I've taken some blogging time off after the ND State basketball tourneys and this is a good topic to dive back in with.
Darin Erstad, Phil Hansen, Rick Helling, Jim Kleinsasser, Chris Coste
a list of some of the most successful modern day North Dakota athletes. And you know what? They all played multiple sports throughout HS and even college for some. So when it comes to current HS players wanting to specialize, I sigh. ECI, AAU and whatever...great...nice..fine...give kids more opportunity to hone one specific sport. But let's get real. How can you argue with history?
I know it won't happen, but I wish the tide would turn and athletes would say NO.
here's the story from Wahpeton Daily News
ECI will hold their third annual Spring Preview Basketball Showcase in Wahpeton on April 19 and 20. The preview will showcase some of the best high school boys and girls basketball talent from North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
There are six divisions that are playing this year, beginning on Saturday, April 19 at 8:30 a.m., at Blikre Activities Center on the North Dakota State College of Science campus and at Breckenridge High School.
On Saturday night starting at 5 p.m., four games will be highlighted as the games of the day. First, the South Dakota Schoolers will play ECI Minnesota. The Schoolers have two players who have already committed to attend and play at South Dakota State University and have one of the best sophomores in the Midwest. The ECI Minnesota team includes 6-foot-9-inch Jordan Aaberg, from Rothsay, Minn., who has verbally committed to play basketball at North Dakota State University, and 6-foot-10-inch Kurtis Mickelson from Ashby, Minn.At 6:10 p.m., the South Dakota Heat will face ECI West (ND), followed by ECI East (ND) against Minnesota Comets North. The final game of the night will have ECI 19U playing against Minneapolis Grass Roots. The ECI 19U team includes North Dakota Class A Player of the Year, Jordan May from Fargo North, Luke Martinez from Bismarck High School and Wahpeton’s Tyler Miller.
The Spring Preview will continue Sunday at 8:10 a.m., with tournament play and the beginning of the girls division. “We would encourage all basketball fans to attend,” said Joe Kittell, ECI coach and assistant men’s basketball coach at NDSCS. “It will be a great weekend of basketball and a chance to see the best the area has to offer.”
The boys divisions of the tournament have been approved by the North Dakota High School Activities Association to allow NCAA Division I teams, along with all the other area colleges to attend and watch the top area talent in action. The girls divisions have been approved by the NCAA to be NCAA division I viewing eligible as well.
For more information, visit www.eciyouth.org.
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2 comments:
ECI called my girls every spring. We decided no because they played spring and summer sports. ECI's is a business with huge fees, that all but promise kids and parents college scholarships. We did not fall for it and made sure they got good grades. They all got full academic scholarships. Spend more time having fun forget the hype!
ECI offers kids the OPPORTUNITY to play college basketball. They recruit players from watching them play as well as through word of mouth. Being a player who was on ECI I have nothing, but good things to say. They are a non-profit organization. They are not cut-throat business men looking to mislead kids into believing they are the next best thing in North Dakota. They tell them that they could have an OPPORTUNITY to be seen by college coaches that might not of seen them otherwise. NAIA,D3,D2,D1 are examples of divisions that a player can go to. You listed BIG names. Whats wrong with players going to play anything less then D1? I hope that if you are a parent or a young adult you learn quickly that success is measured in many ways, but it shouldn't be measured by how far a player can go it should be measured by how far a player can go with what he has and how hard he has worked at it. If the people you listed are the only successful players to come out of ND then we should just stop athletics all together cause what is the point? Spend more time having fun forget the hype? I had a blast and I learned a lot about myself from through ECI.
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