Robert Icart: 25+ Years of AAU Wisdom—How to Pick the Right Team & Prep School

Unlock the Blueprint for Basketball Success with Coach Robert Icart
 Join Cory Heitz and Coach Robert Icart, founder of BTI AAU—a powerhouse program in Southern California that has produced 11 NBA players, 40 international pros, and countless D1 athletes. In this no-nonsense episode, Coach Icart pulls back the curtain on what it takes to develop elite guards, the realities of AAU basketball, and how to choose the right prep school for your athlete’s future.

Discover the intangibles that separate NBA players from the rest, the culture that builds champions, and why life skills learned on the court translate to success off it. Coach Icart also shares his personal journey—from turning down college jobs to building one of the most respected AAU programs in the country—and how he helped his own son, Justyce, navigate the prep school process.

💡 Key Topics

📌 NBA vs. D1: The intangibles that set players apart
📌 How to evaluate and choose the right AAU program
📌 Prep school recruitment: A parent and coach’s perspective
📌 Developing elite guards for the modern game
📌 Life after basketball: Skills that translate to success
📌 Building a winning culture in youth basketball

🏀 About Coach Robert Icart

Robert Icart is the founder of BTI AAU, a premier basketball development program based in Southern California. With over 25 years of experience, Coach Icart has mentored 11 NBA players, 40 international professionals, and hundreds of D1 athletes. His philosophy centers on holistic player development, blending athletic excellence with life skills to prepare athletes for success on and off the court. Coach Icart is also a trusted advisor for families navigating the prep school and college recruitment process.

🔗 Connect with Coach Robert Icart

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/roberticart.btihoops/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/btihoops/
Twitter | https://x.com/roberticart

🔗 Connect with Cory:
 
Website | https://www.prepathletics.com
Twitter | https://twitter.com/PREP_Athletics
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/prep.athletics/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/PrepAthletics
Email | coryheitz@gmail.com
Phone | 859-317-1166

🔖 Subscribe to the PREP Athletics Podcast:

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Transcript

Cory Heitz (00:00)
Hey friends, welcome to the prep athletics podcast. I'm so glad you're joining us here today. I'm proud to have coach Robert Icart on and Robert is the founder of BTI, which is an AaU team based in Southern California. He's been doing it since 1997 and he's had 11 NBA players come through there, 40 international professional players and tons of players that have gone D1 all over the country and players at every level. ⁓ we talk about the formation of this.

What has NBA professional players possessed that got him to that level? What makes a D1 ⁓ guard in this current day and age? And we helped his son, Justice, find a prep school last year. So we talk about that and even more. So this is a great conversation. I think you'll find very informative. And one thing we talked on too is how to pick an AAU team and what to look for. So very valuable stuff in this conversation. If you like what we've got going on here, please feel free to share this with somebody.

and then go to the prep athletics website at prepathletics.com, sign up for a newsletter to make sure you don't miss any of the latest goings on in the prep school world and enjoy the podcast here with coach Robert Icart of the BTI AaU club. Thanks for joining us.

Cory Heitz (01:33)
Robert, welcome to the podcast.

Robert Robert Icart (01:36)
Welcome, thank you for having me, Cory.

Cory Heitz (01:38)
Yeah, it's good to have you here. And you started your AAU program BTI back in 1997. Tell me what led you to want to start one.

Robert Robert Icart (01:47)
Yeah, 1997, I was working for an organization while I was coaching high school, just got out of college. It was called ARC. ARC and Slammin' Jam were the first two basketball organizations in LA County, like Orange County, LA, Ventura County. ARC was one of the prominent bigger ones along with Slammin' Jam. so what happened was the director came and kind of believed in me and said, hey, I want you to, uh,

not take a college job. I was actually going to go to Northern Arizona. Ben Howland had offered me a job in Northern Arizona and he said, I want you to coach my top 17 U team that had Casey Jacobson and Luke Walton, who were both NBA players. And I did that under him while I created BTI as a training Institute. At that time, there was no training for basketball. was pitching coaches, golf coaches.

tennis instructors. So 97, 98, I started doing training, whether it was in house training or skills clinics, no dribble leagues, ⁓ know, shooting clinics, you know, different kind of scenarios that allow kids to develop their skills. And then shortly after that, I created my own teams. And so in addition to having the skill training skill training, ⁓ I also incorporated high school club teams and

And that was like 98, 99 when we started to have our own BTI teams.

Cory Heitz (03:15)
Got it. So now it's 29 years later since you started it. What makes BTI different?

Robert Robert Icart (03:19)
Yeah.

I think our culture, I know a lot of people talk about culture, but one of the things that I did was I studied, a lot of guys would study X's and O's when they get into college.

or high school or trying to build a program. And I was studying culture, like what makes Toyota so powerful? What makes the Rams, the hockey teams, the football teams, the basketball teams? I was studying the cultures of different successful programs. And I think we implemented something that's a little unique. It feels like a fraternity. The alumni in our program are fully engaged. And we built it on principles, on really biblical principles, but we built it on principles

that would allow us to be sustainable over time. ⁓ We didn't build it on trying to get the best players. So we laid down a foundation. ⁓

on work ethic and selecting the right guys that are of a high character, who value their academics, that have our values, that love the game of basketball. And we went with those guys early on and built a great foundation and had a lot of kids going to obviously some top academic colleges. And they laid down a really great foundation for us to be successful.

Cory Heitz (04:38)
Gotcha. So if you have a really good player come to you, but he doesn't have the grades, maybe he doesn't have the character, BTS is probably not the right fit for them.

Robert Robert Icart (04:47)
Yeah, think we attract people, ⁓ like the athletes that come to BTI are attracted to our values and what we do both on and off the court. And I've seen the kids move on to not just Ivy League schools, it could be high academic division threes, it could be Stanford. I mean, we've had kids that, you know.

lower academic division one schools as well. ⁓ But I think all in all, they see that the culture, the way we care ourselves, the way we conduct on and off the court, our coaching staff, you we've got

I think the best coaching staff in AAU, we have eight college coaches right now on our staff that are coaching at the division two or division three level. So I think that they instantly see that and they see the matriculation of where our athletes are going to four-year colleges. And then just the things that we did off the court in terms of we have a sports psychologist that does mental training workshops. We have always done SAT and ACT prep.

Cory Heitz (05:26)
Bye.

Robert Robert Icart (05:47)
And that was something that was a little different. We had life skills workshops. ⁓ I mean, our alumni. ⁓

have came back and taught our kids how to buy and sell trade stocks. So we've always embraced unique things that were life after basketball skills. So if you're not a life after basketball guy, you're not thinking down the road like that, ⁓ then you're probably not attracted to BTI. But if you're thinking, hey, I love the game, I want to play at the next level, but I also want a life plan after basketball. ⁓ I want to kind of incorporate what I'm doing on the court right now.

and using that for life down the road, that we're the place for an athlete like that.

Cory Heitz (06:34)
So that being said, if a player in Southern California wants to play for BTI, like what's that process look like?

Robert Robert Icart (06:41)
Yeah, our staff goes out and evaluates, ⁓ you know, kids from all over Southern California. So we go and watch games. And, you know, just like colleges, we know the better programs. There's obviously out here, the Mission League, the Trinity League are two of the best leagues in the country. And there's a plethora of high academic student athletes. So just within our backyard, within 30 mile radius, there's 12 or 14 schools that I know.

Cory Heitz (06:49)
Mm-hmm.

Robert Robert Icart (07:10)
are always at year in year out are going to have high academic student athletes that kind of fit our culture and who can hoop, who can ball. So we are always going to pull from there and then outside of that the last three four years we've been able to reach to top level guys outside of the state.

neighboring states and in the Bay Area. So we have kids flying into Utah, from Vegas, from Arizona, ⁓ San Diego, Orange County, obviously. So we're drawing from a wide range of... ⁓

you know, of areas now, but, ⁓ you know, the competition is there's more competition now too than say 10, 15 years ago. There was, ⁓ you know, a handful of teams like, you know, 12, 15 years ago. Now there's a, a team in every corner, you know, it's, it's like a Starbucks. So it's, so you gotta really be on top of your game and, and, you know, we're always going to be, I think, ⁓ we're going to be sustainable just because of the foundation that our alumni and

our guys have left and built and the coaching staff that we have. So we're always going to be able to track top level guys. But typically we go and find them. And then there's a good majority of the kids that will seek us. They're looking for a club and then our name will usually come up as one of the options for them. then uniquely we can service anyone. So if a kid wants to be a medical doctor and ⁓ play at MIT,

⁓ We have a culture that embraces that and we'll put gasoline on that passion. But we also have a kid like this year that's a top 10 kid in the country that's going to Kansas. So we can accommodate any athlete, integrate them into our program and our culture and they can thrive and succeed.

Cory Heitz (09:04)
Yeah, I love that. I love the variety there. ⁓ now there's a conundrum and preps under an AaU that families deal with all the time. And you mentioned you have multiple teams. You know, some kids want to be on the top team with all the studs. and does that make sense if a kid's not going to play as much, even though he's getting more exposure, the few minutes he's in a game, or does it make sense to play on like a team with not as much talent with maybe not as many college coaches, but they're getting more run on the court? Like, how do you deal with that parent question that must come up every season, Robert?

Robert Robert Icart (09:08)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's every season that's been since year one. I think when we created multiple teams, the thing that I was aware of was, you know, every team needs to have value, whether it's your quote unquote top team.

⁓ or if it's your fourth or fifth team, whatever team at that age group. So they're gonna have long-term value and they all gotta meet the needs of the student-athlete. So if a kid is looking for more development and if we think he's not ready and he may need a post-graduate year, then we say, hey, it's gonna be better to play maybe.

you know, on our second or third unit, it's still very competitive. ⁓ And that unit will allow you to get reps and get opportunity to play and develop and grow. And then you come back the following year.

⁓ And then now you have a chance to earn a scholarship or get multiple offers. ⁓ But we've also been a little different. I don't know if there's a club in the country the last four years and even going back to six years, we've had multiple teams with Division I players on them.

So we have a kid at Brown this year that started for us that played in the prep hoop and hoop troop circuit while we had another. ⁓

top team, top level team playing in the New Balance at that time. Pro 16 was under New Balance playing in that circuit. So we had a kid going to Pepperdine, kid going to Brown, kid going to Penn, and they were on a team in another circuit. So we kind of spilt it as, this is our, we don't have an A team this year. We've got three strong teams and we're going to build units and have multiple division one guys or prospects on each team.

and market it that way and go to different circuits and be kind of the top team at that circuit. So because we have quality depth, we've been able to sell that. Now, once we got with Puma and Puma's like, you know, going 100 miles an hour right now trying to be the top circuit in the country and, you know, they've left it.

created a really high standard for top level talent. So now it's clear that we gotta have a top level team with some high level prospects.

to be able to compete at that level in the pro 16. And then we've always, regardless of whether we were independent or we were with Puma for four years, we're under Adidas. We're always trying to play the best teams in our, what we would call non-conference schedule. So if we're not in circuit, then we're trying to play EYBL teams. We're trying to play Adidas through SSB teams, the best teams, the high level programs like the Compton Magics.

Cory Heitz (12:16)
Mm-hmm.

Robert Robert Icart (12:21)
the Oakland Soldiers, why not down here, strive for greatness, all the teams within our region that we can play. So we try to stack those games, gives ourselves some relevancy and we've had a lot of success against those teams. So whether we win or play them tough, it's just really good for us to compete against those guys.

Cory Heitz (12:43)
When families not just in Southern California but around the country Robert are looking for an AaU team for their child, are some things they what are some questions they should ask or what are some things they should do?

Robert Robert Icart (12:56)
I think the first thing is who the coach is and who the players are. So it's not, it's just like in college, it's not the name on the jersey. I mean, we have a great tradition and.

And we've had a lot of success, but then it's just like a school. You can have an amazing school, but if that math teacher, that eighth grade math teacher is not strong and those kids in that classroom are not locked in, that's going to be a bad experience for those kids. like you've got to, you got to find out number one, who the coach is and who are the players that my player, that my son is going to play with. And then I think thirdly, you know, making sure like going also back to your last question is like top team versus second or third.

team, where am I going to, where can I play on the best team where I can get a meaningful experience or value that will help me long term. And if a kid is, you know, ready to star right now and play at the highest level and, and attract, you know, top level colleges, then, then he should be on a team that they can showcase that, but maybe he's

You know, still developing and a good player. ⁓ So, you know, he needs some reps. He needs some time to grow and maybe mature physically. Then that, then that kid should look at, you know, making sure that he can still get minutes on a quality team. He may have to move down to a, you know, maybe a lower tier team to be able to compete. But I know for us, ⁓ pro 16.

It's been amazing and even their second division, which is the pro NXT has been very, very strong. And then we've also had a strong group go to hoop group, which has been an amazing circuit as well for us. And that's allowed our guys to get East Coast exposure. ⁓

Cory Heitz (14:39)
Mm-hmm.

Robert Robert Icart (14:47)
So I think if parents are, you know, find out who the coach is, find out who the players that your son is going to play with, because that's ultimately very important. And then your opportunity, you know, there's no probably guarantees. At BTI, our coaches know that everyone has to play minimum 10 to 12 minutes per game. That's something that I implemented. It's not YMCA like 50-50, but we keep smaller rosters, typically eight to nine. And so what that allows

Cory Heitz (15:13)
Hmm.

Robert Robert Icart (15:17)
our coaches to get everybody in and get some minutes and get some opportunity.

Cory Heitz (15:22)
I love it. And you guys every summer do it East coast tour. Tell me a little bit about that.

Robert Robert Icart (15:28)
Yeah, probably it was 19 years ago. I had a couple kids that were really talented. ⁓ They were they weren't aware of families were great students. ⁓ And they weren't aware of really Ivy League schools and I was just kind of.

Getting into it, I had a team ⁓ just a year before that had six kids go to the Ivy and then we had so much success and those kids were having such a good experience. And I was like, I gotta find a way to get more guys into these Ivy League schools because this is just, you know.

an amazing opportunity for them to grow, be in a program too that's not transfer oriented. There's stability and you're to have, you're going be able to develop through the course of the program. And so I took these two young men, we rented like a, Geo Metro and stayed in like a one-star hotel. And for, for six days, we just bounced around and saw all the Ivy league schools. And, uh, it was a great experience for them. And, uh,

They both ended up getting scholarships. They both didn't go to an Ivy, but that allowed me to build like intimate relationships with all the coaches ⁓ in that league. I mean, we went to every single Ivy and so that's, there was a lot of driving, ⁓ you know, filling up the tank and just going from Cornell to Dartmouth to down in New York city, obviously Columbia and Harvard.

You know, Penn Prince, I mean, we were we were all over. So we covered all the all the schools and then we saw some other Patriot leagues on the way as well. And so now every year we in late July, early August, we do an East Coast College tour that usually includes 18 to 20 schools. It'll include ⁓ obviously.

five or six of the IVs depending on which region we focus on. They'll participate in three elite camps during that seven and a half day tour. And then in addition, we'll go see some Patriot League schools. We've seen West Point, we've seen Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh.

We'll go see a few of those schools. We'll see a good handful of four or five Division III schools, which we've seen some amazing places like Williams, MIT, Tufts, Babson, you name it. We've been NYU. We've been all over there. And then lastly, we'll go see some boarding schools, some prep schools, which has been a really great option for a lot of our guys. Maybe the secret sauce of BTI has been getting guys an extra year to really

grow and mature develop athletically academically and socially so when they do go to a Northfield Mount Herman or an Exeter or Newman you know or one of these great places and they get on campus see a tour they're like wow this is

This is amazing. So now when we're having the conversation about, hey, I think you could utilize this extra year and maybe do a postgraduate year at a national prep school, they're a little bit more excited about it because they've been on a campus and seen it. They met the coach. They've been able to kind of, you know, have some interaction with them. So that's been great. So in that eight days, seven and a half, eight days, we'll also go.

Get on the subway, go to a Yankee game or Red Sox game.

You know, eat some food at some historical places, which is always fun culturally. You know, we did a thing at Rucker Park and hung out there for a couple hours. We've been to the Hall of Fame at Springfield Mass. You know, a ton of games, major league baseball games through the course of the year. And so it's been a great experience. It's a life-changing, I think, experience for the young men that go. We usually take anywhere from 20 to about 30 guys.

Some years we've had 36 guys and they have a blast. They still talk about it when I see them and guys that are 25, 30 now that that was maybe one of the funnest experiences that they had in their lives.

Cory Heitz (19:36)
That's awesome. And that's I said, the box thinking and you learn, you make connections every time you do it. So it's, it's fun for you, but it's also informative. So, with that being said, you know, you visit the prep schools and this year, you know, your son graduated high school in 2025 and you decided to send him to a prep school for a post-grad year. Walk me through that. Cause you've been doing this for 29 years and then it's time finally for your son to make this jump. Why did you think prep school was the best fit for him?

Robert Robert Icart (19:43)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, he was at a really tough school called Polytechnic in Pasadena, and it's a grind. I mean, it's right across the street from Caltech.

It's got the highest level of national merit scholars in any school in California. It's really tough like the Harvard Westlakes and the Brentwoods, know, very rigorous. So I told him his senior year, look, I know you're going to grind. You want to play basketball in college. You could utilize an extra year. I didn't want to like twist his arm and force him to do it. I wanted him to take ownership in it. He had been on these trips, so he had seen some of these great schools. And I told him, you could take some pressure.

off yourself right now, your senior year, focus on your grades and hoop. You don't have to worry about applications and recruiting. And ⁓ you could just focus on hooping, keeping your grades up and then worry about the SAT after you graduate. And so he kind of sat down and thought about it. At first he was a little resistant because a place like Poly or even a Harvard Westlake, ⁓ some of the high academic schools, there's pressure to just matriculate right on because all your peers are going off and

and

applying and going off to top schools. So, but at his school, the kids that had played recently at the next level had actually done postgraduate years, some of his former teammates. And then obviously being at BTI, he'd seen the benefits of it. He's one of his mentors was Mia Aoni, who went to Suffield and then obviously Yale and then NBA. So he's been exposed to it enough to where he could.

Cory Heitz (21:34)
Mm-hmm.

Robert Robert Icart (21:41)
He could kind of say, OK, there's a lot of value in this year. And I just thought for him, he's a mature kid. He's a very good student. ⁓ I thought the year would allow him to figure out, number one, do you really want to play at the next level? ⁓ Because now you get an intense environment. He's playing at, obviously, Western Reserve Academy. And ⁓ one of the things I did was, excuse me, yeah, he's been at Western Reserve Academy.

Cory Heitz (22:03)
Western Reserve Academy, Western Reserve, There you go.

Robert Robert Icart (22:10)
Excuse me guys, and obviously as a father, you know, I'm aware of the business and that side of it, but I retained you, Corey, because I wanted my son to work with someone who I felt was of high quality and I could trust to walk him through the thing and just me be a dad. I didn't want to be the basketball dad. I just wanted to just be a dad and uh,

let him make the decision. And I think it's been for him, I've seen just in the six, seven months, tremendous growth, ⁓ just socially and just the way he's processing things. ⁓

You know, he got straight A's in the first semester and took some challenging courses. And I actually told him, hey, you don't have to beat yourself up. You've been doing it for four years, taking all these AP's and honors classes at Poly. And he really wanted to challenge himself and figure out, hey, I'm going to take microbiology. And if I hate it, then I'm probably not going to be a doctor. ⁓ so he took it, loved it, got an A in it. And now, ⁓

You know, he's having success in the classroom there. And I think it's been a great year from a basketball standpoint. He's battled through some injury a little bit, a little plantar fasciitis, which I think has been good for him because he's learned how to deal with that. He's never really been hurt, you know, his whole career. And so this was the first time he's having to deal with something like that. But I think he's enjoyed the team. The culture is really amazing. I think too with a boarding school or an environment like

that you're interacting with so many different types of people like in your normal high school it's just kids from a 20-mile radius you all go to the same restaurants malls and I mean he's got a teammate from you know Albania you know Canada I mean just so he's learning he's getting this a whole level of perspective beyond just your little 30-mile pocket I think that's what

Cory Heitz (23:57)
Mm-hmm.

Robert Robert Icart (24:15)
That's what's been really good. the basketball staff there, they have a great culture. The kids are rooting for each other. It's very genuine. ⁓

So he's been great and wherever he goes, I mean, I knew at his level he was gonna be like an academic D3 guy and that's the level he was trying to develop into. But I think wherever he goes now, he's gonna be a little bit more prepared. I'd say a lot more prepared. Just, I mean, he's had to go to the gym and go to class in the snow and get up. When it's 10 below zero, he's had experienced that. think he's gonna hit the ground running wherever he goes.

in a four-year college and really thrive, both on and off the court. So ⁓ I'm a big proponent of it. I've seen 70 plus kids in our program ⁓ go that route. And I think now with the portal. ⁓

you know, and just how things have changed, you really have to be mature and almost a finished product to get recruited. So that postgraduate year or reclassing at a prep school is gonna allow, I think, most kids to be recruited now. And that's probably the route that they're gonna have to go unless they're a top 100 guy or top 50 guy, then you know, it doesn't matter.

Cory Heitz (25:37)
Right.

Right. Well, thanks for sharing your personal experience with that. ⁓ I've got an NBA question, but first, can you off the top of your head name the NBA players that have come through BTI? Or at least some of them?

Robert Robert Icart (25:44)
Yeah.

yeah, absolutely.

I recently right now, it's Zaire Williams ⁓ who's been amazing. ⁓ I going back, I the first guy that I trained and worked with was Gilbert Renis and Casey Jacobson, Luke Walton, Amir Johnson. ⁓ KJ Simpson was on our 16 U team that went 34 and two. He's a guard for the Charlotte Hornets. ⁓

You know, so we've had 11, you know, make it to the NBA and now we've had 47 that have gone off to play professionally overseas. So we're approaching 50 guys now playing overseas. We had a guy that just signed a contract last night. so that's, but those are just the smallest of guys. And ⁓ me, Aione is kind of the unique one because he was committed to a division three. ⁓ And then I kind of.

had kind of intervened. He was he was committed to Williams and and I just thought the level he was playing at and where he really wanted to go in life. I felt like he needed to have an opportunity to get the extra year. And when Yale came out and saw them, they just were dumbfounded at how good he had gotten. And so he went to prep school, went to Yale. And then after his junior junior year at Yale, he was. ⁓

drafted in the second round by the Utah Jazz. So that's probably one of the great BTI stories. And he turned down a lot of high majors to go to Yale once he kind of blew up.

Where the year prior when he committed to Williams, mean, I was begging like Dartmouth, Cornell, was begging those guys to take him. It's just a guy and let him earn it. the next year, they're all begging to try to get him. It was a crazy story.

Cory Heitz (27:48)
Well, here's what I want to, I want to piggyback on that is your players that came through BTI that played professionally now, like what do they have in your opinion that gets them to that professional level? Are they born with it? Do they develop it? What's the consistency you've seen? Because everyone wants that billion dollar answer of how do I make it to the professional level? And you've been around so many of these players, like, is there a secret sauce they have?

Robert Robert Icart (28:07)
Yeah.

I mean, I think they gotta have some God given talent, know, you know, size and talent to be able to get to that NBA level. I mean, we had 11 get there, but I think the clear thing and the most important skill is discipline. The ability to defer. Yeah, discipline is key. Like being able to build a schedule. being able to put together your schedule and say, hey, I'm going to shoot for.

Cory Heitz (28:16)
Mm-hmm.

Interesting.

Robert Robert Icart (28:42)
you know, from nine to 10, I'm going to get in the weight room from 10 to 11. I'm going to eat lunch. I'm going to do this 11 to 12, like putting together a calendar and then being, being married to it and being disciplined about it and doing what you, you know, have to do to do what you want to do down the road. So I think the guys like the Zayers and the, you know, guys like the Miaione's that we've had.

The thing about them is they're just extremely disciplined in their approach. And so that's allowed them to get to that level. ⁓ In addition to, mean, obviously they have some, like I said, athletic gifts. But I tell the parents and kids all the time, if there's one skill that you want to take from this program, I think that will help you. Long-term, most important skill is going to be discipline.

⁓ It's just, it just is and that's, I've seen that in guys careers, the lack of discipline. And I've seen guys really take off guys that were, shouldn't have been division one or shouldn't have been D3 and then have amazing careers.

Cory Heitz (29:34)
I love it.

Love it. I'm gonna ask you a question and ask everybody that comes in this podcast. What does it take to be a D1 guard in today's day and age?

Robert Robert Icart (29:56)
Yeah.

Wow. think a few things. think I would say like there's an emphasis in size now at that position, just the way the game has changed. Guys are a little more selective. If you're like an under a six foot guard, you have to be extremely athletic and fast. But I think the bottom line is if you can create simply for others and you can create for yourselves and you have demonstrated great floor leadership.

then you could be a division one guard. You step on the court and make plays for people, whether it's get a paint touch and create for a big or shooter. And you can consistently do that and make other players better while being able to score when need be. I think that's what the guys at the next level are looking for. And then obviously you got to be able to defend that position as well. ⁓ But the games evolved so much that there's not my definition of a point

point guard would be my favorite player is Magic Johnson. So I look at it as someone that's always trying to facilitate and create opportunities for others and making the game easy for them.

And now you're seeing more scoring point guards and emphasis on shooting. ⁓ So I think the most important skill now is after size and athleticism, it is shooting because if not, someone doesn't have to guard you. But I think for Division I guards, you have to be able to for people, for your teammates, and then be able to create for yourself enough to put some stress on the D.

Cory Heitz (31:17)
you

I love it. We're do a couple of quick hitters now, Robert. right. In your playing career and growing up, who's the best player you ever played against?

Robert Robert Icart (31:51)
Ooh, I would say I was early 90s. I was I was late 80s, early 90s. I mean, the guys that were that were out here in my era. mean, my teammate, I would say tomorrow, Duncan, I was part of the state championship team. He was a guy who went head to head with every day and he was a good division one guard.

But that was I would say because I was trying to stay in front of him every practice ⁓ But I would say the best guy that I've coached against ⁓ I think the best guy that I walked into a tournament and said this is the best player I've ever seen there was probably three guys number one was Shay cotton who still to this day I haven't seen anybody physically that imposing it was like LeBron but

Cory Heitz (32:36)
⁓ yeah.

Robert Robert Icart (32:43)
you know, just a different level of, I would say even intensity the way he attacked the rim. And then Derrick Rose, I mean, I saw him get an outlet and just weave through traffic like Barry Sanders and just, you know, he could run you over, could weave through you. That was the best high school guard I had ever seen. I thought Derrick Rose was unbelievable. ⁓ And then competitor, Kevin Garnett.

I remember walking to a gym in Vegas the first time and coaching AAU and I just, I was blown away. I mean, there was nobody like a Kevin Garnett. I mean, he's just intimidating and posing. His motor was constantly on and 6'11". He was just unbelievable. Those are the three best I thought in my opinion.

Cory Heitz (33:35)
Okay, what's your favorite movie?

Robert Robert Icart (33:39)
Oh man, favorite actor is Denzel Washington. So I'd say it's going to be one of his movies, but I would say a funny story. Probably my favorite movie of all time. My top three that I used to play for my teams back when I was, this was like, I don't think you'd get away with this now, but it was good fellows. So I love good fellows and casino. Those were, those are great. But

But Malcolm X, Denzel Washington's movies, Moe Better Blues, Training Day, just thought Denzel was my favorite actor all time. And ⁓ fortunately, I got to coach his son. So that was pretty great experience. But yeah, Goodfellas, I can still watch that ⁓ to this day. That was a hell of a movie.

Cory Heitz (34:25)
nice.

Probably on TV right now too, playing somewhere. That and Shawshank are always on. ⁓ And lastly, when you're not doing all this basketball stuff, what are your hobbies?

Robert Robert Icart (34:39)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Ooh, salsa dancing. My family's from the Caribbean, so before my son was born, it's funny because people don't really see me that way, but I used to go salsa dancing like four or five nights a week. So I would do all my basketball training, get home at 9, 9.30, eat something, and then go salsa dancing. It's big in Los Angeles. There's a lot of places to go, but that's a...

That's probably my funnest hobby is salsa dancing. And I fell in love with tennis during COVID. So I was playing tennis three, four days a week during COVID and just love that game and just the mental side of it and the competition, the activity. ⁓ So those would be my two favorite hobbies.

Cory Heitz (35:24)
Okay.

Okay. Is there anything you want to touch on that we didn't mention in this podcast before we get out of here?

Robert Robert Icart (35:52)
I think... ⁓

I would say one of the things that for us that's kind of made us successful, I was trying to think back before I got on this with you, is why have we been sustainable for so long? Because there's so many clubs that have been in and out. And I think...

You know, I think the reason behind our sustainability is because I was really passionate about giving athletes a platform to be the best version of themselves, both on and off the court. And I think while other clubs were probably focused on just on the court, we were a little bit one step ahead. ⁓ And like I said, we're fraternity, so we're.

you know, guys are also calling me about, I'm graduating from college. I want to go in investment banking. So now I'm getting my phone and trying to see who I know, which parent do I know that could help one of my guys in investment banking, or they want to go to medical school, or they want to go to law school. And so I think our numbers, we have eight medical doctors, 18 attorneys, and now we're over 60 with MBAs or master's degrees. And I think

think that's the thing that makes me smile the most. So when I'm in my grave at some point and I'll be moved on to heaven and I think that will be the thing that makes me the most happiest is seeing all the guys that.

You know, have moved on to life after basketball and kind of utilize the skills that they learn in basketball or BTI. And some of the guys that are attorneys and doctors say, man, that's where I learned it all. I mean, I learned a lot in med school or law school and had to study for the bar, but just how to manage teammates and integrate with personnel and take instruction and be down 20 and play against a seven foot guy. And I'm only five nine and

That's how they learn how to compete in life and be able to be a good man and lead a family and be a father and be a husband. So I think the culture that we've kind of created has facilitated that. So that's the thing that I'm most proud of.

Cory Heitz (38:17)
I love it. It's all transferable. I love it. You do that with your culture and everything. Robert, you're a good friend. It was a pleasure working with you and justice in the process of helping him find the prep school. And we've worked together in the past. We're going to work together in the future. And I wanted you to come on and just share a little bit more about your philosophy and everything. So thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate it.

Robert Robert Icart (38:20)
Absolutely.

Yeah.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Yeah, pleasure. It was awesome. Thank you so much.

Cory Heitz (38:39)
Yeah. And if you guys like this, be sure to subscribe and all the major podcasting platforms and our YouTube channel. If you want to know more about if prep school is right for you, go to our website at prepathletics.com. We reach back to everybody that reaches out to us and share this for the friend. We love to expand this and make sure everyone's educated on all parts of prep school recruiting AaU. And that's what this podcast is for. So thanks again for joining us on the prep athletics podcast. We'll see you next time.