DI coaches look at Patriot prospects

According to Anthony Macri, The John Carroll School, Bel Air, boys’ assistant basketball coach, the Patriots recently played host to 25 collegiate basketball coaches and staff during the first week of what is known as the “Open Period.”
Sept. 9 marked the first date in the NCAA’s recruitment calendar that Division I schools have an opportunity to get off campus to make evaluations of potential prospects.
The Patriot program, which hosts a pair of open gym workouts each week, offers scouts the opportunity to see potential recruits in both a workout and game setting. Each Patriot workout lasts approximately 90 minutes and includes skill and conditioning drills along with semi-structured game-play.
Of the 25 scouts, recruiters and coaches, 22 represented Division I programs. Macri stated that one local Division I assistant coach commented about the intensity-level of the workouts saying, “I continue to be impressed with (John Carroll’s) program and its improvement (over the last three years).”
Another local Division I assistant told Macri that he “loved the workouts” as it mimicked a number of the same drills run on the Division I level.
Following the workout, coaches made transcript requests through the staff and discussed with the staff which student-athletes they would be looking to recruit. No less than eight John Carroll student-athletes are going to be heavily recruited at the various levels of Division I basketball, and a host of others will also receive interest from the Division II and III levels.
According to Macri, the current Open Recruitment Period extends until the beginning of October. In the month of October, rules regarding contact change, but coaches can still make evaluation visits. The John Carroll basketball program has received word that visits from college coaches will continue through the coming weeks.