New York City & New Jersey High Hoops

3/26/03 Rich Kosik aka BooksNball: 'Parents, coaches and concerned adults: Another high school season has come to an end. Do you know where your student-athle son/daughter/player is academically? Now its time for outside hoops and area & national All-Star games all leading up to another spring/summer outside basketball journey. It's also the most dangerous time of year for our student-athletes. At a time when our student-athletes should be rededicating themselves to making their academics a priority the bouncing ball still beckons for their time. For our seniors, area All-Star Classics invite them to tryout and to practice for the event. Seniors and underclassmen are also playing outside hoops week nights and weekends. Portchester has started and I.S. 8 is about to jump off next week. Can weekend trips be far behind? Lets make everyone aware of a few facts. The first "Spring term" report cards are coming out this week. the New York City Public School high schools are holding "Open-school Parents Nite" March 27 & "Open-school afternoon" is Friday the 28th. Private/Catholic schools have these events upcoming also. Call the individual schools for the dates and times. Please counsel your child or your players according to their academic standing (GPA) and if they are on track to meet NCAA graduation requirements. Will you tell them to concentrate on their books if they're not doing well or will you permit them to play outside hoops regardless? Seniors should have taken the SAT by now , but if you haven't, you must register by March 28th for the MAY 3RD Exam. (last test is June 7th) In reality Juniors should be taking the May and June test also. (Remember you are permitted to take the highest scores from any SAT test & combine them to get your best total score) So take the test at least two times as a junior!

Coaches, if you are taking your team away to weekend tournaments see if there are any colleges near by that may be having a "Open-houses". This would be a good way to make your student-athletes (underclassmen) more aware of college life and the process of being admitted. There are only some 55 class days till final exams in June. Now is the time to be making academics the priority. It takes a strong minded student athlete to be able to focus on both their academics and outside hoops. Please offer them your assistance, your guidance and support. By doing so you become part of the solution and not the problem. Good luck & contact me at booksnball@aol.com if you want me to conduct a motivational academic seminar for your team(s).'