Over the past couple of weeks, the Friends-Select Varsity Basketball team began to hold “open gyms” for college coaches to watch and recruit players of the Friends Select Varsity Boys’ Basketball team. The open gyms are giving players the opportunity to get exposed to a lot of college coaches in the tri-state area, including Drexel University.

Friends Select Athletic Director Bill Klose is continuing to establish connections with college coaches around the area. “We try to stay in contact with college coaches to give our student-athletes as many opportunities as possible,” he says. 

Tiko Morris-Louis ‘24 believes that playing for the Friends Select Falcons is giving him a lot of opportunities within the recruiting process. “Friends Select is a good opportunity to connect with college coaches,” said Tiko.

Isaiah Marshall ‘25, who came to Friends Select in 8th grade, knew the opportunities he would get academically and athletically. “I came to Friends Select so I can be exposed to more colleges on a higher scale, and I believe I made the right choice by doing so,” said Isaiah. 

A lot of players have begun to transfer from schools all across Philadelphia and its suburbs. This includes student-athletes Owen Coughlin ‘25, who transferred from Wissahickon High School, and Zaire Reid ‘25 who transferred from Springside Chestnut Hill. There are also players that have begun to come from different middle schools across the city of Philadelphia, such as 9th grader Reggie Moore ‘27.  “Players are transferring every single year because of the opportunities they see,” said Tiko.

The Friends Select Varsity team is also going to “live periods”, where they play games against different teams around the area and a pool of college scouts watch. These live periods allow players of the team to get seen in a game setting throughout the summer and the fall. The Friends Select Varsity Boys’ Basketball team is getting in front of many college coaches, and they are starting to make a lot of noise in the Philadelphia Basketball scene. “We just want to make sure that when they see Friends Select they are interested,” said Bill Klose. “We try to make sure our student-athletes are [being] seen to give them the best opportunities.”

The Friends Select Varsity Basketball team will continue to get in front of college coaches throughout the upcoming season, officially starting on November 17th against Pennington High School.