22 Feet helps prepare USC’s Sedee Keita, others for college hoops

Making the transition from playing high school basketball to high-level Division I hoops isn’t easy, but South Carolina signee Sedee Keita and his teammates at 22 Feet Academy arrive to college more prepared than typical freshman athletes.

The 22 Feet Academy prep school, based out of Greenville, doesn’t have the national prestige of Oak Hill Academy or Findlay Prep, but coach Ryan Schmidt’s team can compete with the most identifiable programs in the country.

Oak Hill recently completed a 45-1 season that was topped off with a national championship win in the Dick’s Sporting Goods High School Nationals. The one loss Oak Hill suffered was to 22 Feet Academy, and while it cost Oak Hill an undefeated season, the perception of 22 Feet changed in an instance.

“It solidified us as a program,” Schmidt said. “When you get a signature win like that it’s kind of like, ‘OK, these guys are for real.’ College coaches and a lot of people have told me you need that one signature win. Once you get that things start to take off. … It changed everything.”

The program has consistently improved its talent each year since arriving in Greenville in 2013. It started in France in 2006 and operated in Europe and South Africa before settling on Greenville.

“Year by year, the talent level keeps increasing and that helps solidify and legitimize everything as well,” Schmidt said. “It’s neat to look back over the past three and a half years from where we started to where we are now. It’s fun.”

The academy has three different teams, the national team, select team and varsity team. The national team’s stocked with high school seniors and plays a national schedule, competing against some of the top programs in the country.

The varsity and select teams are mixed with upperclassmen and younger players. Most of the upperclassmen hope to play college basketball, but it likely won’t be at the Division I level, while the majority of the younger players will eventually play on the national team and potentially be high-major prospects.

In addition to Keita, this year’s national team included Eli Wright, who will play at Mississippi State, Jordan Bowden, who has signed with Tennessee and Justin Miller, who will play at Louisiana Lafayette.

A few other players from 22 Feet are expected to sign to play Division I, including Darius Hicks, who has interest from Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Memphis and Providence.

College coaches are flocking to 22 Feet, not only for basketball players, but for kids who are prepared to be student athletes. Players attending the academy are enrolled at Shannon Forest Christian School, a well-respected private school with more than 500 students ranging from PK3 through 12^th grade.

“I think the academic program is number one, whether it’s colleges, scouts, you’ve got to show legitimacy as far as how you’re running your program because college coaches will come in and see how you run your practices and your program,” Schmidt said. “College coaches know 22 Feet Academy and they think of Shannon Forest Christian School. They know when kids leave here, they’re going to be academically qualified.”

College coaches also know they’ll get players who’ve been through the grind of being a student-athlete at a near college level. 22 Feet Academy players travel the country playing top competition, work on academics while on the go and take part in an intense weightlifting program.

“We take the time to prepare guys, not just on the court, but academically. We grade guys on accountability. We do an accountability test where they have to test over seven different categories,” Schmidt said. “A lot of other prep schools sell tradition and a national schedule. We sell that too, but I think the foundation of what we do is based on player development.”

Keita, who signed with the Gamecocks in the fall, is ranked as the No. 111 overall prospect by 247Sports Composite, and the No. 24 power forward in the country. He said his time at 22 Feet Academy has him ready to contribute at USC.

“When I first came here last year they taught me a lot of stuff about discipline and always being on time,” he said. “It’s really prepared me for college and helped me out a lot.”

While 22 Feet is competing with the big boys, it’s not able to recruit with them. The academy only has a few scholarships to award as most of its players pay tuition. That makes the upset win over Oak Hill even more impressive.

“That’s the biggest difference between us and an Oak Hill or a Findlay Prep or a Montverde Academy, is those programs scholarship 12 guys,” Schmidt said. “That’s something we’ve been able to increase year by year but that was the crazy thing is beating Oak Hill we have four scholarship guys on the team.”

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 8:21 PM with the headline "22 Feet helps prepare USC’s Sedee Keita, others for college hoops."