• New England prep schools second to none

  • By Adam Finkelstein, ESPN Recruiting | May 26, 2010 9:45:23 AM PDT
In the four years since I left college coaching, my business has been to cover recruiting in the Northeast, with a special emphasis placed on the six New England states. My mindset is the same as it was when I was coaching -- I go where the talent is. It just so happens that there is an awful lot of talent at New England prep schools.It has always been my contention that there is more talent in the NEPSAC (New England Prepatory Schools Athletic Council) than there is any other league in the country. Here are some numbers to back me up.Northfield Mount Hermon has 13 scholarship level players. Six players from the 2010 class -- Josh Elbaum, Majok Majok, Laurent Rivard, Hector Harold, Chris Fitzgerald and Matt Brown -- have committed to Division I schools. Plus, Clancy Rugg has opted to walk-on at Vermont. In the Class of 2011, Joe Sharkey is already committed to Brown, while Aaron Cosby and Vince Van Nes are both generating mid to high major Division I interest. Class of 2012 prospect Evan Cummins already has a scholarship offer from Providence, while Tommy Carpenter and Lucas Van Nes projects as Division I players. To take this a step farther, NMH will have 27 active alums playing at the Division I level at the beginning of the 2010 college basketball season and it is on par with a number of other teams in the NEPSAC. NMH finished 8-4 in conference (23-8 overall) last season and earned the third seed going into the postseason tournament.Top seed and eventual champions, Brewster Academy, had a 12-man roster with eight (six seniors/post-grads and two underclassmen) commits to Division I schools. Of those eight, seven committed to high-major schools.Second seeded Winchendon School had 13 players on its roster for the majority of the season. Of the 10 players in the Class of 2010, six committed to Division I schools and three to Division II schools. Their three underclassmen are also all high-major targets.Fourth seeded St. Thomas More had four players in the Class of 2010 commit to Division I schools and three to Division II schools. Plus, underclassmen Andre Drummond is one of the top two players in the Class of 2012 nationwide and Trahson Burrell earned high-major looks in the Class of 2011.In total, the 10 schools that made up Class A of the NEPSAC last season sent close to 50 players to the Division I level in the Class of 2010 and upwards of 60 onto the scholarship level. Taking into consideration the underclassmen in the league, it is no reach to say that the league featured at least 75 players who will play their college basketball at a scholarship level.I'm not saying there isn't another high school or prep school league in the country that can match that, but if there is, I haven't heard of it.

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