Each year, new faces are welcomed into our community by the hundreds. These new ninth graders—of all sizes, resembling all ages, from seven to seventeen—must accept the torch of the Concord Academy legacy and bear it for the rest of their lives. I know I feel that burden every day. Anyway. We must persevere.
As revisit days came and went this April, we current students shouldered the responsibility of staring our successors in the eye. This year, however, such eye contact was a challenge indeed: according to statistics released by Admissions, the average height of each admitted student was nothing less than six feet tall—a whopping two feet above the current average. How could this be? The answer, as always, lies in basketball.
For the first time in school history, thirty percent of the admitted students are basketball recruits. Another forty identify as casual AAU hoopers with hopes of committing to casual schools such as Duke, Purdue, etc. Most surprising is the twenty-foot-tall giraffe entering as a sophomore transfer next year, who will likely serve as the second big man on the team behind Victor Wembayana’s younger brother. It seems that the demands of the board, student body, and parent community have been met at last: CA will officially transition into a basketball school next year.
You might be thinking, Surely, there are other recruits, too! And though basketball remains our number one priority, you would be right! In fact, the unanticipated increase in height average was shown to have been diminished by the recruitment of several new men’s varsity soccer players. The school has welcomed fifteen two-foot midfielders to the men’s team. What's more, the girl’s field hockey team has received a five-dollar gift card for Sephora, which they will split with the girl’s soccer program.
With the next generation of CA on the crest of enlightenment, more than just statistics will be changing around campus. Higher ceilings, increased lenience, and maybe even a few wins here and there for the CA athletics department are but a few prospects to look forward to. If there has ever been one thing this community has agreed upon, it is this: CA is a basketball school, and a fantastic one at that.