I like how you ignored my post. What would you call Whitney Young then? They're a public school with open enrollment on the West side of Chicago yet Micheal Jordan's son who lives on the Gold Coast plays there even though he lives closer to about 20 high schools.
Save your 'glorified AAU' comments because there are literally hundreds of high schools nationwide with good teams made up of players from other areas. If my son has a lot of talent when he reaches high school I'd much rather him go to a place like Hopkins where he can maximize his potential and have a shot at a scholarship than go to a school with a poor program. That is even more true with football. There are a lot of bad coaches out there and I couldn't handle watching a poor coach waste my kids talent. Now obviously there is a lot more to school than sports but parents send their kids to private schools to be challenged academically so I see nothing wrong with sending them somewhere to be challenged athletically.
I didn't ignore your first post, it just wasn't all that relevant. I don't know anything about that Illinois school's history with transfers, I don't know where their school is located, where they got the transfers from, the education level of the school, etc. so it'd be worthless to argue that.
And.. about the high school coach.. come on now. Unless you're sending your son to an Oak Hill or St Anthony's, or a school along those lines, high school coaching is extremely over rated. The kids that make an impact as freshman in collegiate basketball don't do so because they had great high school coaching, they do so because they had elite talent. Royce White was going to be the best player in the state whether he played for Hopkins or Holy Family. If you want your son to be challenged athletically, how is sending him somewhere like Hopkins going to do that? Sure, they have extremely hard practices.. according to the loyal Hopkins fans on this board. But playing for Hopkins was not an athletic 'challenge' for any of the 4 D-1 seniors. It was probably one of the easiest, least stressful years these kids have had in the last 6+ years.
Also, you proved my point.. they are a glorified AAU team. You said you had no problem with kids choosing a school because of sports, and suggested you would do the same for your kids.. isn't that EXACTLY how you'd choose an AAU team? It is what it is, Hopkins is the State Champs, I just find it hilarious how the Hopkins faithful continue to be so blind and SWEAR their team does nothing wrong. Even the ones that admit SOMETHING is happening, they blow it off by saying "Well, it's okay, because I'd do the same thing for my kids." What if your kid was the starting PF for 6 years, a solid player, but not a star by any means, and then he gets relegated to bench duty in his senior year because a new kid gets expelled from his old school, moves into your district strictly to play Basketball, and is given the starting spot because he's the best player in the state? I find it extremely hard to believe you'd be okay in that scenario.
If Tubby ever leaves I think the Gophers should look seriously at Novak.. he's definitely a better recruiter than Monson was..