Okay, and last one, what are your hobbies?

Matthew Mihalich (53:17)
I like to barbecue. ⁓ have a pit boss in the backyard and I like to spend 12 hours on a dinner that hopefully turns out good. I like to golf. ⁓ And then, you know, these are, I love just being outside. think ⁓ living in New England, it's beautiful out here and just going on hike and be with my family and my kids and wife and being outside is great.

Cory Heitz (53:46)
Yeah, and we were on your campus. hung out in January this year and you got a beautiful campus there west of Hartford. So yeah, that's not, it's not a bad idea. Just walk in between the buildings you got there looking around either.

Matthew Mihalich (53:56)
Yep,

yep, I'm fortunate. Thank you for saying that.

Cory Heitz (53:59)
Yeah, Matt, is there anything you want to touch on that we didn't discuss in our time together?

Matthew Mihalich (54:08)
We covered a lot of ground. I'm just grateful to be here. I'm grateful to people that, you I think that you're one of those guys that, that I think before everybody became some sort of, of there's a lot of opportunities for in your industry. ⁓ I always think that, that having knowledge, you, here you are, you saying you've been on campus, you walked around, we've, we've, we've talked, we've had, we had, we had coffee. And I think I appreciate what you do getting to know us. ⁓

and getting to know your clients. think you do a great job just serving both. I think that you're one of those industries that you, some people want to serve their clients. Some people want to serve the backend themselves, but you're able to use your resources and connections and your hustle to make a better experience for the kids that reach out, the families that reach out to you, and then the schools that they want to go to. So thanks for doing that.

Cory Heitz (55:00)
I appreciate those kind words, Matt. I'm looking forward to working with you long into the future and supporting you guys in any way I can. So thank you so much for coming on today.

Matthew Mihalich (55:09)
Yep. Thanks, Corey. Thanks for having me.

Cory Heitz (55:11)
Yeah, if anyone wants to reach out, Matt's contact information will be down below in the show notes. Be sure to follow him on Instagram or any of the social media he has and reach out. If you got any questions on Avon Old Farms, you got any questions for us, you can always go to prepathletics.com and reach out there. We get back to everyone that, you know, contacts us. And if you want to see if prep school is the right fit for you, go to our homepage, click on that big red free assessment button on every page on our website and share this with a friend. We got great information on here. We just want this

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