ACB Bank Hoops Leads with Six Division I Commitments!

By Steve Bell

With the commitment of Pontiac Notre Dame's Kellen McCormick, six members of the ACB/Bank Hoops 17-under travel team are pledged to sign with Division I schools in November. Besides McCormick, there are Bay City Western's Matt Costello to Michigan State, Pellston's Christopher Hass to Bucknell, Otsego's Jared Klein to Western Michigan, Rochester's Taylor Perry to Western Michigan and Traverse City St. Francis' Sean Sheldon to William & Mary. Another ACB/Bank Hoops player, Dowagiac guard Dontel Highsmith, has D1 offers, but is only a junior and has not yet committed.

The ACB/Bank Hoops travel team, from July in Orlando, Fla., (from left) assistant coach Rod Hathaway, Kellen McCormick, Nick Tatu, Sean Sheldon, Jared Klein, Matt Costello, Dontel Highsmith, Jared Holmquist, Chris Hass and coach Tim McCormick.

The AAU team with the next most Division I verbal commitments thus far is the Mustangs, with Lansing Sexton's Anthony Clemmons to Iowa, Okemos' Chris Harrison-Docks to Butler, Robichaud's Khaliq Spicer to Kent State and Sexton's Denzel Valentine to Michigan State. Also from the Mustangs, Javontae Hawkins formerly of Flint Powers and Forest Hills Central's Marquese Mondy are both senior Division I prospects. The Family and REACH have two apiece.

Michigan 2012 committed recruits
Paul Baumgart 6-8 Canton Lewis
Stone Beckwith 6-3 Beal City Saginaw Valley State
Andre Bond 6-1 Ann Arbor Huron Northwood
Rashaun Carroll 6-1 Lansing Waverly Lake Superior State
Anthony Clemmons 6-1 Lansing Sexton Iowa
Kyle Cooper 6-7 Novi Catholic Central Hillsdale
Matt Costello 6-9 Bay City Western Michigan State
Sherron Dorsey-Walker 6-4 Detroit Pershing Iowa State
Bryn Forbes 6-3 Lansing Sexton Cleveland State
Jordan Hare 6-9 Saginaw Arthur Hill Rhode Island
Chris Harrison-Docks 5-11 Okemos Butler
Christopher Hass 6-4 Pellston Bucknell
Chris Jenkins 6-7 Detroit U-D Jesuit Colorado
Jared Klein 6-2 Otsego Western Michigan
Kellen McCormick 6-8 Pontiac Notre Dame Western Michigan
Lloyd Nealy 6-5 Detroit Crockett Oakland
Taylor Perry 6-4 Rochester Western Michigan
Jodan Price 6-7 Birmingham Country Day DePaul
Sean Shelton 6-8 Traverse City St. Francis William & Mary
John Simons 6-8 Cadillac Central Michigan
Khaliq Spicer 6-8 Dearborn Heights Robichaud Kent State
Nic Stoll 6-7 Holly Michigan Tech
Connar Tava 6-6 Warren De La Salle Western Michigan
Denzel Valentine 6-5 Lansing Sexton Michigan State
Torin Wetzel 6-7 Monroe St. Mary's Catholic Central West Liberty State

Scholarship Information

What does a Scholarship Cover?

Before going into exactly what a scholarship costs, it is important to discuss the different options that college coaches offer you as an athlete. At the Division I-A level for basketball level, the coaches must either offer you a full ride or nothing. Obviously academics can help out (Which in most cases, I hope happens) but as far as scholarships go, it is all or nothing at the Division I-A level.
At the Division I-AA and II level for football (As well as Division II level for basketball), that is when partials can be offered. But that is also where things get interesting for a number of different reasons. If a school offers you $10,000 in a scholarship and that is how much the school costs in your first year, that is outstanding and means you will not have to pay for much. But with the way that tuition has been rapidly increasing, don’t be surprised if that rises to $12,000 per year before you are graduated. So, if your scholarship stays at that amount, and tuition rises, it is important to know that you will be paying unless that package increases.

As for what a scholarship does cover, here is what is listed in a student athlete handbook from a University that offers scholarships:

Tuition
University Fees
Required Textbooks
Room and Board

That really does cover a lot of expenses, but it is important to note that there will be a lot of other financial burdens that can come up. Here are some of the areas that athletic scholarships does not cover:

Parking Permits (This can be a few hundred dollars per semester)
Student ID card (Probably between $10 to $50) and replacements if lost
Course fees (For example, art classes charge more for extra equipment)
Library fines
Graduation fees

I think anyone, if given the chance, would jump at the chance to pay for a parking permit if they have their tuition, room, and other areas paid for. As a scholarship athlete, you are also allowed to eat with other athletes at the training table. From what I have heard, this is much better than the other options of going to Taco Bell in the student union.
As I talked about previously, when getting your information about financial aid package, try to get full tuition covered if possible instead of a set dollar amount. Tuition costs rise and so do the expensive books (Let me tell you they rip you off there) so more may be coming out of your pocket by the time you are a senior. Obviously there are a lot of different options to handle these costs or try to avoid them but these are some of the areas that a scholarship does in fact cover.

14u Lansing Tournament Games Posted

Here is the info for the tournament....
http://www.itworks-shop.com/_access/mock2info.html

Congrats to 14u Boys' Tournament Championship!

The 14u boys' team got off to a great start winning all three games en route to a championship in the Courthouse tournament on Sunday. Great job guys!

14u Tournament Schedule Posted

8th Grade (14u) Boys' Tournament Schedule January 30th!
Courthouse of Grand Rapids!
8455 Byron Commerce Dr. SW
Byron Center, MI 49315
Sunday, January 30th
ACB - Pool A
Game 1 - 1:00 PM Court 1
Game 2 - 3:00 PM Court 1
Game 3 - 4:00 PM Court TBA
All players should arrive by Noon...Shooting shirts will be distributed and pre-game instructions will follow...

CLICK HERE FOR COURTHOUSE LINK WITH COMPLETE TOURNAMENT INFORMATION AND DIRECTIONS

14u ACB roster photos now on website!

Click link to view this years Session I 14u boys' team...

http://www.itworks-shop.com/_access/14_Group.html

Title IX is leaves fans leaving...

Check out this story on high school basketball boys'/girls' doubleheaders...good story...
http://www.mlive.com/sports/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/01/title_ix_backlash_girls_basket.html