Podcast: MIAA coaches discuss retaining talent against NEPSAC’s influence

Mark Nickerson (left) and Dave Fazio have both lost top talent to NEPSAC. (Ethan Fuller/Carlos Flores)

In spring, grassroots basketball becomes the primary focus on the calendar. But a second storyline follows close behind: Who will transfer to prep schools?

In recent years, it’s become normalized for MIAA stars seeking Division 1 exposure to make the move to NEPSAC at some point in their high school careers. Meanwhile, MIAA coaches are left wondering what they can do to keep elite talent in their programs.

Mark Nickerson, head coach of three-time reigning girls state champion Medfield, and Dave Fazio, 37-year head coach of the Andover boys, joined the HoopWise Podcast to have an honest conversation about the state of MIAA basketball against NEPSAC’s growing influence.

They discussed what’s challenging about retaining star players, where MIAA schools and the association are falling short, and much more.

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Highlights

Transferring is a big decision for a lot of these players. How hard do you see the decision is for them?

Nickerson: “I go back to the conversation I had with Izzy (Kittredge) at the end of last year, emailing me saying, ‘Can we meet?’ I
knew something was up. She came, we sat together with my assistant coach and she’s bawling, she’s crying. She loves the players on the team. She loves the town, she loves the school, she loves being part of the program, but has been convinced that to get to where she wants to go, she’s gotta leave. And it’s hard for me to sit here and say that she’s wrong.

“Her parents said to me that the climate of high school basketball has changed and it’s become a necessity for kids to go to prep school if they want to play Division 1 basketball. I don’t know that to be true, but I don’t know it to not be true either.”

How much do the constraints on out-of-season coaching hinder your appeal as a program?

Fazio: “Give us a six-week period in the summer where we can then take our kids to camps and take our kids to shootouts and different things to give our kids opportunity. That’s what we’re looking for, and then you build on that relationship. … I have former players who are all over the United States. I have a (former player, and) his son plays in Texas at Highland Park. They start November 1. And (us) playing 20 games — the NEPSAC, they’re probably playing 28 to 30 games. Everybody’s doing the pros and cons and everybody’s just trying to add up what is best. So we need way more opportunity.”

Listen

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