Prepping for the future: Nick Klaiber taking different route to college
Nick Klaiber was unhappy with the results of his audit.
Hoping to improve his lot with potential college suitors and give them a better look at the assets he possesses, the recent Bloomington North grad and all-state point guard is eschewing college. For now.
This fall he will find himself at Hargrave Military Academy in the southwestern Virginia town of Chatham, which is just north of Danville.
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"It'll just be six or seven months, so nothing too strenuous," Klaiber said. "I'll have to wear a uniform and report for formation in the morning, afternoon and evening.
"But it will also be good for me, to see if I can adapt to that environment and if an academy can be the route for me."
Gap year
Like many high school recruits, he's been caught in the wash of rosters loaded with fifth and sixth-year COVID-19 athletes and the burgeoning transfer portal. A wrist injury that cost him the entire summer between his junior and senior year didn't help.
He's also been sidelined this summer and will resume playing for an undetermined team, maybe even one based on the East Coast, starting in July.
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"As a senior, I showed out and so did our team," Klaiber said. "But I wasn't content with what I had as far as opportunities, so I decided to go to Hargrave.
"I'll get to play a national schedule which will be six months of opportunities to play in front of coaches."
Klaiber had been talking with Navy and had a brief talk with Robert Morris before the assistant who was recruiting him left for Stone Hill. So prep schools became a strong option, including SPIRE (Ohio) and Northfield Mount Hermon (Massachusetts) but Hargrave won out.
"I wanted a good fit with the coaches," Klaiber said. "And I really wanted a place where they go to class and play like I would be in college. They travel a lot and play the top competition in the country."
Selling points
While the school has a standard high school boys' basketball team, Klaiber will be a part of the post-grad squad that plays a national schedule against clubs such as Oak Hill.
It's a fast-paced system that regularly breaks the 100-point barrier (doing so 21 times last season including a high of 157). Hargrave went 37-5 last year and the Tigers compete in the National Prep Championships at the end of the season.
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Last year's roster had to players from Indiana, Keon Thompson, a 5-11 point guard from Merrillville who just signed with UMass and Leland Walker from North Central, who just committed to Eastern Kentucky. Klaiber and Thompson are friends and former Indiana Elite teammates, so he was a good resource of information during the process.
Klaiber plans to major in forensic accounting, which he hopes could lead to a job with the FBI. And doing that while playing Division I basketball, especially at a service academy or Ivy League program, is his goal.
"I really do think Hargrave will be a good opportunity for me to show in front of college coaches," Klaiber said. "I've kept my head down the whole time and worked on my game and body and also academics, too, my mom being a teacher at North, so all aspects.
"If I just work hard and trust what I do, I'll be at that level."
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Prepping for the future: Klaiber taking different route to college
