A fledgling basketball academy is partnering with Notre Dame High School and the Ottawa Catholic School Board in the hopes of making the school a new hotbed for hoops in Eastern Ontario.

The Canada Topflight Academy pilot program aims to train 12 to 15 teenage boys to become elite basketball players while they attend classes at Notre Dame — including, potentially, international players who would be required to pay expensive tuition fees to the school board.

The academy's founder, local basketball promoter Tony House, is hoping to use a preparatory model similar to the Athlete Institute in Orangeville, Ont., which has groomed two players, Jamal Murray and Thon Maker, who are both expected to be drafted in the 2016 NBA draft in June.

Murray, a national team standout, played one year at the University of Kentucky before entering his name in the draft, while Maker is attempting to make the leap from high school directly to the NBA.

Tony House, the founder and director of Canada Topflight Academy, hopes to give parents of potential basketball stars an Ottawa option for training and development. (CBC)

'Timing is right'

Prior to the arrival of local basketball academies, top high school players in Canada would often go to the United States to play their final years of high school basketball in order to get noticed by U.S. college recruiters.

Olivier Hanlan of Gatineau's Aylmer neighbourhood, for example, played two years in New Hampshire before he was recruited by Boston College. Hanlan was drafted last year by the NBA's Utah Jazz and currently plays in a Lithuanian pro league.

House said he hopes to field one full team that could play a competitive schedule, but said he was open to expanding if the first year proved successful.

"The timing is right. A few years ago we lost five or six players to prep schools in Toronto and the U.S., so it's nice to give them an Ottawa option," he told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Thursday.

"I think parents will be happy and thrilled that they would probably be sleeping in their own beds and having dinner at home, instead of being four and a half, six, seven hours away. So we're pretty excited about it."

Olivier Hanlan of Gatineau, Que., played his final two years of high school basketball in New Hampshire before he was recruited by Boston College. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Financial benefit 'not the reason'

The academy has some marquee names on its board of directors, including Dave Smart, the 12-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion head coach of the Carleton Ravens men's team, Leo Rautins, the former men's national team coach, and Milt Palacio, a former NBA player who played for both the Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors.

Tuition at the school would not be cheap, however. House said it would cost students about $10,000 a year to attend the academy. The academy would also be funded through sponsorship and donations, he said.

Peter Atkinson, superintendent of continuing and community education with the OCSB, told CBC News Thursday the academy would offer "no real financial benefit" to the board — although House is open to attracting foreign students to the program, students who would then have to pay international tuition fees on top of the academy's attendance fee.

If there is financial benefit, that's wonderful. But that's not the purpose. The purpose is student success. - Peter Atkinson, OCSB

Those international fees amount to an extra $13,000 a year, per student.

"That's not what's motivating us to do this. What's motivating us to do this to provide opportunity for students," Atkinson said.

"Financial benefit is not the reason why we're partnering with Topflight Academy. If there is financial benefit, that's wonderful. But that's not the purpose. The purpose is student success."

The OCSB says in a news release it is participating in the pilot in response to an increasing demand for sports-specific training in high schools.

"We support the CTA's goal to deliver an excellent program both in the classroom and on the basketball court," said director of education Denise Andre in a statement. "It will not replace existing interscholastic programs, yet will complement the opportunities available to our students."