Sept. 6, 2022
Prep School Transfers Impact Flint Prep Hoops and Culture
Flint, Michigan, has long been touted as a hotbed for high school basketball. Indeed, Flint has produced some of the top basketball talents in the nation. Many Flint athletes are playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and at major colleges and universities. Flint basketball players have had lucrative careers playing internationally.
Flint area residents are accustomed to watching high school talents honing their skills in high school gyms against their favorite teams. However, watching those most likely to be the next NBA All-Star or college All-American player may be a thing of the past.
A new trend has emerged in which teenagers as early as 10th-grade ship off for Prep Schools that promote basketball and play games against the best competition in America. These Prep Schools position themselves to show off all those talented players to college and professional scouts.
Brandon Green, ABC-12 Sports Director, joins Radio Free Flint to discuss the disappearing high school superstars who transfer to Prep Schools. We discuss the implications for young people placing a bet on basketball and eschewing the traditional path of community education. Is it too early to let teenagers put all their eggs in one basket and bet that this career choice will materialize? We know that only a tiny percentage of high school basketball players will sign on at an NCAA Division 1 College or University. Even a smaller percentage of college players ever make it to the pros.
We discuss whether Flint has seen its better days of glory with the likes of the Flintstones, the Michigan State University national champs led by 5 Flint High School basketball players.
Please join us and meet Brandon Green, the new Sports Director for WJRT ABC-12 in Flint, as we discuss his welcome to Flint, his passion for basketball, and his love of High School athletics.
Read these interesting articles on High School Athletes and Prep Schools.
- Flint Hoopers Lost in the Shadows by Brandon Green, ABC-12, Sports Director. May 26, 2022
- Public prep transfers have taken over high school sports in Connecticut, but is that a good thing? By Shawn McFarland and Alex Putterman, Hartford Courant. May 10, 2019
👉Subscribe to The Mitten Channel
Join us for the full experience. Subscribe to The Mitten Channel on Substack to receive our latest narrative essays, audio stories, and deep-dive reporting directly in your inbox.
Explore Our Series:
- Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
- The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
- Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
Visit our Mitten Channel website for our complete library of podcasts, videos, and articles.
The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.
Visit our website at www.radiofreeflint.media to subscribe to our free newsletter to receive our latest episodes.
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:18.160
Okay, this is Arthur Bush listening to Radio Free Flint on the air here with Brandon uh Green from ABC 12.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:19.760
He's the sports director.
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.359
I want to welcome Brandon.
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:22.239
Good morning.
00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:23.199
Good morning.
00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.920
Brandon, you're from Maryland, right?
00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:30.079
I grew up in Maryland, about 20 minutes south of DC.
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:42.159
So I grew up in like this huge basketball culture, which is the DMV, where I remember seeing like Kevin Durant in high school, Jeff Green, Victor Olin Depot.
00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:43.840
That's just naming a few.
00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:51.920
There's so many great talented basketball players that have come out of the PG County, DC area, Virginia over the years.
00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.520
And probably ladies and right now is Hunter Dickens and Terrence Williams over in Michigan.
00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:01.920
I remember covering them in high school when they went to Damantha and Gonzaga.
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.280
So I always loved basketball.
00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:10.799
And where did you go to college at?
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:11.920
Hood College.
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:13.599
It's in upstate Maryland.
00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:19.040
Where did you get this uh attraction for sports and basketball?
00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:25.760
Uh it was just where I grew up, played basketball all throughout high school, all throughout my childhood, really.
00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:34.000
And then where I grew up is the DMV area, being around that basketball culture, you kind of just it's it's just like in you.
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.640
I don't know how to explain it, but you just fall in love with this game because it it's everywhere.
00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:45.920
Now, when you had a chance to come to Flint, did you know it was a basketball, a basketball city?
00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:59.760
Yeah, um, not as much as I do now, but just from looking at stuff and doing research on ABC 12 before I came here, you get a sense of like, yeah, this this is a sports town.
00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.719
Yeah, that's that's a for sure, maybe an understatement.
00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.479
Brandon, in your work at channel 12, you cover high school athletes as well, right?
00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:09.360
Yes, sir.
00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:22.639
I think I read someplace where you said maybe it was your employer's website, said that you love to do your job in a way that that makes all these kids that you're interviewing think they're on ESPN.
00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:24.240
I get a kick out of that.
00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:30.000
When you interview kids, this may be their one and only time that they're ever on TV.
00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.280
Why not do it up big for them and their families?
00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:40.960
And when you get into that mindset about people, and that's what we all do at the end of the day, is just talk to people all day.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:47.439
So when you start thinking about it like that, you really start to really put, in my opinion, really start to put your best foot forward.
00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:56.639
You also, when when you were, you know, your career has progressed, you didn't start in Flint, you as I understand it, you started in South Dakota.
00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:58.159
Yeah.
00:02:58.879 --> 00:02:59.759
Sioux Falls.
00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:04.960
That's an odd place to start for uh kid that loves basketball so much, isn't it?
00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:05.840
A little bit.
00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.840
Uh Sioux Falls, don't don't get me wrong, they they love their sports there too.
00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:19.360
Um, whether it's football, hockey, they love basketball, all it all year round.
00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:22.639
How is Sioux Falls different than Flint?
00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:25.919
Um, just from let me ask it the other way.
00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.400
How's Flint different than Sioux Falls?
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:31.039
For me, Flint's a little bit faster.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:39.919
I feel like Sioux Falls is like um real Midwest, where it's like a real tight knit, like everybody knows each other kind of thing because it's so small.
00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.400
Yeah, Sioux Falls is nice, uh, especially downtown Sioux Falls.
00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:47.199
I don't think you like about Flint.
00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:49.280
What was attractive to you to come here?
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:59.360
Um, for me, it was the job because I saw the opportunity to be able to cover Michigan and state, plus get your fit high school sports too.
00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:02.000
Um I don't think you could really beat it.
00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.039
It's a real sneaky sports market.
00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:11.680
It may not be the highest, but when you start thinking about what you get to cover, it's it's one of the gems in the U.S.
00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:38.000
What attracted me to uh calling you up and asking you if you'd be a guest on Radio Free Flint was the fact you wrote this story about hoopers getting lost in the shadows out as flint hoopers who have who you know were in the basketball scene around here in in large numbers over the past, you know, since the 50s really, but in the TV era, uh we've had tremendous attention paid to our athletes here.
00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:44.560
And you wrote the story that kind of talks about the transition of high school sports.
00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:53.360
And I guess just to preface when we talk about this story, how it how it really came about was just watching how things changed.
00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:57.360
I remember the first thing I saw was Jalen Terry from Beecher.
00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.319
He had offers from like Oregon and Michigan State.
00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:04.480
He ended up going to Oregon first before leaving and going to DePaul.
00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:08.879
But then you look at a kid like uh Keon Menifield Jr.
00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:14.079
from last year, with the same school with Beecher, and he wasn't getting the same looks.
00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:17.439
But so it was like, what's what's the problem here?
00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.920
Why isn't um he getting the same looks?
00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.319
Why isn't Carmelo Harris getting the same looks?
00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:37.120
And before I knew it, you just start diving a little deeper into the Monte Allen Johnson stories, where this kid is Mateen Cleve's cousin, but he isn't getting the same looks that his cousin did uh almost 30 years ago.
00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:49.680
So when you just start looking at stuff like that, and then when you have kids like Trey McKinney leaving the city before they even entered high school to get a jump start on his high school career, going to Orchard Lake St.
00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.480
Mary's, it just it all becomes a melting pot.
00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:56.879
You have to wait, wade through all that and try to figure out what's really going on.
00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:04.639
In your article, you did describe Flint as having been a hotbed for basketball for the last 20 years.
00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:08.879
And it was also, as I think were your words, a hotbed for the NBA.
00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:13.839
We uh we currently have several uh D1 college players.
00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:22.160
We have, I think in your story, you wrote that we had four current NBA players that all come from Flint.
00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:32.480
In some ways, you know, we've talked a lot on this podcast about the golden age of Flint and reminiscing about you know how much uh sports means to our city.
00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:37.360
But you almost talk about it as the end of a golden era that we've been through.
00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:48.720
And it's interesting generationally, you call the golden era the 1980s, but there's people that you know were tremendous athletes and professional football players.
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:55.839
You look back at Paul Krauss, you look at Paul Storoba at the University of Michigan, later went to the Green Bay Packers and played.
00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:02.639
Uh, but you go back into that era with Don Coleman, you know, the great teams that Michigan State had in the 1950s.
00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.480
Later, you know, you go into uh Glenn Rice era.
00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:21.199
But I was fascinated by the statement that you made in this article that you wrote and published on TV, that these four four players who are currently in the NBA from Flint, not a single one played in Flint in high school.
00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:22.959
Uh no, that's correct.
00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.120
I said people don't connect with most of them because a few of them didn't.
00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:32.000
Like uh Miles Bridges was here his freshman year, and then he left.
00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:40.560
Um, Monte Morris was here his whole career, but Kyle Kuzma only played about one year, but then Jael McGee didn't play here at all.
00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:54.160
And and JaVel McGee obviously is probably as recognized as Flynn as they get, with his mother and his aunt, Pam and Paula McGee, who were fabulous basketball players and fabulous people, by the way.
00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:00.079
What I found interesting about your story, we haven't Flint went from four high schools to one.
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:06.319
You attributed that to obviously Flint's population has dropped, the city has.
00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:11.360
And you know, we had the water crisis, and some people may have left the city.
00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:15.920
I don't know that I'm familiar with those statistics, but I'll take you at your word for that.
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:21.279
And then there was the the layoffs at General Motors, which contributed to all of this.
00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:26.879
I think you called this whole trend of going to prep schools uh kind of a snowball effect.
00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.439
It's not just one happened.
00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.519
Since the 80s, the population's been on a steady decline.
00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:42.559
But now, when you start thinking about school size, like these schools just started going away because of all these things.
00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:53.200
When, and then when you really start looking at it from a basketball standpoint, when you have a kid that's supposed to be really good, you want to play against the best competition.
00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:55.919
And right now, that's not in Flint.
00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:18.000
Best competition is you got to go down to Detroit, play Detroit schools, or like go to a prep school and get on a national schedule and play these teams, which is why a lot of a lot of kids for their AAU teams, they right now they're traveling all over the country, going to all these big tournaments, trying to get in front of as many eyes as they can right now.
00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.559
What is it in the culture of not just Flint, but the country, really?
00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.679
Uh, because this isn't this isn't just a Flint problem.
00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.799
This is a problem for schools all over the nation, isn't it?
00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:37.679
Yeah, because when you start thinking about prep schools and private schools, kids are able to really get a jump start on life.
00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:59.679
Um, they really get exposed to stuff early when you leave out of your comfort zone, which is good in a sense, but it's also taking away talent from the local community where it's not like a feeder system like it used to be, where everybody either went to northern or central or southwestern or one of those four-funk schools.
00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:10.000
Now everybody's going to uh Grand Blank, Carmen Ainsworth, Hamity, Powers, everybody's the talent's being more spread out.
00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:13.279
It's not just coming from one central area anymore.
00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:28.000
But like you said, that is happening around the country, especially how congested the market is getting for college basketball, and these kids trying to get as much recognition as they can so they could set themselves up for their best route of success.
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:35.120
I realized after I did some research on this, after I listened to your story, that really we're we're not alone.
00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:42.960
I mean, this is a problem that affects a lot of cities across the country and and communities, and uh and it may even be embedded in the culture.
00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:45.120
The culture's changing, so is sports.
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:46.399
Is that about right?
00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:51.759
Yeah, because it's it's a huge shift that we're literally in the middle of.
00:10:51.919 --> 00:11:13.440
So I don't think you can really see it because we're in the middle of it, but everything is changing from just even how the high school game is played to how these kids are marketed to how these kids are recruited because I think even we go back a couple of years, everyone used to be on Huddle and put out Huddle mixtapes and send it out to coaches.
00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:20.159
Now kids are getting professional video editors to edit up a highlight tape so they put it on Twitter and Instagram.
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.759
And it doesn't matter, it doesn't necessarily have to be that they're gonna go to a D1 school.
00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:30.320
A lot of these kids are sending this stuff to you know the smaller schools.
00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:50.159
Yeah, so when you start thinking about it like that, about how everything's changed, and then you bring in um the COVID year where everyone just had to sit, and then kids got all the college kids got a COVID year back, and then the transfer, everything just starts beating down on these high school kids where it's hard for them to get seen.
00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:58.720
Now, in your article that you wrote, you said that there were about 4,600 scholarships, and I assume that was nationally.
00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:03.519
Yeah, and there were about a half a million high school athletes competing for these scholarships.
00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.240
That's that's uh some tall odds for people.
00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:17.600
Yeah, that's why they say um it's the one percent that make it to division one, because that number that I got from is just every school gets 13, everyone, every D1 school gets 13 scholarships.
00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:22.559
So then you just multiply that and you get that figure I got, which I think was like 4,000.
00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.600
Just for basketball, these numbers is that this is just strictly for basketball.
00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:28.240
Oh, okay.
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:36.399
Um, because the NCAA did a well, they do this basically every year where they see how many high school basketball players are in the nation.
00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:40.960
Um, and for this past couple years, it's been around the 500,000 mark.
00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:53.200
When you start thinking about that, there's 500,000 high school basketball players, 4,000 about a little more about four, 4,500 scholarships.
00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:05.360
Then you add in the scholarships that are already spoken for uh with the returners and everything, and then you add in the COVID year, most of these scholarships are gone.
00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.320
Um, when you this is just strictly for the D1 level.
00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:12.960
Um work its way out of the system, but it still isn't it's a drop in the bucket, really, isn't it?
00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:18.480
Yeah, like uh you gotta now you gotta be the one percent of the one percent.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:38.320
And of those people that go to, I mean, you may be able to play at at uh you know the field houses across the country and the big schools at Duke or Michigan or Michigan State or Northwestern, but even of that group, it's still a very small percentage that ever go to the professional ranks.
00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:38.799
Yep.
00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:44.159
I don't know what that percentage is, but I've been told that it, you know, it's about the same as what you were just talking about.
00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.120
There's a lot of dreams that don't get matched.
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:54.000
But I must say, in fairness, we've had a lot of Flynn athletes that went on and had fabulous long careers overseas.
00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:55.679
And we have a lot of basketball.
00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:59.919
I in fact, I thought one day that I might uh do a podcast on that.
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.120
How many kids are going uh to other places?
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.639
You know, Marquise Gray started out and he sounded like a world traveler.
00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.879
I mean, he had you know, he went to seven or eight countries in several continents.
00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:20.639
I think he even played in Japan, uh in Israel and Turkey, and and I've talked to other athletes who played in other exotics, Greece, uh another and Spain.
00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:31.200
So they they do, you know, they do get, and I just read a story uh about some Michigan State kids that have been playing together in other uh they graduated, Tice.
00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:32.559
I think Tice was one of them.
00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.000
I can't remember the other kid.
00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:40.399
Uh so they've had successful careers and they've been, you know, they've done well financially as as well.
00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:47.840
And some of them told me, I think Marty Embryott was told me that he'd rather go play overseas than in the United States.
00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:49.039
He liked it more.
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:56.399
Yeah, there are there's a lot of opportunities to play um professional basketball all around the world.
00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:09.360
One of the things, the statistics that you quoted in your story was uh you said there were about a thousand kids in this transfer portal, which allows tell us what the transfer portal is and why it's significant.
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:18.480
So the transfer portal is um basically like free agency in any sport um where anybody could go anywhere.
00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:24.159
You just put your name in this portal, and coaches can see you, see who you are, what you did.
00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:38.399
So the transfer portal made its debut back in 2018, but now it's really picked up traction where you could go on different sites and see, because there are sites tracking this, how many kids have entered into the transfer portal.
00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:49.120
And at one point, yeah, these are kids that for whatever reason decide they don't want to stay where they were looking for college, they didn't get to play enough minutes or they were too far away from home.
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:56.159
And one of the changes is that they could go straight and they don't they could go from one campus to another and play.
00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:04.399
Um, because it used to be you had to sit out a year of eligibility, like you had to give up eligibility in order to do that, but now you don't have to.
00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.679
You could just go from one thing to another and just play.
00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:08.639
Exactly.
00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:16.240
Well, it got me riled up when I was sitting in my comfortable chair in my living room listening to you talk about this stuff.
00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:21.919
My first reaction was that doesn't anybody value staying at home anymore?
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:26.240
You know, you're talking about these youngsters that are, you know, juniors in high school.
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.039
I don't know how old that is, probably 50 years old.
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:34.720
And all of a sudden now they want to go to Phoenix, want to go to a lot of them go to Florida at the IM school.
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:38.159
And I thought to myself, I said, man, what is that?
00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:49.440
Why why why are we changing and encouraging kids to like bust up what could be some of the best years so they'll at least was for my growing influence, some of the best years.
00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.759
Yeah, it's to it's all about what's best for the kid now.
00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:58.559
As much as I mean selfishly, I want these kids to stay so I could cover them.
00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:11.359
But I understood Jada Nunn wanted to go to Dream City and Phoenix while Amonte is going to Dream City and Phoenix, it's because they're trying to set themselves up for their best life.
00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:16.319
They want to gain that exposure and go to the best school that they can.
00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:31.200
Because for me, there's no way that you could tell me that Amonte Allen Johnson, who was the SVL MVP, helped lead Graham Blaine to a state championship, and he only has one D1 off.
00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.119
No, like this kid is so skilled.
00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:52.400
It doesn't always show up in the boxboard, but he is a tremendous defender, like can guard some of the best point guards and guards in the state and completely take them out the game, but then he's still giving you 12, 14 points with five rebounds and five assists a game.
00:17:52.559 --> 00:18:11.039
Like, there's no way that this kid shouldn't be at least a high major or low major D1, like and have all these offers, or Carmelo Harris, a kid that averaged about 27 points for a beecher team that they had to go to Breslin to lose.
00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.799
Like he never lost a home game in his career.
00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:28.319
Like when you start thinking about kids like that, nothing against Wayne State where Carmelo is going, because Wayne State is a great school, it's a great fit for Carmelo, but he should have more offers than what he had.
00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:34.720
When you start thinking about it from the kids' standpoint, you really get it because they're trying to do what's best for them.
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:35.440
Like Jacob.
00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:41.599
What I think about it is the kids' point of view, and that is there's other, you know, is it bad to get?
00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:43.839
I mean, kids are starting to think like adults.
00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.200
I mean, they're narrowing the road that they're traveling.
00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:55.519
And when you look at the odds of success, I mean, these kids obviously could play at some Division I school someplace and probably will.
00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:02.960
But when you look at what a narrow road they're trying to maneuver, they really are putting a lot on a risky bet.
00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:08.880
Instead, it comes at a cost that uh, and this is where I started computing.
00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:10.880
We used to value our neighborhood.
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:17.279
I grew up in Flint and we played basketball or baseball or football every single day.
00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.279
I mean, that was just part of our culture.
00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:26.400
We didn't have our parents come and tell us, you know, bring us orange slices and tell us to take a time out and sit in the middle of the field with our legs crossed.
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:35.599
We, you know, when we got done playing ball, we went to the drugstore and got some bottle of pop or something, but we learned to play together in the neighborhood.
00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:42.240
And so what what you're saying is, and what was disturbing to me is that, you know, kids have friends in school.
00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:51.920
They, you know, they find their first girlfriend, they, you know, uh the advantage is, at least for me, was you know, I had all my friends from my own neighborhood.
00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.640
We had our class reunion for Southwestern, which is 50, is coming up in the at the 40th.
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.279
I think about two thirds of them were from my elementary.
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:05.359
So I mean a kid that's moving to Phoenix, he's starting to think like an adult at 16, 15.
00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:07.119
He's gonna give up all that.
00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:11.039
I don't know, maybe I'm off base there, but just it struck me as odd.
00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:20.559
So I guess the the question I have is have we gotten to the point where the lack of there's a lack of belief that dreams can come true in Flint?
00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:22.720
I don't think we gotten to that point.
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:29.839
I just think for what it is right now, everybody's making their best decision because we're not even through COVID yet.
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:30.960
Like it's still here.
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.400
Nothing, I know everyone's saying we're back to normal, but we're not.
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:40.079
We're still waiting through the repercussions of what happened, of kid these kids losing a year.
00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.920
So it's just what it is right now.
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:52.559
I think everything, in my opinion, will reset itself and we'll go back to a sense of normalcy when you start thinking about kids high school and then getting the offers that they want.
00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.119
But right now, these kids have from what they can get.
00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.480
Like, let me put it like this.
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:08.000
So in AAU, you get seen by all these coaches, all the college coaches come to one area and or one tournament, and they could see all the kids they want.
00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:18.559
So when you start thinking about it like that, and thinking about these kids wanting to play a national schedule, to get that same sense all year round and not just in the summertime.
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:29.920
So it starts to make sense like, hey, I could go to Texas where I know that we're gonna be playing the top teams in the country, and then their coaches are gonna be there looking at them, but I could get a look too.
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:40.000
So it just increases, which is something that can't happen in Mission because the MHSAA is not going to allow you to play a national schedule and be a member school.
00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:47.680
When you start thinking about it like that, it really does become a business decision for these kids when they're thinking about their future.
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.960
You know, Brandon, I remember my kids all played basketball in school, powers.
00:21:53.200 --> 00:22:03.759
And uh my boy, I remember watching my boy went up to Saginaw when they had some summer competition with the kids up in Saginaw, and it was an invitational.
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:18.079
And I remember in that gym, I can't remember all the all the coaches, but there was, you know, there were several major coaches, top 10, what I'd call top 10 coaches, who came to watch a guy named Draymond Green.
00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:25.839
Uh, and he wasn't really, I'm sure he he was good, but he wasn't, I don't think he was the star of the show back then.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:29.599
I mean, he was a different, you know, his body was different and he was different.
00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:37.200
I just think, you know, when when you look at the history of Flint, the history says that they can play in Flint and somebody will find them.
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:42.799
They all didn't get found by Duke and you know, or Kentucky or Kansas or wherever.
00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:49.839
But some of them made, you know, as I look at what happened at Michigan State, the kids from Flint, you know, made it.
00:22:50.559 --> 00:23:00.240
I'm just wondering if if we've gotten to a point where that kind of pressure has gotten us, you know, off the rails.
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:05.200
Um, I mean my mother told me I had to start over a grade when I was 17.
00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:07.680
I wouldn't have been too crazy about that.
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:09.599
How about you?
00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:14.559
Did you want to stop to want to stop high school and start another grade again?
00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:15.200
No.
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:19.839
No, not really.
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:33.039
That's what these boys are doing, and girls, some of them, you know, they see their careers to get a scholarship, and many of them, uh, you know, they're they have financial need, and that's their ticket.
00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:34.799
And that's understandable.
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:51.680
Uh, because kids never stopped out of school unless or they went back and they I used to always think of these prep schools as kind of a remedial education kind of place because they could they used to be, and I don't know if it's still true, but they had to have a certain test score to get into college, right?
00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:53.839
Um, for the athletes to get into college?
00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:54.640
Used to be.
00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:01.599
I don't know whatever happened to that rule, but they used to say, okay, you have to have a high enough score on ACSAT in order to play your first year.
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:02.799
I'm not too familiar.
00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:06.880
I know um you gotta take those tests in a sense, get into college.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:13.039
Uh, I didn't know that you had to get like I know you gotta get a certain score for some schools for them to look at you.
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:15.039
Um, I'm not too familiar with that.
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:16.559
They still have that score.
00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:19.039
I mean that they must.
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:51.519
Yeah, I think there is some benchmarks that you have to hit with your GPA and stuff, but um so that that what it always used to be, at least when I was paying attention, was that they would go to these schools, usually they were in Pennsylvania or someplace not all that far away, uh even Kentucky, and they had to and they would go there and they'd work on their academics enough that they could get into a top-tier college because there's no question a lot of these kids were talented athletically, but it's really it's evolved to be more than that if that's still the case.
00:24:51.920 --> 00:25:16.079
Yeah, because now, because I think what you're talking about is like kids after high school going to these schools to get the test scores that they need to get into college and all that, but now these kids are just you could just go there, and it's like a normal high school education that you get where you're learning everything that, or even more um, than what you would be learning at your current school.
00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:19.599
So it's like you're getting the best of both worlds in a sense.
00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:31.920
Well, you know, if you look at it for somebody that's going to one of these prep schools just to take an extra year and try to, you know, buff up their academics, because I mean these kids aren't all stupid.
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:39.279
Uh a lot of it just has to do with guidance and discipline and you know, eliminating some distraction.
00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:40.960
There are a lot of those today.
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.079
This has really gotten into about money, hasn't it?
00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:18.160
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:19.760
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.359
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:22.239
00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:23.199
00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.920
00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:30.079
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:42.159
00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:43.840
00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:51.920
00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.520
00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:01.920
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.280
00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:10.799
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:11.920
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:13.599
00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:19.040
00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:25.760
00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:34.000
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.640
00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:45.920
00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:59.760
00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.719
00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.479
00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:09.360
00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:22.639
00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:24.240
00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:30.000
00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.280
00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:40.960
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:47.439
00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:56.639
00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:58.159
00:02:58.879 --> 00:02:59.759
00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:04.960
00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:05.840
00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.840
00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:19.360
00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:22.639
00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:25.919
00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.400
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:31.039
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:39.919
00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.400
00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:47.199
00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:49.280
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:59.360
00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:02.000
00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.039
00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:11.680
00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:38.000
00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:44.560
00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:53.360
00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:57.360
00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.319
00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:04.480
00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:08.879
00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:14.079
00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:17.439
00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.920
00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.319
00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:37.120
00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:49.680
00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.480
00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:56.879
00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:04.639
00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:08.879
00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:13.839
00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:22.160
00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:32.480
00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:37.360
00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:48.720
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:55.839
00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:02.639
00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.480
00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:21.199
00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:22.959
00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.120
00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:32.000
00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:40.560
00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:54.160
00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:00.079
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:06.319
00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:11.360
00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:15.920
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:21.279
00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:26.879
00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.439
00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.519
00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:42.559
00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:53.200
00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:55.919
00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:18.000
00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.559
00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.679
00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.799
00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:37.679
00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:59.679
00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:10.000
00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:13.279
00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:28.000
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:35.120
00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:42.960
00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:45.120
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:46.399
00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:51.759
00:10:51.919 --> 00:11:13.440
00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:20.159
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.759
00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:30.320
00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:50.159
00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:58.720
00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:03.519
00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.240
00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:17.600
00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:22.559
00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.600
00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:28.240
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:36.399
00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:40.960
00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:53.200
00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:05.360
00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.320
00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:12.960
00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:18.480
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:38.320
00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:38.799
00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:44.159
00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.120
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:54.000
00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:55.679
00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:59.919
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.120
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.639
00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.879
00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:20.639
00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:31.200
00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:32.559
00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.000
00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:40.399
00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:47.840
00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:49.039
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:56.399
00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:09.360
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:18.480
00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:24.159
00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:38.399
00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:49.120
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:56.159
00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:04.399
00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.679
00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:08.639
00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:16.240
00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:21.919
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:26.240
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.039
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:34.720
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:38.159
00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:49.440
00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.759
00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:58.559
00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:11.359
00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:16.319
00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:31.200
00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.119
00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:52.400
00:17:52.559 --> 00:18:11.039
00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.799
00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:28.319
00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:34.720
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:35.440
00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:41.599
00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:43.839
00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.200
00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:55.519
00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:02.960
00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:08.880
00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:10.880
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:17.279
00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.279
00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:26.400
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:35.599
00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:42.240
00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:51.920
00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.640
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.279
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:05.359
00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:07.119
00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:11.039
00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:20.559
00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:22.720
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:29.839
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:30.960
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.400
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:40.079
00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.920
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:52.559
00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.119
00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.480
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:08.000
00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:18.559
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:29.920
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:40.000
00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:47.680
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.960
00:21:53.200 --> 00:22:03.759
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:18.079
00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:25.839
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:29.599
00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:37.200
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:42.799
00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:49.839
00:22:50.559 --> 00:23:00.240
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:05.200
00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:07.680
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:09.599
00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:14.559
00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:15.200
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:19.839
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:33.039
00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:34.799
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:51.680
00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:53.839
00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:54.640
00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:01.599
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:02.799
00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:06.880
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:13.039
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:15.039
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:16.559
00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:19.039
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:51.519
00:24:51.920 --> 00:25:16.079
00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:19.599
00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:31.920
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:39.279
00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:40.960
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.079