One ’N Done

There are lots of ways to measure success, and—in Montverde’s case—a slew of numbers that set the program apart. You can start with the record. Since Boyle’s arrival in 2011, Montverde has posted a 288-24 mark. Rings? They ’re running out of fingers. Officially, Montverde has claimed six GEICO Nationals championships, including the 2022 tournament title back in April. And the 2020 squad was 25-0 and the consensus No. 1 team in the nation before Covid brought a premature end to what likely would’ ve been another title run.

And then there are the players. Four of the past eight Naismith national high school players of the year have come through Boyle’s program, and since his arrival, the program has placed dozens of players in Division I college programs. Montverde has also produced a gang of NBA Draft picks, including more first-round picks than all but a handful of college programs. And the résumé is only getting more impressive. Looking back at his 2020 team, which staked an undeniable claim to the mythical national championship and produced a pair of future first-round picks, Boyle is matter of fact in his assessment that it was “perhaps the greatest high school team ever. ” They ’ ve got a hell of a case.

The secrets to that success are anything but; the ingredients are easy enough to identify. It’s just that few have put them together as successfully as Boyle and his staff at Montverde.

“I think number one, we have a really good culture at the school in general, ” Boyle says of the 130-acre campus. “It’s a really good academic school, and all the kids at the school have a plan for what they ’re trying to achieve, whether it’s basketball, soccer, swimming, the arts, robotics, you name it. There’s a maturity on campus—when we instill our culture as a program, it helps that the school also has a good culture. ”

That program culture comes with benefits—first-class facilities, a schedule that includes virtually every other elite prep school program in the country, regular appearances on ESPN—and of course, every alumni NBA success story is a draw for the next class of future pros. But at the end of the day, all of that is more about the payoff than the work. The grind is where the culture is instilled and reinforced, and where all that talent is sharpened. That’s where you find the heart of the program.

“The structure is the selling point, ” Boyle says. “That’s why so many of our guys immediately excel in college, and so many of them excel in the NBA. ”

Montverde is a program with lots of rules and at least as many expectations. “If you miss a homework assignment, we know about it within an hour, ” Boyle says. Needless to say, that level of accountability is matched in the gym. Reaching for a recent example, Boyle cites Dariq Whitehead, the Duke-bound star of this past season’s national title squad, who lost his starting spot for a couple of games last season because, in the coach’s words, “He was getting lackadaisical. He was distracted by college stuff, NIL, all that. We have those conversations all the time with the guys—you gotta be where you are if you want to get where you ’re going. There’s not going to be any corners cut. ”

The coaches know that motivation comes in different forms. Boyle and his staff—including assistants Rae Miller, who’s been with Boyle for 30 years, and his son, Kevin Boyle Jr, whom he credits with playing a huge role in the development of Barrett, the New York Knicks star and 2018 Montverde alum—put heavy emphasis on film work, especially when there’s a chance to compare their players to pros with similar skill sets. “They see the guys they look up to doing it correctly, ” Boyle says, “then they ’re hearing it from us in practice, and then seeing it again on video. ”

Of course, there’s a flipside to that approach: The examples of players with just as much natural talent who failed to realize their potential. “We’re constantly going through guys who were ranked high but didn’t make it, who didn’t have successful careers, ” Boyle adds. The message doesn’t need much elaboration. The corners can’t be cut.

Buy-in is essential at all levels. It’s a given that future pros are supposed to put up gaudy numbers at the prep level, but that often doesn’t play out at a program as stacked as Montverde. Boyle references that 2020 squad, on which none of the team’s four soon-to-be

Achiuwa, Class of 2019

Boyle

first-round draft picks averaged more than 14 ppg. “I think Scottie [Barnes] averaged 11 a game, ” the coach says. “They all bought into the daily competition that makes you better. ”

His peers—by which we mostly don’t mean other high school coaches, basically none of whom can come close to matching his résumé—appreciate what makes Boyle’s program so dominant. It’s the same mix of standards and culture they prioritize themselves.

“Kevin runs his high school program like an elite college program, ” says Jay Wright, the recently retired two-time national champ at Villanova and Basketball Hall of Famer. “His skill development for guys on and off the court is phenomenal. That’s why he always has one of the top teams in the country. ”

Added Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, when asked about Boyle at a press conference last season, “I think Kevin’s one of the outstanding coaches in the country—forget about high school, prep school, college or pro. They produced more lottery picks last year than any college. He knows what the heck he’s doing. ”

It had to start somewhere, and for Boyle, it started in New Jersey. That’s where he turned St. Patrick (NJ) High into a national power and helped develop the likes of Al Harrington, Shaheen Holloway, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kyrie Irving in his more than two decades in charge. Boyle cites Michael Frazier II as the guy who made the strongest impression when he first made the move to Montverde—a player whose dedication and work ethic helped establish his culture. Frazier’s name might not be one you remember, but his impact speaks to the qualities that matter most to Boyle.

“Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had an NBA career because he played so hard; I think he overachieved because he was such a competitor. He set a great tone for us as a program, ” Boyle says. “Al Harrington was another guy, just an incredible competitor—lived in the gym, wanted to get better. ”

Boyle has no shortage of big names to drop, particularly from his decadeplus at Montverde. But that’s not really the point. “One of the most rewarding teams of my career was coaching St. Joe’s grammar school in Roselle, New Jersey, ” he says. The names matter because he wants to win, and NBA talent makes it a lot easier to win at any level. But, ultimately, it’s about helping guys maximize their talent, whatever their ceiling might be. It’s that mindset that makes it easier to hold his players accountable, whether they ’re future pros or simply the very good high school players who fill out his rosters each season.

“We’ ve been here 11 years, I was at St. Pat’s for 24 years, so I’m not worried about coaching somebody honestly and pushing them hard, ” Boyle says. “You tell me you want to be a pro, you understand you ’ ve got to do A, B and C to get there, and then we hold you accountable. Usually, if you communicate that, they understand. They trust it. They look at all these guys making 20, 30 million a year, and they wouldn’t go anywhere else. ” S