BOO WILLIAMS SHARES HIS OPINION ON ATHLETES RECLASSIFYING - ALL-MET ELITE

BOO WILLIAMS

SHARES HIS

 OPINION

ON ATHLETES

 RECLASSIFYING 

 ALL-MET ELITE

MATT COLEMAN
MAURY HS.

NORFOLK VA.

Boo Williams, Hampton Roads' nationally known AAU basketball coach, said reclassifying has been going on for decades in larger cities, and he doesn't expect the trend to slow any time soon.

"That one year makes a huge difference," Williams said. "It could make the difference of you going to school for free or paying. And it's the difference of being a top-100 prospect or not being ranked at all. So it's hard to tell a kid to not reclassify."

Matt Coleman, one of South Hampton Roads' rising basketball stars and now a freshman at Maury, repeated eighth grade. Coleman, who turned 15 last month, is an honors student who plays on Boo Williams' elite AAU team.

"I knew I was going to reclassify from the moment he started to walk," said Coleman's father Cliff, a former standout basketball player who is in his 16th season on the coaching staff at Apprentice School. "We made the decision from just watching the culture of basketball. Most of your better players have that extra year, and when they become juniors or seniors, they are your stronger and more dominant players."

Williams said the same can be said about Coleman.

"If he doesn't reclassify in middle school, then he's a really good 10th-grader," he said. "But now that he's reclassified, he's one of the best players in the country."