Three area basketball players will take part in the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Reaching Higher Program next month at South Lyons High School.

For two of those players, it will be their second trip to the event, which is geared toward getting student-athletes prepared for the “next level.”

Registered to take part this year are Dowagiac’s Dontel Highsmith, Niles’ Matthew McLaughlin and Brandywine’s Carlie Newman. Highsmith and Newman both participated in 2010.

In order to take part in the Reaching Higher Program, an athlete must be nominated. That process began back in December when the MHSAA sent nomination forms to all of its member high schools. Nominations needed to be returned to the MHSAA by early February.

On February 13, the Reaching Higher Showcase Committee gathered at the MHSAA offices and selected 120 players and 40-plus alternates for both the boys and girls programs. Selected players could find their names listed on the MHSAA and Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan’s websites.

Players had until April 1 to compete an online registration form confirming their acceptance of the invitation.

The girls will take part in the program on July 23, while the boys will take part on July 31.

The Reaching Higher Program began in 2009 and is designed to help educate both the student-athlete and the parents about the issues facing them in the college recruiting process. Not only are the participants given instruction on how to handle the recruiting process, but it always exposes them to a wide variety of colleges during the program and allows schools to get a look at promising under classmen in a controlled environment.

Among the schools that were on hand last year were Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin out of the Big Ten, as well as Utah and Mid-American Conference schools like Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Bowling Green.

While the Reaching Higher Program currently provides assistance in a safe, inexpensive, educational environment to those who may have the potential to play college basketball at some level, according to the MHSAA, in time it will involve other intitiatives to help “establish, maintain and strengthen the link between youth and schools. To have youth players aim to play for their school team and have high school players focus on their school team and their educator/coach more than non-school programs.”

Among those on the showcase selection committee were Lakeshore’s Sean Schroeder, who represented Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties. Kalamazoo Valley Community College coach Ron Welch was the girls’ representative for the same counties.

In 2009, Dowagiac’s Torie Lowe, as well as Niles’ David Garner and Myles Busby participated in the program.