Elite Camps

Right about now is when parents and players are looking at their spring and summer plans besides playing AAU. One of those plans should be to attend a college or university's "Elite Camp." These camps are generally where the college or university will bring in their recruits or potential recruits to campus and have them compete with each other. It's a way for the coaches to have complete access to potential recruits for a couple of days.

According to NCAA rules, programs are not allowed to limit the participants to just their recruits. They are allowed to limit numbers but if a kid wants to come and pay, then they have to let that athlete participate. Programs also have to charge money for the camp. Some camps will charge the bare minimum because they want their best kids to come to camp and make sure the expenses aren't very high, especially when many are flying in for the weekend. For other programs, it's a way to see their potential recruits as well as a way to make money. Camp fees will range from $50-$400.

One of the best parts of having an elite camp for a college coach is to have full access to the potential recruits. They get to see them work in drills, they get to watch them play, they get to see how they treat teammates, and they get to see the recruits compete. Coaches also get to coach them and potentially get to see them play with their guys to see how they fit. One thing that is overlooked is that coaches get to see how the recruits treat managers, support staff, the servers at the dining hall, or anyone else that doesn't seem to help the recruit. This is a huge character thing that could be a make or break opportunity for a recruit without them really knowing.

For players, the elite camp is a great tool to gain information. It's good to see how the coaches treat the players, it's good to see how the players interact with each other, and it's good to see how the coaches coach you. It's essentially a "day in the life" of a college basketball player minus the classes. Even if it doesn't go well, it should give an idea of what you need to work on because you will play against some pretty good players.

At a few of the Ivy League school elite camps, coaches from lower levels (D2 and D3) will actually be instructors or will be there evaluating recruits. So, if you don't impress the D1 coaches, hopefully you'll impress another coach that'll give you another opportunity to play college basketball at another high end academic school.

Many of the Ivy schools will host "elite" camps on the same weekend and you'll have to choose which one to go to if that is what you are interested in. There are many more schools that offer them and you'll have to look at the Camps/Clinics section of each school's athletics' website. They aren't always called Elite camps either. Some will be "Prospect" or "Practice" camps.

DISCLAIMER: If another entity (not a school but an organization) says they are hosting an "elite" camp please be aware that these are generally moneymakers and there is nothing "elite" about them. If you have any questions regarding which camps are good or bad to attend, I can definitely answer any questions on Twitter: @coachhop21 or my email: cwhop03@yahoo.com