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Steven
Marcus http://www.newsday.com/search/ny-skmarc0710,0,4876867.column#topix |
Making the grade at summer camp
July 9, 2007, 12:39 PM EDT
SUNY Old Westbury basketball coach Bernard Tomlin had a blue
chip prospect on campus during the season and envisioned the young
man playing on his Division III team next season.
Then he discovered it would never happen.
``He had an 85 average but he didn't take the SAT,'' Tomlin said of
the Scholastic Apitude Test, an absolute requirement for those
aspiring to play at NCAA-member institutions. ``He was a student
who worked and also liked basketball. My buddy noticed him in gym
class and said he was an incredible player. The kid came out here
and shot around and from a talent standpoint he was excellent. But
he's not admissible here because he didn't take the test. There
still is an educational component missing in some school
districts.''
That unfortunate episode prompted Tomlin to undertake a pilot
program this summer by combining an on-campus four-day basketball
camp and SAT preparation course for high school aged boys and girls
aged 14 to 18. The first session, for girls, runs Aug. 2-5. The
boys get their turn Aug. 9-12.
Tomlin, a Hofstra graduate and two-time coach of the year, is
calling it the Sat Prep Basketball Academy. If they teach the SAT
course, will they come? ``I think there is a need for it,'' Tomlin
said. ``Traditional camps have worked. This takes it to another
phase and offers another component. I think it is something people
will take a good look at.''
Most summer camps are skill oriented. Coaches tutor young players
and perhaps a pro or former pro shows up for an autograph session.
If the campers don't make the SAT grade (820 for Division II, a
combined formula of grade point average and SAT score for Division
I and usually at least 1000 at many D-III's) most will never get
the chance to perform at the NCAA level.
Assisting Tomlin in the venture is Yale graduate Ira K. Wolf, who
runs PowerPrep, a SAT preparation course taught widely on Long
Island. Wolf has written a dozen books on preparation for several
standardized tests. ``What we hope to accomplish when the kids are
with us is that they become familiar with the most important
strategies in dealing with the test,'' Wolf said. `` They will
learn why it is important not to try to answer every question on
the test, why there are questions they should never look at, what
questions they should spend more time on and how to pace
themselves.''
Wolf said most students take the SAT test in the spring of their
junior year and many retake it as a senior in hopes of improving
their total score. The maximum score is 2400; the average national
score is 1500. ``Incoming athletes, he said ``are substantially
lower than that,'' though the NCAA claims, without hard statistics
to prove it, that athletes across the divisions have higher SATs
than the general student population.
While Tomlin's camp is not targeting any particular group of
students, ``This is not for the academically challenged or
economically disadvantaged students,'' Wolf said, Tomlin's hope is
that future camps gain corporate sponsorship and free tuition can
be given to some deserving students based on financial need. The
current cost is $750, which includes camp, lodging, meals and SAT
prep. The fee is $650 for commuters. The day will run from noon to
about 10PM, with two classroom hours devoted to SAT
preparation.
The hope is that the campers will leave with better skills on the
court and in the classroom. ``They'll get benefit from just being
in the class,'' Wolf said. ``If they pay attention they'll get more
benefit.''
Tomlin said he and those running the camp expect ``very little''
personal compensation from tuition, so the incentive here does not
appear financial. For further information on the camp call (516)
876-3466.
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