How will fledgling Erie Prep Academy quickly build a post-grad basketball program?
Dave Briski has been through this before.
Starting over is nothing new to Briski, who has done so multiple times since entering the world of academy basketball. After helping to build two preparatory programs, he’ll aim to do it a third time in Erie.
Briski was announced Monday as director of Erie Prep Academy’s post-graduate basketball program. Teaming up with Erie Sports Center owner Troy Bingham, Briski will be tasked with recruiting players, hiring coaches and building a quality post-secondary program on the campus at Summit Township.
“When (ESC) laid out their long-term vision of where they want this to go, with my understanding of basketball academies, I thought this was a perfect fit,” Briski said. “I’m really excited to work with people who are passionate but care about the kids and the sport as their top priority.”
Acquiring a basketball mind
Briski and two colleagues founded a prep basketball program at International Sports Academy in Willoughby, Ohio less than five years ago.
They started from scratch on the campus of Andrew Osbourne Academy, a century-old boarding school 20 miles from Cleveland. Their plan worked, as ISA players garnered Division I college interest in the team’s first season and the program has continued to produce talent of that caliber.
Before ISA, Briski coached at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, where he encountered a situation like that of ESC — a potential-filled facility without an established basketball program. He helped build SPIRE into a regional power, and with ESC’s 70-acre campus and four full indoor basketball courts at his disposal, Briski feels he can do the same in Erie.
“We need someone who understands the game inside and out; someone who is passionate about development, is positive and can clearly articulate the development pathways,” Bingham said. "(Briski) fits all those things.”
How will Erie Prep attract talent?
Briski sees two advantages at ESC that many basketball academies can’t replicate: Size and location.
Erie’s central location between major basketball prospect markets, Briski said, grants him access to players in Toronto, Cleveland, New York and more. Furthermore, the sheer size of ESC’s basketball center is more than most can offer.
“Player development is going to be the foundational belief of what we’re doing every day and it will never get lost,” said Briski, who originally hails from Albany, New York. “Players come here to get better and go to college. We understand that we are a steppingstone so we want to be part of that foundation, and to have (four) courts will allow us to give individualized attention in small group settings.”
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It’s more than just a facility in Briski’s eyes. It’s a campus.
“In a lot of these academies, the facility is great, but they don’t have the infrastructure to run something long-term," Briski said. “Having the dorms, the weight room right here... Our campus is elite. And that, in this world, is rare.”
How will the program be structured?
Erie Prep will offer five high-level sports academies for students in grades 9-12, but basketball will be its only post-grad offering. Students wishing to take a “gap year” after high school will enroll in two college classes and one high school class, the latter which they’ll attend at Erie Prep.
They’ll live in the same dorms as Erie Prep students, school administrator Phil Gernovich said, where they’ll be accompanied by a coach and assistant coach. The post-graduate team will co-exist separately from an Erie Prep varsity team, which will be coached by former Erie First Christian boys head coach and incoming Erie Prep principal Greg Majchrzak.
Once in place, Briski’s post-grad staff will construct a 12-man roster. The hope is to field a second academy team in the second year of operation.
Unlike high school athletics, the academy program will run for nine months from student arrival in late August until departure in May. Open gym sessions in the early fall will give way to practice starting in early October, after which Erie Prep will play a 30-plus-game season that will take it to New England, Virginia and beyond until April.
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Games at this level are often scheduled for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate regional and national travel. That will fit seamlessly with Erie Prep’s four-day school week.
Bingham hopes the prep basketball program will further advance ESC’s relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which established the center in February as a regional training site for the NBA franchise. A sold-out “Cavs Academy Shootout” is scheduled at ESC on Aug. 4, after which Bingham plans to work with the team on its ongoing presence in Erie.
“If you’re curious, just call us. The first step in the recruiting process is explaining what Prep school basketball is,” Briski said. “Come ask. I want to be a hub for post-graduates in this area.
“We’re not trying to come in and take high school players from the local schools. We want to be an opportunity at the post-graduate level to help get kids out of the region and get them exposure.”
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Briski named director of post-grad basketball program at Erie Prep
