brianwr112
Well-known member
Most of these type schools start with sports that that are either individual or small teams. Cheaper and easier to field. Agree it's going to be near impossible to just start a competitive football team out of nothing.
Braxton Miller and new Ohio Prep School
- Thread starter ELKSONE
- Start date
TroyTrojan05
Well-known member
Shows how much I know. Had no idea Urbana even closed.
George S. Patton
Well-known member
Is this school a real thing? If so when will it open?
cavfalcon7377
Active member
I don't see this ever getting off the ground. It would probably take +5 years to financially sustain itself once operational. Not saying it couldn't be done, but there better be some really deep pockets $$ willing to lose some money.
neofootball10
Active member
The reason IMG was successful is had big tennis academy money and the the NFL athletes trained there and it became a LAX force which allowed it to give full scholarships to 4 and 5 star athletes. It doe not hurt that it is located in Florida by the beach either.
It's been 10 days and no word from Franklin University. Maybe the press release was premature.
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nwwarrior09
Well-known member
Should start off just trying to offer postgrad for basketball and slowly add prep basketball and some individual and small team sports over 5-10 years. Get established small, and try to start a postgrad football program after getting established with the smaller sports with prep aspirations in football being added much later on.
Somebody needs to have very deep pockets and be willing to tolerate massive losses for several years if they want to try to start off with prep football right out of the gate.
That would make sense except for one thing--they're buying an entire college campus to operate this venture. Whatever form it takes, I can't imagine any scenario where this could possibly be financially viable.
WishYouWereHere
Well-known member
“Some people who know some people” once said that the original plan was this…
OSU was planning to be the purchaser of UU. It was going to be known as OSU-Urbana; just like OSU-Newark.
But this would be the only junior college in Ohio that would be part of the NJCAA. A 2-yr college with all the athletics to go with it.
Football, soccer, tennis, basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball, etc.
I was hoping this would come true.
I still do.
OSU was planning to be the purchaser of UU. It was going to be known as OSU-Urbana; just like OSU-Newark.
But this would be the only junior college in Ohio that would be part of the NJCAA. A 2-yr college with all the athletics to go with it.
Football, soccer, tennis, basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball, etc.
I was hoping this would come true.
I still do.
That would be a much better plan. I just don't see the sustainability with what Braxton is planning.
BeaverAchiever
Active member
That would have been nice. Hocking College is the only JUCO in Ohio with football presently, I believe. Sad to see the improvements made at Urbana's facilities going to waste. Is anyone using them now?
WishYouWereHere
Well-known member
No. It’s blocked off with No Trespassing signs.
RollingTrain
Well-known member
That would probably be the only way it’s sustainable. There has to be huge money behind this to get anything going and having it be a part of OSU is probably the only way to go. It’s obviously nothing but small communities around Urbana and kids aren’t going to transfer in and pay big $$ for a prep school. Their families don’t have that kind of $$ and they tend to be loyal to their communities. But having it be an OSU extension like OSU Newark would be a big draw IMO.
I think the idea was for it to be a boarding school that would draw students from throughout the Midwest. Based on the press release, it's hard to tell what the plan is now.
The Launch Pad Sports Complex in Cocoa, Florida seems to be a much bigger project but there's been no word about that at all.
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MontetheCarlo
Well-known member
Attending Ohio State is proof of that.
I wasn't questioning his education, just pointing out the lack of a degree or experience in the field of education. This is supposedly going to be a private college preparatory boarding school. I would think some prior experience might be necessary. His heart seems to be in the right place though, it just seems like he has a lot of lines in the water.
Next question: Is DNA Prep Academy a real school in California? Apparently not.
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Is this another scam? According to the press release, "the acquisition group is led by Paul Holyfield, founder of both DNA Prep Academy (dnaprepacademy.com), a cutting edge school for athlete development that is providing the Institute's schooling foundation, and WLTHE (wlthe.com), a fintech-based ecosystem that is facilitating unique investment opportunities in the project."
One slight problem, the school doesn't exist and the "fintech-based ecosystem" is selling MLM bottled water. And none of the web sites are even close to functional. Anyone know what is going on in Urbana?
One slight problem, the school doesn't exist and the "fintech-based ecosystem" is selling MLM bottled water. And none of the web sites are even close to functional. Anyone know what is going on in Urbana?
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If the deal isn’t going to come to fruition, or even if it is, it won’t be anything we know for months at the earliest. These things take time to come together, and time to fall apart as well.
RollingTrain
Well-known member
A
Anytime you try and start something like this with “investors” it’s trouble. Because something like this doesn’t make money and never will. It will never get off the ground. That campus is an aging albatross. The only feasible way for anything good to happen there would be if OSU decided to make a western Ohio branch campus there. Having their financial wherewithal is the only way to make something happen.
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
Lot easier ways to make money than trying to open a facility like this.
I'm only referring to the sale of the property. Franklin University announced on March 8 that it had entered into a purchase agreement with a buyer and that a final sale would be announced upon completion of its due diligence process. That was 10 weeks ago. A due diligence period is usually 30 to 60 days.
RollingTrain
Well-known member
If Franklin was smart they'd darn near give the thing away or donate it and use the tax write off. That place is huge and upkeep is off the charts. It's too bad Urbana HS couldn't have acquired the fields. It would have been cheaper than trying to upgrade theirs like they are trying to do now.
I agree.
Franklin is a not-for-profit university. I don’t know tax law, but I’m not sure a write-off would help them?
Also no word from The Braxton Miller Foundation which I thought was the group spearheading the whole effort.
Nah, not getting off the ground won’t be the top story.
the HBO bishop sycamore documentary plus them trying to schedule games again will make them the top story two years running
Well that's the gift that just keeps on giving. Maybe it'll only be the top fake school story in California because DNA Prep Academy doesn't have any students. Which is odd since they paid $9 million for the campus two years ago and all they have is an aspirational web site. I would think they would want to get that grade 1-8 sports & arts-centered school off the ground before buying a college campus.
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