Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2000 | 10:28 a.m.
Maine Central Institute. Oak Hill Academy. St. Thomas More. New Hampton Prep.
Their names sound more like Albert Einstein factories capable of producing some of the nation's best scholars rather than schools that turn out some of the best Division I men's college basketball players.
But some of the prep schools located primarily on the East Coast actually have been able to do both with an astonishing success rate.
For high school basketball players who have not met the NCAA's minimum eligibility requirements for incoming freshman, prep schools are said to be beneficial because they provide a more rigorous academic environment. They are also known for providing a place where a kid can mature both physically and mentally.
Still, critics claim that prep schools rob kids of the normal social life they would have at a public high school by turning them into basketball robots. Even worse, some detractors think there are schools that will accept any good player -- regardless of his academic potential. The so-called "dirty" schools also have been accused of having too much influence on where a kid will go to college because of their affiliations with basketball shoe companies.
Love them or hate them, prep schools are and will continue to be a hotbed for basketball players.
The best two examples of schools that have done right by the prep school moniker are MCI in Pittsfield, Maine, and Oak Hill in Mouth of Wilson, Va.
When UNLV assistant coach Max Good was the head coach at MCI from 1989-99, 87 of his players went on to play for Division I schools, including Rebel center Ike Epps, who graduated from MCI in 1996. During those 10 years, Good's teams went 275-30 and won the coveted New England Prep School Athletic Conference Class A title six times.
The top basketball prep schools often travel across the country to play the best public high school teams, lower-level colleges and national high school tournaments. Most have a travel budget and coaches say that the away games are played on weekends so that the players rarely miss class.
UNLV forward Donovan Stewart graduated from Cheshire Academy, which is also in the NEPSAC. Many consider the conference the best breeding ground for college players.
"I would say before college, it definitely is the best league around," said Mark Mayemura, editor of the Internet recruiting website RecruitingUSA.com. "They have the best players and it's the best competition in America."
Oak Hill head coach Steve Smith, now in his 15th year guiding the Warriors, has compiled a 431-31 record and had 74 players move on to Division I programs. Last year, Oak Hill finished 31-0 and was ranked No. 1 by both USA Today and ESPN as Smith earned USA Today's Coach of the Year award.
"I don't think there's any magic formula to getting the top players," Smith said. "Just the environment.
"We're in the Blue Ridge mountains away from everything. A lot of kids come that are good students that aren't doing as well as they should. You can't have a car, there are no distractions. You're here all the time.
"Our situation is unique because they can come in and live on campus. We're just a boarding school."
Two prep schools, led by No. 2 Oak Hill (25-2), are listed in USA Today's Super 25 Boys Basketball national rankings. The other is No. 15 Mt. Zion Christian of Durham, N.C. (21-1). Other prep schools, including Montrose Christian in Rockville, Md., have been in the top 25 at least once this season.
Schools in the NEPSAC and others that offer a fifth year of education are not eligible for the polls.
So just how did these schools shed their high-brow image and land the top talent?
There are several theories.
"I think there was a time when the school was struggling in the 1970s," Smith said. "Robert Isner, the former president, felt like basketball might promote the school.
"At the time, enrollment was down to about 100 and his son, Chuck Isner, was the basketball coach. They thought that if they built up the basketball program, they would attract more students with the publicity the school got for having a good basketball program.
"So then they started traveling to play good teams, getting exposure for the school and players. That expanded the program and before you knew it that attracted good students, not just players."
The first Warrior to earn a Division I scholarship was Kenny Bowen, who graduated from Oak Hill in 1978 and attended William & Mary.
Good remembers that the first prep schools were started solely for academic reasons.
"Originally, because it's very hard to get into Ivy League schools, kids needed an additional year just to get into those schools so they could improve their test scores," he said. "Take athletics out of the equation.
"Then with the onset of Prop 48 (the old NCAA requirement that mandated entering college freshman earn a minimum SAT score to be eligible for collegiate competition), coaches started to think, 'Well we can bring kids in, improve their test scores then give them an opportunity to obtain Division I scholarships.'
"The first player I know of that went to prep school in New England was a kid named Al Green from Harlem Prep. Harlem Prep kind of dissolved in New York and the kid ended up coming to MCI, way back in the '60s. He then went on to North Carolina State, then to LSU. He probably was the first really, really good player to come out of a prep school."
Since then, there have been many great players to come out of prep schools, including Orlando Magic forward Ron Mercer, the Vancouver Grizzlies' Dennis Scott, Toronto Raptors forward Tracy McGrady, Detroit Pistons guard Jerry Stackhouse and Los Angeles Clippers swingman Lamar Odom.
For Good and Smith, getting players academically eligible for college was as important as helping them improve on the basketball court. Good takes pride in reciting the number of players that were NCAA qualifiers after attending MCI.
"Academically, I had 128 players in the first nine years," Good recalled. "Sixty-eight already had their test scores.
"The remaining 60 weren't qualified when they got to MCI. After being there one year, 54 of them were qualified. While I was there, I think qualifying 54 of 60 kids was probably as big a selling point as winning games."
Smith agreed that the success of his program also was connected to success in the classroom.
"We've had 45 of our last 49 kids qualify for college," he said. "When you do that, you attract kids because they want to make sure that they qualify for college.
"We would not have our program if our kids were not doing well in school and going to college."
So how do prep schools get kids to produce better grades and test scores?
Each school is different, but there are common characteristics among the most successful ones.
Students usually can't have cars so they are less likely to get into trouble. And at the boarding prep schools, there is often an enforced curfew and severe penalties for those who break the rules.
The enrollment at a prep school is typically much lower than at a public high school ensuring the student-to-teacher ratio is smaller, so that every student gets more individual attention. Mandatory study tables and grade checks also are the norm.
The structured environment is good for kids from all kinds of backgrounds.
Freshman DerMarr Johnson of top-ranked Cincinnati grew up in Washington, D.C. He was presented with the chance to go to MCI so that he could improve his basketball skills and he went willingly.
"I got a lot better there, not being at home, not having a lot of distractions around me," he said. "I could really focus on my game.
"It was a lot tougher than I thought academically. You had to really work for everything that you earned. Just being away from home was the toughest part. You had a schedule every day, you had to go through the same routine.
"I think prep school is good for anyone who needs to get more focused."
But not all kids attend prep schools by choice.
Charlotte Hornets center Brad Miller was sent to MCI for his senior year by his mother and grandmother for disciplinary reasons. During his junior year at East Noble High School in Kendallville, Ind., Miller had gotten into some trouble when he returned from an college visit, causing him to be suspended by his high school coach for half a season.
He graduated from MCI in 1994 before attending Purdue on a full scholarship.
"I hated it the whole time I was there," Miller recalled of his MCI days during a telephone conversation.
"Hell, I'm from Indiana; then to go to Maine. It was a total change of lifestyle. One grocery store. There's absolutely nothing to do at all. The movie theater, there are two pull-up screens and they change the reels in the middle of it.
"You have to grow up quick so you don't go crazy there."
Even though Miller wasn't fond of MCI's strict environment, he credits it for helping him get to where he is now.
"After I left there, it helped me in terms of staying out of trouble and basketball-wise," he said. "You have to put up with a lot of yelling and I was in the best shape ever with all the running I had to do.
"In the long run, it's so much better because if I stayed in high school, I'd probably have been playing against NAIA (small-college) players. For basketball competition (at MCI), it was almost like playing against all college kids."
That's precisely one of the reasons many college coaches like recruiting kids from prep schools.
"The kids that use prep school for an extra year, of course, you're another year older and have another year's experience," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "If they use it in that regard, there's no question, if you're talking about a 19-year-old with another year of experience that it could be a positive thing.
"Some kids maybe need the structure of prep school, again, given the nature of the school, if it's a good one."
Finding a good one may be half the battle.
According to ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, going to prep school can be a double-edged sword.
"Some of the negatives would be if you're letting a kid go there to where you're going to try to get him grades so he can be eligible and he doesn't have to work for them," Vitale said. "I mean, you put that thought in a kid's head and that's a negative.
"But if a kid is going to go there where he truly can make a better change in his life in terms of academics and surroundings, there's nothing wrong. I know Steve Smith does a great job down at Oak Hill with the kids. He cares about them and they go to class so that he really tries to develop those kids."
Vitale said that's what you hope for.
"To me, that's a positive situation if the kid truly wants to be a better person. Coaches provide opportunity, but the bottom line is the decisions have to be made by the youngsters.
"Max Good was a great asset for youngsters at MCI. He gave kids chances and opportunities that could help them grow as people."
Even so, Montgomery does not endorse the idea of going to a prep school only to play basketball.
"To me, being part of a public school, having friends in the neighborhood and going to the senior prom is much more important than going away to become a better basketball player," he said.
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