Nation’s Top Prep Team Sees the Country in Style and Wins at Every Stop : Flint Hill Program No. 1 in Perks, Too

PINE BLUFF, Ark. —  How Stewart Vetter transformed Flint Hill Prep, a tiny private school in Oakton, Va., into the nation’s top high school basketball program is a point of debate among coaches in northern Virginia.

The locals say Vetter, in his 12th year as the Falcons’ coach, built his team with a keen eye for talent and a strong sales pitch--they think he recruits.

Vetter, of course, denies those allegations.

But on one point, no one disagrees: Flint Hill is the best program in the country, and Vetter can offer more to the prospective student-basketball player than any other coach in the nation.

A glimpse at the Flint Hill brochure:

--Travel section: The Falcons, an independent team that doesn’t belong to a league or state organization, spend much of their season traveling around the country to compete in the best high school tournaments.

This season, Flint Hill spent Christmas in Honolulu playing in the Iolani Tournament. The Falcons also played in the Blue-Chip Classic, a one-day tournament that drew 20,000 to the Riverfront Coliseum Arena in Cincinnati, and the Superstar Classic in Norfolk, Va.

Flint Hill is currently competing in the King Cotton Tournament, which has attracted five of the nation’s top 25 teams to Pine Bluff. In past years, the Falcons have competed in tournaments at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, New York City and Las Vegas.

“If you’re a top player and want to play the best competition, Flint Hill offers the vehicle to do that,” Vetter said. “I wouldn’t trade any state championship for the types of tournaments we play in.

“And, we stay at the nicest hotels.”

--Tradition section: Flint Hill has a record of 266-51 the last 12 years and has produced several Division I players, including Mike Pepper (North Carolina), Darrick Simms (Virginia) and Sam Jefferson (Georgetown).

The Falcons have been ranked in the Top 20 every season since 1980-81. They finished 23-0 last season and were ranked No. 2 in USA Today’s final poll. They are 9-0 and ranked No. 1 this season.

Flint Hill, which plays Mater Dei tonight for the King Cotton Tournament championship, has one of the nation’s best high school players in 6-foot 7-inch forward Dennis Scott and one of the best sophomores in 6-6 forward Arron Bain.

--Academics section: Vetter boasts that all of his players who have received basketball scholarships have earned college degrees or are still in school.

To graduate from Flint Hill, a co-ed school of 300, kindergarten through 12th grade, students must take advanced math (algebra II and trigonometry), advanced science (chemistry and physics) and three years of foreign language.

Classroom situations are ideal. The ratio of students to teachers is 6-1. To receive accreditation each year, Flint Hill must place at least 90% of its students in college. Vetter said the school usually achieves a 100% rating.

The basketball team even has its own academic adviser, Susie Ramirez, who acts as a liaison between the faculty and the team. She accompanies the team on the road and monitors the players’ studies. The team also has mandatory study halls--an hour a day, four days a week.

“We’re preparing kids not only for basketball but for college,” Vetter said.

Travel. Luxury hotels. College scholarships. Great competition. Great school. What more could a kid want?

“When you can offer trips to the Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Las Vegas, I can’t blame the kids for going there,” said Jim Parker, coach at nearby Loudoun County High in Leesburg, Va. Dennis Scott had attended Loudoun County for a year before transferring to Flint Hill.

“I’m not happy about it, but I have no animosity toward Dennis or Stu,” Parker said.

Parker didn’t always feel that way. For years, he fumed about Vetter.

“He says he doesn’t recruit, but it’s pretty much known throughout the area that he does,” Parker said. ‘We just can’t prove it. I’ve lost about three or four of my top players to him. A couple of years ago, I would have been nasty toward Stu, but I’ve mellowed. It’s something I’ve learned to live with.”

It’s difficult to nail Vetter on recruiting charges, because the program sells itself.

Every year, Vetter says, he receives calls from about 50 players interested in attending Flint Hill. He believes it’s his obligation to tell that player all about the advantages of attending Flint Hill.

You can imagine how those conversations go.

Henry Hoopster: Hi, Coach. I’m interested in coming to Flint Hill next year . Can you tell me about the schedule? Coach: Sure, Hank. Can I call you Hank? Great. We open at the Tahiti Tipoff Tournament, spending a week at Club Med. Don’t forget your swimsuit. We come home for a few weeks, then fly to Las Vegas for a Christmas tournament. We’ve reserved 18 suites on the top floor of Caesars Palace . . . . Henry: Caesars Palace? Coach: Hey, it’s the best we could do, kid. From there we go to Pine Bluff, Ark., to play in the King Cotton Tournament--probably the most competitive tournament in the country. Henry: Pine Bluff? Do they have hotels there? Coach: Well, yeah. We’re at the Holiday Inn, but you’ll have a king-sized bed, and a steam bath and hydro-massage in the bathtub. Hey, it beats the Admiral Benbow Inn. Henry: Sounds great, but isn’t all this expensive? Coach: No problem, Hank. The tournaments pick up most of the tabs, and we raise enough money for the rest. But you’ll get all the mileage for your frequent flyer program. Henry: What about tuition? I don’t know if we can afford the $4,000 a year to go to Flint Hill. Coach: Don’t worry, kid. Your folks can refinance the mortgage . . . . Many have the impression that the Falcons are simply a traveling all-star team, but they’ll miss only four days of school this season.

“Everyone thinks our kids don’t go to class, but that’s a gross misconception,” Vetter said.

“Any time you’re at the top, people are gonna take shots at you,” he said. “But for every negative thing they say about our program, I can say 10 positive things. We’re successful, not only in terms of wins and losses, but with what our players do after high school.”

The coach maintains that Mike Pepper, who was an average player as an eighth-grader at Flint Hill but blossomed into a major college prospect in 1977, provided the springboard Vetter needed to build the program.

Pepper received scholarship offers from Louisville, Syracuse and North Carolina. He chose North Carolina.

“The kids in the area saw (Tar Heel Coach) Dean Smith here and it was a big event,” Vetter said. “They knew Flint Hill was a good school, academically, but now they saw that it was a good basketball school. From that point on, many of the good players from northern Virginia wanted to attend Flint Hill.”

Vetter began upgrading Flint Hill’s schedule and was soon playing such national powers as DeMatha and Dunbar high schools from Maryland and many of the top Washington, D.C., schools.

Many of the nation’s best high school tournaments sought Flint Hill. The Falcons were a great team, and a great draw.

But on the way to the top, Vetter left a trail of bitter coaches in his wake. A few years ago, the Northern Virgina Boys Basketball Coaches Assn. voted not to schedule any games with Flint Hill because it requires students who are academically deficient to repeat a grade.

Dennis Scott averaged 20 points on the Loudoun County varsity as a freshman, but when he applied for admission to Flint Hill the next year he didn’t have the grades necessary to become a sophomore. So he was classified as a ninth-grader and is currently playing his fifth year of varsity ball. He just turned 18.

Bain played as a ninth-grader at a junior high in West Virginia but enrolled as a freshman at Flint Hill.

“Another one of the reasons our A.D. doesn’t schedule them is that if (Vetter) sees one of our good kids it may give him a further opportunity to cut into our program,” said Jim Parker, Loudoun County coach.

“None of the local coaches are happy about it, but maybe if I was in the same situation I’d do the same thing. He has to find kids who want to come there.

“Of course, it’s a lot easier when you’re the No. 1 team in the nation.”