Behind the Scenes at Link Academy: The 2023 Men’s GEICO National Champions

In just two years of existence Link Academy is recruiting, developing and landing talent in the NBA.

In just two years, Link Academy has established itself as a powerhouse in the sport of basketball, winning the 2023 Men’s GEICO National Championship and producing several players who are expected to be drafted into the NBA.

“Our program, and facilities, are second to none and is why we have become such a household name in such a short period of time,” Link Academy Founder Adam Donyes told Draft Digest.

Link is a nine-month boarding school located in Branson, MO in the heart of the Ozark Mountains that provides a fully accredited, biblically based education. While Link is proud of its academics and believes strongly in the education that is offered, that is not what has put the school on the national map over the past couple of years.

Two years ago, the inaugural season for the Link Academy basketball team took second at the GEICO National Tournament and then followed that up this season with a first place finish by knocking off Paul IV, Sunrise Christian and Arizona Compass along the way.

That initial team had two players that look to be selected in the upcoming 2023 NBA Draft, Julian Phillips (Tennessee) and Jordan Walsh (Arkansas).

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This year's championship team has two players in Rivals 2023 top 50, Ja’Kobe Walter (Baylor - No. 12) and Cameron Carr (Tennessee - No. 43) and a third in the 2024 top 15, Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina - No. 12).

The history of Link goes back over ten years when it started, by Donyes, as a gap year program for traditional students to transition from high school to college. That was the status of the school for the first four years of its existence before adding the post grad basketball team, referred to as Link Year Prep, in year five. The program found success in its second year with players like Mason Jones (Arkansas) which put Link on track to eventually add the high school team, referred to as Link Academy.

Link student-athletes spend their days on a nearly 100-year-old summer camp that had all of the infrastructure the school needed to get started. During the nine-month school year, it is used for academics and sports before turning back into a summer camp for the summer. Future NBA players like Phillips, Walsh, Walter and more spend the year in a college like setting where they share a room with one other person but have king sized beds and their own bathrooms.

When Director of Basketball Operations, Dillon Buchanan, described the living conditions to Draft Digest, he said, “they are nicer than what most students get in college” and about the campus as a whole, “it is a 60 second walk to get anywhere they need.”

They also eat well as the academy has two full-time chefs that make three meals a day, five days a week and as Buchanan explained, “they have access to a salad bar, 24 hour a day cereal bar…eat as much as they want and have 24 hour access to any leftovers from the meals that were prepared.”

An example of a recent meal included baked salmon, asparagus and baked potatoes, which is high quality for a young athlete.

A typical day for these students/athletes is weights at 6:30 am, followed by breakfast and then a two hour practice from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. They will then eat lunch before having afternoon classes from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm and then an evening that could be filled with multiple options, including study hall or individual work.

If you were wondering about the coaching and training that is received by these future NBA prospects, Link Academy has a full-time head coach and two full-time assistants. Link Year Prep has two teams, and thus has two full-time head coaches and two assistants who get paid but also live on campus as part of their package.

The previously mentioned Buchanan is a full-time Director of Basketball Operations. They also have an Athletic Director and starting next year, with the addition of the Link women’s program, they will have a full-time head coach and assistant coach.

Bill Armstrong is a former associate head coach at LSU and has 21 years of college coaching experience who has coached 10 players that have gone on to play in the NBA. This is just one example of the experience the staff at Link boasts.

As for the strength training, that is done by the founder of Link himself, Adam Donyes. He played collegiate basketball at Boise State and having the pleasure of speaking with him you could immediately hear in his voice the passion and belief he had for training their athletes.

Donyes, and Link, sell development to potential student/athletes which is why he says he has a passion for it. He even told Draft Digest that he lifts weights right along with the athletes and their program comes directly from Division I head strength coaches or NBA trainers. Elite talent that is on the path to an NBA career requires top-notch facilities for them to train in. Link currently has a $1.8 million dollar gym that players have 24 hours access to and houses two different shooting machines. While these were the facilities for 2023 Draft Prospects, Phillips and Walsh, and potential 2024 Draft Prospect, Walter, things are about to look vastly different for 2025 Draft Prospect, Cadeau, and fellow Link Academy players.

According to Buchanan, Link is building a $40 million dollar complex with five buildings including boarding rooms, a multi court gym and additions of their own teachers, curriculum and multiple other sports.

So, how does this elite talent make its way to Branson? 

“I worked my tail off to get Link Year built," Donyes said. "Traveling to AAU tournaments, making phone calls...I was at every gym in the country that I could get to.”

Now that Link has built its reputation, the academy is able to rely on relationships and trust and now that their development has been proven and seen, people are reaching out to them.

These pillars of relationships, hard work and real development for these student/athletes were easily the stand out themes from the conversation with Donyes. He even dropped a nugget from a LeBron James postgame interview he was watching, “it was during the Cavs comeback from down 3-1 to the Warriors and they were interviewing LeBron. He had three words written on a paper next to him, no magic pill. You don’t shortcut success, you don’t shortcut recruiting.”

Donyes and Link certainly do not take any shortcuts as they take great pride in the resources they provide each of their student-athletes with the strength training program, basketball workouts, 24 hour access to the gym, dining hall, nutrition and the list goes on and on.

They feel that this blows families away when they do get them on campus for a visit as Donyes explained one that happened just a day before, “we have four hotels on campus and the family got to stay in one, they got a meal, a tour, we watched film and showed the recruit his strength and weaknesses, and then took them to my house to meet my family.”

He also went on to say that they get 98% of the recruits that they get to visit campus.

Donyes also gave some insights into the wave of Link Academy, or Link Year, prospects that will soon be entering the NBA.

"Julian has great work ethic, does need to get strong which I am sure he is working on but will be a really good 3-and-D player and is going to have great testing numbers at the combine if he chooses to go," Donyes said. 

Another 2023 NBA Draft pick is Jordan Walsh, who was described by Donyes as "Andre Igoudala 2.0" with this seven-plus foot wingspan and defensive versatility.

"He is a hard worker and is another player that will blow teams away with his testing numbers," said Donyes.

Landon Bost/Naples Daily News/USA TODAY Network-Florida-USA TODAY NETWORK

Teafale Lenard, Jr. is a Link Year player who has spent the past two seasons at Middle Tennessee State and is currently committed to Memphis for 2023-2024 

“Lenard is a post grad kid with a ton of length and pop off the floor. He is another 3-and-D player, like Julian, and has great timing at the rim with blocks," Donyes told Draft Digest.

As for Link players who will be coming down the line, JaKobe Walter (Baylor) may be at the top of the list. Donyes raved about him on and off the court, saying he has elite work ethic, is extremely coachable, high character, and has a great family

"He’s a gamer that plays with a chip on his shoulder and made a ton of clutch shots….he’s definitely got a chance to be one-and-done," said Donyes about Walter.

A prospect who did not play for Link this past year but instead for a high school in his hometown is Omaha Biliew. He spent his junior year playing for Link Academy before transferring back to play for Waukee to be closer to his mother, another reason for Iowa State being his college of choice.

Biliew is an incredible on court talent but Donyes again spoke to the kind of kid he was off the court “he has elite work ethic, outworks everybody and an absolute gem of a kid, gives his time to everybody……phenomenal kid.”

Elliot Cadeau is currently in the college class of 2024 and headed to North Carolina but is still a name to know for future NBA Drafts. Based on what Donyes had to say about him, NBA teams looking for a point guard to run the show should be very excited about Cadeau.

"One of the best point guards I have ever seen live in 18 years of coaching, that’s games I was coaching or coaching against." Donyes said. "He has a level of unselfishness and court awareness and has a really good chance of being a one-and-done.”

A final name to keep an eye on is Tennessee commit Cameron Carr. Carr may not be a one-and-done but Donyes thinks he might be a two or year player before making the leap to the NBA. 

"He is a little bit of a baby deer right now but he can really shoot," Donyes said. "He has great length and size and is still growing, that might be why it's hard for him to put weight on right now.”

Link has already produced six professionals, five overseas and one player in the NBA. Philips, Walsh, Walter, Cadeau and company are going to put a handful more in the league over the next couple of years. With the elite level resources, growing relationships, continuous development and relentless work ethic Link Academy, and Link Year, could be the go-to academy and prep school for NBA talent moving forward. 

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