North American Academy-NAA

Question: many of RR Grassroots roster are heading to NAA. Were they following Ro with the expectations that he would be there? I am sure it was RR who persuaded these guys in this direction as they weren't headed there a few months ago ie Heslip. Hate to see Brady make a wrong move as it will be his 6th year.

Roster:
Tristian Thompson 6'9 Findlay Prep, NV. Brampton, CAN
Cory Joseph 6'3 Findlay Prep, NV. Toronto, CAN.
Myck Kabongo 6'2 St. Benedicks, NJ Toronto, CAN.
Dwight Powell 6'10 IMG, FL. Toronto, CAN.
Jean Paul Kambola 6'9 St. Benedicks, NJ Toronto, CAN.
Patrick Kabongo 6'3 Central Commerance, CAN Toronto, CAN.
Shamar Bennett 6'4 N. American Academy, PA. Toronto, CAN.
Andrew Wiggins 6'5 Glen Sheilds Middle School Maple, CAN
Kevin Thomas 6'8 N. American Academy, PA. Ajax, CAN
Theon Reefer 6'5 N. American Academy, PA. Toronto, CAN.
Kurtis Ethier 6'1 N. American Academy, PA. Toronto, CAN.
Brady Heslip 6'2 N. American Academy, PA. Burlington, CAN

Please see my post above, the reply I gave to Coach Paul tells the full story.

What that means is any player you listed above who would have been on the High School team will unfortunately not be at NAA, because we will only have a 5th year Post Grad Prep team this year.

What's important for players is Exposure, Training, Academics, and having a solid last year to prepare for College, not Ro Russell or Nate Philippe!

It's about the PLAYERS guys, let's NEVER forget that!

I would prefer not to post anything else on this subject except announcing the Roster, Schedule and positive things surrounding NAA, because that is what's important....the PLAYERS and THEIR well-being and success!

Let's all act like adults, and do things the right way, and be honest with ourselves and everyone else.

ps. if you look back at this topic, I have never announced the NAA Roster or anyone on it (but I will do that when the time is right...)

I will not be posting anything else for a while as my posts have spoken the 100% TRUTH and have been very clear. Please Re-Read them if you need answers.

My post was not attacking but was curious as someone like Heslip jump from Guelph CIS to NAA. I [u]assumed[/u] it was because RR was to be there. I also am aware that Brady has had many more looks since this AAU season playing with Grassroots. Again assume he will be giving Div 1 hopes one more shot with NAA.
I am not knocking NAA by any means. Curious as to why so many are now listed with NAA from above post roster....and this roster was posted a week ago as to where these men have committed.
Looking forward to your posting of the Roster.

They scared of you Coach Ro!

Keep your head up, something better will come.

Those mentioned in the roster above that are high school...where will they end up? There are only a few weeks left before school starts...will they end up back in the GTA high schools or is there help in placing them in other prep schools?
As unfortunate as it is for these players to have the program fold on them, they should be getting some assistance in re-locating. I'm assuming they are so where are they going? Will there be some happy GTA coaches?

Unfortunately, this does not bode well for future generations of potential NAA recruits. Even if this school/program developes beyond a post grad prep team, future recruits from the GTA will remember this scenario & will be hesitant to commit to this school.

I think many people doubted the credibility of this school/program initially when it was announced that RR was heading it up. Now that doubt has been justified.

so coach nate can you shed any light on the players listed to be going to your school? again your seem to be the man in charge. any thought if the heslip kids will honour his commitment to guelph?

My guess is Brady won't be headed to Guelph as from what I have read Guelph were one of the last ones to find out he decommitted to their U just a few weeks ago. They found out through a poster on another forum who knows them well and questioned what was going on. Guelph had no idea.

The bottom line is this! The kids need to focus on they're schooling(education)and developing they're skills to get to the best level! It can be done at Eastern Commerce, Pickering, Emery, Mother Theresa, Brewster Academy, St.Benedicts, Findlay Prep or whatever school u plan to attend. Get your game up...get your grades up....and the eyes and the ears will follow!!! Doors will open!!!!

"My guess is Brady won't be headed to Guelph as from what I have read Guelph were one of the last ones to find out he decommitted to their U just a few weeks ago. They found out through a poster on another forum who knows them well and questioned what was going on. Guelph had no idea."

Now if this is true... WoW... says a lot about the kid and his advisors.

Coach Nate... don't you think... telling Guelph would've been "the right thing to do?"

Guelph was elated they got Brady. Prize recruit to build around for the next 5 years. That one hurts.

It's really disheartening to hear that a young man would have such little consideration as to officially commit, allow the university to issue a press release, all the while planning on competing in AAU to pursue that desirable D1 scholly.
It doesn't take much to tell the CIS coach that you are still hoping for that D1 opportunity. They won't hold it against you.
After all Enrico DiLoreto has done just that with Windsor. He is hoping for that U.S. opportunity and if it doesn't come thru, he's headed to Windsor. He's been open with them about that and they haven't included him yet in their recruits listing for that reason.
That's how it's done.

I have one question for anyone who can answer.
Do you know what will happen to the highschool players that did commit to NAA?
Will they still be on the roster next year?

this announcemnt does not surprise me. i said earlier there seemed to be something fishy since coachp kept telling us how "stacked" and "loaded" all the teams were, but couldnt release any rosters? kept telling us it was a process. well now it all appears to be false promisies to these players and parents. hopefully people will realize the grass is not always greener on the other side. stay in Canada, work hard, study, go to aau tourneys in summer and if you are good enough you will get your scholarship. i give rr credit for creating exposure to players through aau ball. it appears in this naa sitution, that coachp made his own "deal" with the coo/ceo of the school and maybe "sold ro out", that is what is appears like from the outsid. i look foward to grassroots next post, with more info as there last one said "stay tuned"

Hey Guys, I'll keep it brief.

As I said before, the Rosters will be announced when the time is right, and with all of this news blowing in the air, it doesn't seem like the right time.

The High School players will be going to other schools for the upcoming year either in Canada or the U.S. and I wish things could have turned out differently for them as I said in my last post.

Regarding Brady Heslip, as I've never announced the rosters, I never said Brady was part of the Program. He is still weighing his options with his family, and NAA is a possibility, as is the University of Guelph. Let's remember he is still a young man trying to make tough decisions, and too much pressure shouldn't be put on his shoulders. (btw. I am not involved in Adidas Nations in any way, and had nothing to do with that roster.)

As far as Coach Ro goes, I've outlined what happened in my last couple of posts, and again I wish things could have worked out differently.

Everything is fine with NAA, and the reality is that there is still a lot of work to do actually running the Program, so I can't spend a lot of time on negative posts etc.

If you have any specific questions, or would like to inquire about games/Tournaments, I can be reached at nbphilippe@hotmail.com

Still important that we keep the Players and their Families in mind, since they are going through a tough time right now.

Thanks for all the support!

http://www.adidasnations.com
On the roster, Brady's school is listed as N. American Academy.
Where did they get that information then? Is this really not a done deal?
His last educational institution as of the end of June2009 was Nelson HS, Burlington Ontario.

Inconsistencies such as this are what feed the naysayers.
I'll support those heading in a positive direction, but this is one instance where a question of integrity comes up.

I just edited my post to answer your question Rec...

I'm not questioning your integrity as you've been very open but I have to question that of the player/handlers etc. that released that information to adidasnations. It's not about whether it's the best decision for this player but how this was handled with Guelph. Those coaches are getting their information on message boards!! They look at the roster on that website and see their new recruit listed as attending another insititution and it's news to them. This does reflect poorly on NAA, whether it's warranted or not.
Unfortunately, you're the "go to" guy here for any information and it looks like you'll be on the hot seat for awhile but I do appreciate your effort to answer all questions.

thanks coach, with you being the head man there you have had to answer some tough questions, but as the head man how does that adidias roster get littered with your instituitions name?

Hey, I have nothing against Brady whatsoever. Everyone deserves a shot at a dream. However NAA was 'littered,' as posted, above, on the Grassroots roster at Adidas Nation that is why everyone is questioning. Agree, a tough decision for the Heslip family as NAA would be his 6th year and then hopefully a strong D1 offer or go directly to Guelph this year.
Can't wait to see your roster....should be very soon I suspect.

Thanks coach.

Hey Guys, I'll answer that Adidas Nations question once and for all and put the issue to rest...

I did not submit the Adidas Nations roster, and as you can see on the Coaches list on they're site, I am not affiliated with that team.

The players that were noted as going to North American Academy by the Adidas Nations Coaches (or whoever submitted the roster) were supposed to attend NAA in theory if the High School program had worked out, but since it didn't, not all those guys will be at the school, unfortunately.

I will release the roster shortly, and yes Brady is a great player and a good kid that deserves to be successful and achieve his dreams!

I don't mind answering tough questions since I have nothing to hide! I'll be swamped the next few days though so don't expect any other responses for a while, I do have get some work done too right?

All the best guys, and thanks for your support of me and NAA!

relax nate and enjoy the rest of summer, thanks for your answers.

I'm sure many of you have heard, but I just wanted to wrap up this topic with a final update on North American Academy/NAA...

Unfortunately the program will not be moving forward this year due to lack of player commitment (5 players de-committed 1 week before school and numerous others were missing their deposits).

This brings to an end a program that took a lot of work to try and build and a process over 6 months that obviously had a lot of ups & downs. Any new business obviously takes a huge commitment to build, and this was no exception.

There has been a lot of discussion over the past few days about Prep vs. Canadian Schools, and I can say personally everything I did with this program, I did to try and provide opportunities for players to develop, get exposure and help them get to the next level.

Thanks to all who supported me and NAA over the past 6 months, and obviously wish things had worked out differently.

All the players that had committed have been assisted in finding new programs, and I am currently in the process of making decisions for my future with my family.

I know there were many people that wanted this to fail, just like there were many that were hoping for it to succeed and thrive. To both of these groups I just ask that you keep in mind, this is a difficult time for many people's families and to please keep posts civilized and positive.

Thanks again to everyone for their support, and please know that I did everything possible to make this program succeed, unfortunately it wasn't meant to be (but everything happens for a reason)...

Coach Philippe - I know we all get a little over passionate sometimes but ...regardless of the for/against Prep, all the best of luck to you and your family as you make this transition!

Best of luck to you Nate. It's too bad it didn't work out but glad to hear the players weren't left completely in the lurch.