scott borchart spurns summer events

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Eric Sondheimer Reports: Scott Borchart
Spurns Summer Exposure Events--(June 23, 1999)

Wow. We finally got the explanation for the seemingly-strange absence of Scott Borchart, the 6'-9" junior-to-be from West Hills Chaminade, from the spring and summer exposure teams and events. Recall that it was reported in March that Scott would be joining Miles Gonzales' Sports Express team for the trip in May to France for the Nike World Junior Championships. Also slated to play on the team were EJ Harris from Crenshaw, Lou Wright from Westchester, Branduinn Fullove from Simi Valley, Andrew Zahn from Redondo, and many other high profile players.

Well, as things turned out, all the rest of the guys went, but evidently Scott didn't. Now we know why.

And recall also that in April and then again in May, it was also reported that Scott would be playing on the Pump N Run Silver team with players like Craig Smith from Fairfax, Errick and Derrick Craven from Bishop Montgomery, David Gale from Buckley, Baker Dunleavy from Portland Jesuit, and others at events like the adidas EBO/EA Hoop Summit III in Fresno.

But as things turned out, he didn't.

Even his high school coach, Jeff Young, told us at the end of this past season, just after Chaminade's win in the playoffs over league rival Harvard-Westlake, that Scott would be playing on the Nike team coached by Miles and would be traveling to Europe and that he'd probably attend Nike Camp or ABCD, whichever one he considered the best.

But as things are shaping up, Scott will only be playing with his high school team in summer league games. No club ball for him.

We finally got the explanation today in Eric Sondheimer's weekly column in the LA Times Valley edition. Here's what Eric had to say about Borchart's decision to keep his summer low-key and simple, and to avoid the AAU/Club exposure tournament circuit this summer:

Scott Borchart turned down a free trip to France last month. "Are you stupid? Are you psycho?" asked several of his Chaminade High classmates. All the 6-foot-9 Borchart had to do was play for a club basketball team and he'd be sipping Evian on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

He said no. He also rejected invitations to play basketball next month at the Nike Camp in Indianapolis and the West Coast All-Star Camp at Cal State Dominguez Hills. And he has no plans to join 3,000 high school players at a July tournament in Las Vegas.

What he's doing is considered sacrilegious in the basketball community. "I really don't care," Borchart said.

Hallelujah! It's about time a 16-year-old rose up and stopped playing the insane recruiting game that everyone expects. Borchart discovered this spring that he was losing his love for basketball. He was growing frustrated playing on club teams put together primarily to give college recruiters a chance to scout blue-chip players.

"I was getting burned out and didn't want to play as much," Borchart said. "It's not my type of basketball. My type of basketball is more team and not individual. With club, it's about yourself."

Borchart is a two-time All-Southern Section selection and arguably the best basketball player in the San Fernando Valley. He has been receiving recruiting letters since his freshman season from top college programs. He's entering one of the most crucial recruiting periods, the summer before his junior season. It's the time college coaches from elite programs start making final judgments on which players to recruit.

"[Borchart] needs all the exposure he can get," said Dana Pump of Chatsworth-based Double Pump Inc., which runs all-star camps and tournaments. "He hasn't been healthy and hasn't really lived up to the billing as the next great Valley player." Borchart, who missed most of the last summer recovering from off-season knee surgery, decided he's going to follow his own instincts rather than listen to what "basketball insiders" have to say.

"I feel I can develop better without people watching me," he said. "On my own, I can push myself just as hard. People can say what they want. I don't care." Borchart isn't dropping out of basketball. He'll play in more than 40 games for Chaminade while also attending several team camps. If college coaches want to see him play, all they have to do is attend a Chaminade practice or game. Today, the Eagles play at Simi Valley at 5 p.m. But college coaches can forget about seeing him on a club team. "It's my choice," he said. "It's not against any [club] coaches or teams. I'm just doing it for myself. I need to get my love for the game back. It got too serious for me. So much was riding on playing club I lost all interest. Right now, I'm just looking to have fun."

Coach Jeff Young of Chaminade already recognizes a difference in Borchart's attitude. "He's a lot happier," Young said. Borchart understands the consequences of his decision. Not playing travel ball could limit his recruiting options and prevent him from gaining experience against players his size. "I know there's going to be some downs to it, but I'm prepared to take that," he said.

It's rare for a player the caliber of Borchart to buck the club system, but good for him. It's about time someone challenged the wisdom of forcing teenagers to play on club teams every weekend just to impress college recruiters. Borchart is good enough and smart enough to prove there's another way to earn a college basketball scholarship.

We're all for a young player having fun and rediscovering his game, and we are absolutely in favor of team basketball, because, after all, basketball is a team sport. And we're not particularly surprised by Scott's decision to keep things low-key. Scott's former Chaminade teammate, J.J. Todd, another 6'-10" big man who has signed to play at UCSB next year (although he'll probably red-shirt to bulk up a bit and improve his post skills for the college level) received the same criticism for not playing more club ball during his high school career, but it hasn't seemed to hurt him at all. J.J kept a mostly low profile until the summer between his junior and senior year, i.e., when he was a "rising senior" which really is the only period which actually makes a difference in the recruiting process, and it didn't seem to hurt him at all. Instead, J.J.will get a great college education, a free ride at the University of California at a campus right on the beach, with a great coach in a very competitive D-I league. And he's a great young man. The recruiting process isn't for everyone, and we applaud Scott for doing what he thinks is right for him.

We do think that Eric is probably over-doing the "hallelujahs" about Scott's decision, and while it may be the right decision for Scott (and many other players) it's not necessarily the universal answer to what Eric calls "the insane recruiting game." Most of the kids who participate in the summer exposure events aren't "forced" to do so, but instead choose to play at exposure events and for various club teams in the big tournaments because (a) they're having fun, (b) they get the opportunity to travel and spend the summer with their friends, including other players from all over the country, and (c) they get a ton of attention (what kid doesn't want attention?) and a break from the routine of the high school season. Not the right decision for every player, but for many, it's certainly their chance to get seen by college coaches who would never spot them, either because their high school teams are too obscure, or because of the peculiarities of the NCAA rules about when and how college coaches can actually view players.

And despite Eric's usually excellent research for his articles, it's not just so simple for a coach to just come out and visit. Under NCAA rules, college coaches can only schedule 40 visits per year to watch prospective student athletes during "non-exposure" periods. During exposure periods they can only attend NCAA-certified events (like West Coast All-Stars, or Nike Camp, or Rim Rattler, or any of the dozens of other NCAA-certified events). So it's not so easy, and Eric is probably over-simplifying when he says "If college coaches want to see him play, all they have to do is attend a Chaminade practice or game." College coaches can't do that (it's a non-exposure period now, and many of them won't do it just to see a junior-to-be).

And in fairness, the summer recruiting "process" isn't entirely madness, although it might seem that way to many. And also in fairness, whatever you think about it, good, bad, or indifferent, we will agree with Eric on this: Scott has a great perspective on the whole thing, and is doing what he needs to do for his development. It may run counter to the conventional wisdom, but sometimes a kid has just got to be a kid, and needs to spend the summer at home just hanging out with his friends and going to the beach.

And besides, let's wait and see what