[nannook]

Read this article. Anyone know about this program in Jackson?


Updated: January 7, 2013, 5:02 PM ET
By Dave Telep | ESPN RecruitingNation

The search for the lost sophomore


The first time I encountered sophomore Jamar Ergas (Toronto/22 FT Academy) was last summer at the Elite 24. I'm still not sure how he did it, but Ergas made his way into the slam-dunk competition. When I saw his name, I immediately did a Google search on him.

As a dunker and athlete, he was more than legit. Then he proved himself and won. Listed as a player at Riverside Academy in North Carolina (my home state), I walked away excited about the next three years.

So here we are in January and no sign of Ergas, who transferred last year from Montverde. After a few calls, I was still being told he was in North Carolina outside Lumberton. Nope. Burlington Academy in Burlington, N.C.? Nope. Not Riverside either.

So I'm thinking, how hard can it be to find a guy these days? I turned to Twitter and didn't receive the correct answer. Later in the day, a supposed student tweeted me that she'd heard Ergas was enrolling in her school, Breathitt County in Kentucky, in the next few days. This was getting interesting.

I tracked down Ryan Schmidt, a name that kept popping up regarding Ergas. Schmidt is Ergas' coach at 22 FT Academy in Jackson, Ky., about an hour and a half outside Lexington. Only 22 FT Academy isn't a school. The players attend Breathitt High in Jackson. They play for 22 FT Academy, a program with roots in Europe as a basketball training school, which competes against prep programs and junior colleges.

Still with me?

Here's a sophomore originally from Canada who attended one school as a freshman, transferred (not sure how many times) and is now playing in Kentucky. It's early, but realistically you begin to wonder about transcript issues down the road. I'm not picking on Ergas. He seemed engaging and eager in August at the Elite 24, but he's on track to attend college in 2015 and time is ticking on that transcript. The NCAA is serious about making entrance into college tougher for student-athletes (especially beginning in 2016).

I'm pulling for this guy to have it figured out and hoping that the folks instructing him can provide the stability and academic guidance needed to transition from high school to college. This one looks complicated already and it's not halfway through his high school career.

Make no mistake, though, Ergas isn't the lone guy in the boat. Student-athletes need to understand the gravity of the NCAA's focus on transcripts and academics.