Why is unsigned talent missing out on Unsigned Hype?

The regular season is over and for a lot of seniors who have not gotten scholarship offers, they feel like they’ve hit a brick wall. However, for the last six years, Unsigned Hype Senior Games, a post season recruiting event, has provided a door in that wall for over 16 players who’ve received division one scholarships. So why aren’t unsigned seniors clamoring to sign up for the April 6th event?

“The misconception is that [Unsigned Hype] is a junior college exposure game,” said Founder and Director James Barrett. “In reality, it’s a college exposure game for unsigned seniors. So being that you’re unsigned, if you have the qualifications to go Division I, these coaches are gonna see the highlight videos. Some of these coaches are gonna see the write ups in credible media sources like NYCHoops.net and maybe recognize somebody that they haven’t gotten a chance to see.”

For those that say that many of the coaches’ present at the games are D2, DIII and JUCO, Barrett said that unsigned seniors are overlooking the bigger picture. “The thing about Unsigned Hype is these college coaches are looking for other jobs so they’re talking to Division I coaches and letting them know that there’s talent that if they can’t recruit right now will be able to recruit in a year or two."

We asked Barrett to give us a laundry list of the players who because of participating in the Unsigned Hype Seniors Games received DI or DII scholarships. The list was surprisingly extensive:

Obidiah Toppin (Dayton), Isiah Deas (Lasalle U), Mairega Clarke (UT Arlington), John Dewey (Sam Houston State), Phil Carr (Morgan State), Wesley Myers (U of South Carolina), Eddy Polanco (Southeastern Louisiana), Tom Rivera (Maryland Eastern Shore), Jordan Washington (Iona), Osa Izevbuwa (NJIT), Gianni Ford (St Francis BK),Dwayne Pow (Niagara U), Jaquan Mckennon (Maine), Ryan Preston (U of Rhode Island), Ezekiel Charles (U of New Orleans), Devere Creighton (Miss Valley State), Devyn Wilson (Portland State), Yaradyah Evans (St Francis BK), Greg Poleon (Pace), AJ Williams (Clark Atlanta), Mike Vigilance (Clark Atlanta), Ronald Jefferson (LeMoyne), Joel Boyce (Coppin State) and Elijah Bailey (U of New Haven).

For those unsigned seniors that want to participate in the upcoming Unsigned Hype Senior Games, tryouts will be on Sunday April 1st at 10 AM at Boys & Girls High School located at: 1700 Fulton St. Brooklyn, NY 11213. There are no costs for players.