Jack Alesi never used to worry about losing players to different schools during the summer.
And since the Xaverian basketball coach routinely sends players to Big East schools, and guided the Clippers to their first CHSAA Division AA championship in 2005, you wouldn’t think he would have to now, either.
But yesterday, Alesi had to approach James Padgett, a 6-foot-8 forward about to enter his junior year, about whether he was staying at the Brooklyn school.
“He said he was,” said Alesi, who still doesn’t know the status of rising senior Patrick Jackson.
“I had heard [this weekend that] James might be leaving … and he said he’s not and doesn’t know where it came from. But he said he gets phone calls all the time about it.”
Trying to get players to go from one school to another is hardly a new phenomenon, but by most accounts it has gotten more prevalent in recent years.
And since the PSAL cracked down on transfers within its system two years ago, the problem has escalated with people going after players from private schools, sometimes indirectly.
“It’s a small number that actually do go,” said Alesi, who points the finger not at PSAL coaches, but at the outside influences that surround players during the high-school offseason, which features more basketball than ever.
“But it’s frustrating to even have to deal with it, and I’m not going to sell out and give in to anyone’s demands.”
Prior to last year, Alesi lost Zamal Nixon to Boys & Girls, but said he still had a good relationship with him.
“He was the first big player who left of his own free will and it worked out well for him,” Alesi said of his former player, who helped Boys to the PSAL title game last year.
“We’ve dismissed other kids. We hold them to high standards at Xaverian, both with academics and discipline. Maybe some people are telling them there’s an easier way.”
But Alesi’s not buying it.
“I don’t know of a school that does more to get kids ready for college,” said Alesi, who sent Levance Fields to Pitt, Brian McKenzie to Providence and Chris Taft to Pitt in recent years.
“You still look at yourself in the mirror and wonder if you’re the problem, but I’m not going to change what I do and promise kids things just to make them come here.”
Instead, he’s going to keep doing the same things he’s been doing in his 13 years as coach.
“Basketball shouldn’t be a 12-month-a-year sport,” Alesi said. “There should be a balance. And all of this other stuff isn’t helping.”