More than 100 area high school coaches joined some of the country’s top collegiate coaching talent for a half-day clinic at Archbishop Stepinac High School on Wednesday, including former national championship University of Kentucky coach John Calipari, and former New York Knicks player and coach and current Indiana University Coach Mike Woodson.

Now in its fourth year, the St. Ignatius School 2023 New York Coaches Clinic featured three coaches with a distinct interest in Stepinac basketball talent — namely nationally-ranked point guard prospect Johnuel “Boogie” Fland, who just entered his senior year at the White Plains high school. Stepinac’s basketball team won the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) Boys’ Basketball “AA” title in March.

Coaches from three of the universities Fland named on his final list of eight potential landing spots participated in Wednesday’s clinic: 2012 national champion John Calipari of the University of Kentucky; former New York Knicks player and coach Mike Woodson, now at Indiana University; and Nate Oats of the University of Alabama. Fland’s other choices are the University of Maryland; the University of Michigan; the University of North Carolina; St. John’s University; and the University of Connecticut.

Despite the top coaching talent assembled in the Stepinac gymnasium, Fland and his teammates weren’t on the court — NCAA recruiting rules prohibited their attendance at an event such as this, Stepinac Basketball Coach Patrick Massaroni, the clinic’s organizer and host, told The Good Newsroom.

Fland met with Woodson Tuesday night, and was expected to meet separately with both Calipari and Oats during their visit to the area.

Each coach ran through drills for a different aspect of the game, such as Indiana’s Woodson presenting on daily practice warm-ups as a means of maintaining player conditioning.

When it comes to coaching, “Nobody’s wrong and nobody’s right. It’s how you get your team on both ends of the court to do what you want to do at a high level,” Woodson said.

Massaroni spoke about coaching student players like Fland as they enter their final year of high school and prepare for potentially bigger things at the university level. 

“The best thing for [Fland] is that he’s got a great immediate circle and family, his mom and dad at home. He’s got his travel coach, and he’s got me and my staff. From a basketball standpoint, the good thing is that we’ve done it before. This is not our first high-profile player. From the other side of it, be a student first. Enjoy your high school experience. Enjoy your senior year because things change when you go forward,” Massaroni told The Good Newsroom in an interview on the clinic’s sidelines.

The event benefits St. Ignatius School in the South Bronx.

——————–

Sign up for The Good Newsroom’s weekly newsletter, a summary of our top stories and events, here.