Section II players opt for prep school before graduating. Does it make sense?

Reporting in today's Albany Times-Union, James Allen wrote that some premier Section II basketball players are taking their talents elsewhere this season. The prep school bug has hit Section II again, and for some teams, the timing just couldn't be worse.

Two years ago, Troy High's boys basketball team lost star guard Zach Radz when he opted to transfer to a prep school. Today, Allen is reporting that Daniel Buie, who would've been in his senior season at Troy, and was the basketball equivalent to Joey Ward with the Flying Horses, transferred to Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, a member of the New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), which counts Albany Academy For Boys among their member schools in football and hockey. Suddenly, five days before the season opener at Shenendehowa, interim coach Greg Davis is facing an even rougher road than he thought.

Stop and think for a second. Davis is filling in for Richard Hurley, who decided to take a year off to spend more time with his family, although he's still fulfilling his other duties as an assistant to principal Joseph Mariano, Jr.. Once that news got out in March, after Troy's 1-&-done elimination in the sectionals, I suspect the other shoe may have dropped, depending on when Buie decided to transfer, be it before the end of the school year, or over the summer. According to Allen, Buie has reclassified as a junior once more, and will play two seasons at Gould.

Greg Davis coached at least one game in Hurley's absence last season, a home loss to Bethlehem. Now, I cannot be certain if there were any issues between Buie and Davis, and I doubt that there were any, but considering that Hurley coached Buie's brother, Taran, at Bishop Maginn, maybe Buie felt more comfortable listening to Hurley, and having a different voice calling plays this season than accustomed may or may not have been a factor in his decision.

Meanwhile, Colonie's Bryce Waterman, Columbia's Grace Heeps, and Glens Falls' Sophie Tougas have all transferred to prep schools as well. Heeps & Tougas are attending NEPSAC schools, per Allen's report, but while there was no mention of where Waterman was going this season, I suspect he, too, is attending a NEPSAC member school.

So why the switch? As I've written before, these moves are made with an eye toward bolstering one's chances of being recruited to a Division I college (i.e. Duke, Syracuse, UAlbany). Tougas, like Buie, has reclassified as a junior, so maybe grades are a factor, too.

For Troy, which won the Suburban Council Grey division title in their first season in the league, then dropped to 3rd last year, and already dealing with the prospect of not having certain players (i.e. Joe Casale) ready by the Shen game on December 5 due to the length of football season, the departure of Buie likely brings this reaction:



There is a downside to going to a NEPSAC school, though, for student-athletes, as Albany Academy already knows. Local media coverage will be minimal, if not sparse, due to a lack of available resources for local newspapers and television stations.

For Troy fans, it's going to be a looooooooong winter.