Earlier this summer, we surveyed NEPSAC girls coaches to get their thoughts on the players, teams and topics that define prep basketball today.
Part 1 focused on the top players who currently make up NEPSAC hoops, and Part 2 asked about the top teams to watch next season.
But personally, I was most excited to see the responses to this third segment of questions. I asked the coaches about where NEPSAC is heading as a whole, what has them excited about the organization's growth and what concerns them. The coaches were granted anonymity so they could more freely voice their opinions.
Their answers were fascinating and hit on some of the key talking points for NEPSAC's present and future. Here are the highlights.
What part of NEPSAC's growth are you most excited about?
Coaches are buzzing about the general collection of talent in NEPSAC. Some talked about the trickle-down effect of women's basketball's surging popularity on younger levels of hoops, and others mentioned that platform of NEPSAC itself is gaining more publicity.
"I’m excited about how NEPSAC is becoming a national platform for elite girls basketball," one coach said. "The blend of academics and athletic excellence is a strong draw, and I think the exposure and talent level will only continue to grow."
That's backed up by the increasing pool of stars not only from New England, but also New York, further down the Mid-Atlantic, and especially international student-athletes.
"There are more good teams than ever before, and that allows for more good games across the board," that coach added.
One reason, according to some answers, is the restructuring NEPSAC has done with its classes. Last year girls basketball overhauled its classes, viewed as a big step in the right direction by many.
"I continue to love the existence of both AAA and AA as separate classes," another coach said. "I believe that structure helps to promote parity across divisions, and doing so led to several really exciting playoff brackets last year."
There's more in store next season. Though nothing has been finalized yet, the expectation is that classes B, C and D will become a Class B Large, Class B Small and Class C, putting more schools of similar size and resources in the correct groups.
"Dividing class B into small and large is a game-changer," one coach said. "(It) allows the little guys a chance to be great in the NEPSAC that wasn’t there before."
Other coaches shouted out the success of the NEPSAC Girls Scholastic Showcase so far and even pushed for more to be added. Overall, though, many believe this is the best the conference has ever been from a competition perspective.
"The growing publicity for NEPSAC's game is going through the roof," one coach said. "Seeing the impact that past NEPSAC alums have had in college basketball and now the WNBA will only give our schools more opportunity to recruit high-level players and people to our schools."
What part of NEPSAC's growth are you most concerned about?
Coaches took this question in several directions. One interesting thread from some responses: How much does girls basketball need to be like the boys?
In some ways, coaches want more commonalities, like the inclusion of a second summer showcase. But in other ways, coaches are wary of the boys side appearing less structured and less geared toward the traditional prep experience.
"I am concerned about us trying to do everything that the boys do," a coach said. "Don't get me wrong, I am pushing for equality, but I believe the boys have more traction in certain areas and can do certain things that the girls' can't (yet) and I don't want to hurt our progress by trying to emulate the boys' side of NEPSAC."
"The constant rule changes to keep up with the boys puts athletics before student life," another added.
A few coaches feel NEPSAC's growth is akin to the feeling of "with great power comes great responsibility." As girls basketball takes on a greater spotlight, it also means the stakes get higher for schools to be competitive. That in turn applies more pressure on NEPSAC as a governing body to enforce its structures.
"There have been some increasingly noteworthy decisions made by NEPSAC programs in the past couple of years that have been met with a proportional increase in accountability," one coach said. "I worry that NEPSAC may not have the teeth (or the inclination) to keep the strongest personalities coloring within the lines."
Similarly, more prep girls basketball stars means more people noticing who can take advantage. Some coaches want to make sure the conference maintains competitive balance; another added their concern that high-academic prep schools who don't recruit hard themselves will get left in the dust. Yet another coach focused on "the influence of powerful AAU coaches."
"The constant seeking from others to use NEPSAC for their own financial growth," one coach said. "NEPSAC was founded on the mission of preparing student-athletes for life both on and off the court. We pride ourselves in the student-centered mission. Recently, we are becoming more and more commercialized with an emphasis on highlight reels, write-ups, clicks and shares, etc. We now have numerous people/companies trying to profit off connections with NEPSAC student-athletes."
What is one rule change or structural change you would make to NEPSAC?
This overlapped with some of the concerns mentioned and really got into the nitty-gritty of NEPSAC organization.
At a micro level, some coaches called for in-game changes. One advocated for a shot-clock reset to 20 seconds on an offensive rebound instead of 30. Multiple asked for longer games in an effort to better mimic college basketball.
"I would love to see us play college-length games. Each class playing 32-minute games doesn't prepare girls for college like it should," one coach said. "I would adopt what the boys do and have AAA play 40-minute games and AA play 36-minute games."
Bigger-picture, some coaches again pushed for more showcase opportunities, either in the form of preseason events or by increasing the availability of offseason open gyms. One coach claimed the current rules around offseason basketball and offseason coaching are unclear.
"Instead of being intentionally vague about what you can or can’t do, which is essentially asking teams to break rules, we should be like college and get an allotted number of hours in the gym and/or unlimited hours in a non-practice setting," they said.
"I would remove the offseason coaching rule or strictly enforce it," another added. "Our conference is laden with club coaches — many at boarding schools — and it is a significant advantage for those programs who get a jump start to the season because they're together all summer and then practice in the fall. So if it's not going to be enforced to a greater extent, just allow everyone to have access to their student-athletes (in the) offseason."
Another big talking point was around scheduling. Multiple coaches pushed for allowing more "up" games — games when a team can play an opponent in a higher class. With some NEPSAC schools in traditional leagues and others independent, the ease to schedule tough teams varies.
"Allow each team to schedule more up-class games out of their league," a coach said. "Currently, each team can only play six games against an opponent in a higher class that isn't in their league, which disincentivizes them from scheduling independent schools in opt-in classes. The problem is, not all schools choose to be independent, so the rule seems to further the divide between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots.'"
How concerned are you about the evolution of recruiting in NEPSAC?
Coaches took the question in two different directions.
First, some discussed the changing college landscape with the transfer portal and NIL, and how that has affected opportunities in high school. Two coaches brought up the pressure it puts on kids in the recruiting process compounded with the nature of social media, verbal offers and more.
"My biggest concern surrounds the overall wellbeing of the student-athletes whose identities are so intertwined with their output on a basketball court," one said. "Add in the layer of social media and posting about offers and visits — the big picture can get lost. I don't know that it's unique to the NEPSAC, though."
But interestingly, most coaches brought up recruiting at the NEPSAC level. For the record, we had a group of coaches say "not concerned" or "not much." Several coaches, though, voiced concern — ranging from "moderately" to "incredibly" — about a perceived increase in transfers from one NEPSAC program to another.
"I'm concerned about kids and families going from NEPSAC school to NEPSAC school," one coach said. "It is driven by the kids and parents more often than it is by other NEPSAC coaches recruiting each others' players. But there is a high demand for girls to play early in their careers and many do not want to wait until they are an upperclassman. When that doesn't happen or they are not having good experiences with their school/coach/team, many look for another opportunity somewhere else thinking the grass will be greener on the other side."
"I hear plenty of rumors of some programs recruiting directly from others, including the use of AAU organizations as proxies, which is certainly concerning," another added.
This goes back to the earlier comments about rule enforcement. NEPSAC schools do recruit, both from New England public schools and abroad, which has helped create the current depth of talent in the conference. But recruiting against each other takes on a different tone.
"NEPSAC schools have been recruiting for years, and it is the foundation for the explosive success of our conference," a coach said. "I am concerned about the slight uptick in transfers from one NEPSAC school to another which is predominantly based on again, uninhibited recruiting within our conference, which is against our bylaws."
