DENVER — "We have to get in shape," Xavier Silas said, as he hung over the rails of Red Rocks park in Morrison, Colorado.
It's conditioning day for Colorado Prep, the newest team on The Grind Session. It's an elite league for the best players in high school basketball, and former CU Buff Silas knew there was a market for that in the Mile High.
"It was sparked with lack of exposure in the region, especially within Colorado," the founder said. "I came here and I saw that a lot of players were DI-caliber players, but they weren't getting those offers, and so this was a solution to that problem."
Silas is recruiting top players in what he calls the Mountain West region, made up primarily of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Kansas. Junior Dylan Sanders stood out as a sophomore at Smoky Hill, but he's ready to take his talents to the next level.
"This is the best opportunity for me to get better as a player," Sanders said. "I want to push myself to get better for that DI and NBA level. I feel like Colorado Prep is the place to do that. With Xavier, he's a great coach, great trainer, and I know he'll help get me there."
He's already helping Sanders get there. In only this past summer, Sanders has already received offers from Harvard, Princeton, and Northwestern. The latter stoked a lot of interest in Sanders, who is originally from the Chicago-area.
For all of these players, familiarity is hard to break. It's easy to fall back on the state-sanctioned high school sports. So how is he recruiting top talent away from their traditional high schools? That answer was easy for Sanders.
"I just want to chase my dream of playing in the NBA one day. That's the biggest thing. I want to make sure I can provide for my family and make sure they're okay."
To further ensure that his players' dreams will be more of a reality in this situation, Silas broke down the success of the Grind Session league.
"When you sit down with the kid and say that the Grind Session, which is the league that we're playing on, has had over 1,500 DI offers in the last six years, 72 guys have gone on to the NBA and 9 guys have been lottery picks and then you have Jalen Green, the ESPN number one player in the nation playing on the Grind Session, it's a no-brainer for someone who wants to take basketball seriously."
The numbers speak for themselves, but the competition will bring the scouts out to the games.
"[We'll be] playing against the best teams in the country, that's going to be the biggest difference," Sanders said. "If we can put together a team where we can just play together and work hard, we'll be able to compete against all of them."
Whether or not they mesh, will be key in an inaugural season.
"One of the main things I wanted to do was have high-character guys, guys that I know would fit with what we want to do."
It's looking good, so far. Even just during this conditioning day, the guys stuck together as a unit and pushed each other through the grueling stairs of Red Rocks.
"That just really shows what kind of team we already are. We haven't played a real tournament yet but that shows that if we're down we can pick each other up and have each other's backs," Sanders said. "I just hope I can keep being that person and keep being a leader for this team and help this team grow."
Colorado Prep is looking to align itself with a local business for sponsorship. Visit their website at coprep.org for more information.
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