On Tuesday, Masters Academy International (MAI) opened its doors in a ribbon-cutting ceremony that included Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey's participation. That says enough about who's monitoring the launch of New England's first major sports-centric academy.
But MAI is also a polarizing topic in New England prep circles.
In boys basketball, Jason Smith left Brewster Academy for MAI and top 2027 guard Antonio Pemberton followed, with Smith recruiting a stacked roster that includes high-level prospects from within and outside of New England. On the girls side, Sean "Sticks" Smith is running the show as head coach and has so far landed young talent, including key local additions like Olivia Breen and Alana Brownstein.
As part of our NEPSAC boys and girls coaches' surveys, which we have released throughout the last month, we asked coaches: Do you expect the presence of MAI to have a significant influence on NEPSAC? A combined 36 coaches gave us responses with varying degrees of detail and passion. Let's break down what coaches had to say.
