Duke and UNC get to see two of their top recruiting targets on display in Raleigh

Brewster Academy (N.H.) coach Jason Smith came to Tuesday’s postgame press conference alone. His team’s 71-63 loss to Raleigh’s Word Of God Christian Academy was less than a secondary concern after the clock had already passed 10 p.m.

Smith wanted to ensure his players got something to eat before a night’s rest and another game versus Good Better Best less than 15 hours later.

“Kids are dealing with enough stuff right now,” Smith said. “They don’t want me screaming at them or on their case. Truthfully, they’re giving up so much.”

Smith expressed gratitude for the opportunity to play three showcase games in the John Wall Holiday Invitational on Wake Tech’s North Campus. He praised the environment within a thriving triangle basketball landscape, including ACC powers North Carolina and Duke.

The Tar Heels and Blue Devils are involved in recruiting battles for two Brewster 6-foot-10 juniors. Matas Buzelis holds scholarship offers from both schools. Teammate Taylor Bowen has a Blue Devils offer.

North Carolina coach Hubert Davis and assistant Brad Frederick were at Monday’s Brewster game against Burlington School. Jon Scheyer, who will become Duke’s head coach next season, and assistant Nolan Smith attended the Brewster-Word Of God game.

“They are going to have some wonderful opportunities to further their educations in some of the most prestigious programs in the country,” Smith said of Buzelis and Bowen.

Both players netted 10 points and shot better than 50% from the field in their loss to Word Of God.

Smith’s resonating words when contemplated fully offer a grounding perspective that, while reinforced by the ongoing pandemic, transcends time. The coach first affirmed “opportunities to further their educations.” Then, he cited “most prestigious programs.”

Davis, Frederick, Scheyer and Smith represent just one of many “most prestigious programs” on their respective campuses. North Carolina’s and Duke’s academic programs will fuel lifelines for Buzelis, Bowen and other Holiday Invitational participants once basketball has finished its course.

Or, if basketball has to be put on pause.

The pandemic precluded a 2020 Holiday Invitational for the first time since the event’s 1972 inception, and college games are being regularly postponed this season.

“I kept waiting for my head of school to call me up until Christmas to tell me we weren’t going to go,” Jason Smith said.

Giving up holiday season games pales in comparison to student-athletes, particularly like Brewster’s boarding high school students, sacrificing entire academic terms away from home. Then, again, they travel to play before dedicated fans during a traditional school break. There, too, are lingering possibilities of pandemic-induced game postponements and cancellations.

Hardening these realities all the more, Smith said, is that Brewster’s students have had anything but a traditional boarding experience.

“The best thing about boarding school is the relationships you build with your peers — in the dorm, in the dining hall,” Smith said. “They’re told now, ‘Get your food. Go back to your room. Only be in your room with your roommate.’ ”

This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 2:33 PM.