Anonymous Athlete Advice [Series]

The recruiting process is an exciting time filled with all kinds of new possibilities for the next chapter of your life. But it can also be overwhelming and hard to navigate. Even though you will have advice coming at you from every direction, many people don’t actually understand what it’s like to be in that position. However, there’s a large group of people who do: college basketball players. They have been in your shoes. They have made good decisions and bad decisions. And they have a lot of firsthand experience, knowledge, and wisdom to pass along. 

We are now introducing the Anonymous Athlete Advice Series. We will be interviewing current and former college basketball players to gather their best advice on navigating the recruiting process and all things related to college basketball. Our hope is that through their successes and failures, wise decisions and mistakes, they can help you make the best possible decision for your own life and basketball career. 

---

“If I can impress upon you one thing, it’s to stop trying to impress them..”

I remember being so concerned with other people’s opinions about my decision. I wanted to impress my friends, teachers, random people I talked to on the street about playing basketball in college… I wanted my choice of college to sound impressive. And now I realize their opinions meant nothing, and I wish I would not have let them have any bearing on where I was going to spend the next four years of my life.

That is probably one of the biggest things for me. I wish I would have known that you are the one that has to go there. No one else's opinions matter because you are the one that has to go play there and go to school there. You have to spend the next 4-5 years of your life there. It’s cool to tell people a cool big name school that garners a reaction, but at the end of the day, it’s your life. So don’t make a decision based on the opinions of those around you.” 

• - Current Female College Basketball Player

I wanted my choice of college to sound impressive. And now I realize their opinions meant nothing, and I wish I would not have let them have any bearing on where I was going to spend the next four years of my life.

Maybe this seems obvious. But this was something I struggled with throughout my recruiting process. When you are getting recruited, a lot of people will share unsolicited opinions on your decision. It is easy to allow the desire to impress people to seep into your decision-making process, even subconsciously. I actually had two separate people tell me (to my face) that they were disappointed after I announced where I was going.

The school I picked wasn’t big enough or well-known enough for them. Even though I knew they shouldn’t, deep down, these comments hurt because I cared too much what they thought. The prideful part of me still wanted to impress them. But it forced me to take a step back and reevaluate who and what should have the power to influence my decision. And it sure wasn’t these two people. 

Frankly, all they cared about was knowing someone who played at a big school. They sat at home and (maybe) watched. They weren’t the ones who would actually attend that school and play basketball there… I was. (I want to be sure to clarify: going to a big-time school is absolutely awesome. I am cautioning against making a decision largely based on impressing other people). 

Where you decide to go to school becomes the actual reality of your life, and no one else’s. Once you step foot on campus, playing a college sport is no longer just an idea. You have to put in the work, you have to grind, you have to put in the time. It’s no longer just a cool fact you get to tout in your social media bio. It's living the highs and lows of college basketball.

It’s getting up early in the morning for practice and weight lifting and conditioning. It’s going to class and getting a degree. It’s getting involved and building relationships. You have to decide where you want to invest yourself. And the level of happiness that comes from being at a place where you can thrive lasts infinitely longer than that little rush of pleasure you get from impressing people when you tell them your decision.

So here is my advice: don’t base your decision on trying to impress anyone. Because the people you think you need to impress will stop caring the second you walk out the door. 

- AAA

7 Reasons College Coaches Are Not Recruiting You

As a former D1 coach I learned that there was a lot more to evaluating a player outside of just their skill. Over the years it became clear that there were a lot of talented players making some common mistakes that were hurting their recruiting.

Not to say those players didn’t still receive opportunities, but I can confidently say they could have had more.

My goal is to give you some insight from the perspective of a college coach to help you avoid making the same mistakes, here are seven..

1. Your Work Ethic

College coaches want to coach their teams and focus on game planning and player development but when they have to coach you to play hard, it takes away from the potential growth of the team. This reduces your value quickly. 

Tanya Warren, Head Women’s Basketball Coach at the University of Northern Iowa speaks on this here:

Full Episode Here

2. Your Coachability

When players are not coachable it’s a HUGE red flag. Even if you are the best player, it’s extremely unattractive to coaches. There may be a few schools willing to look beyond it but the majority of the time, you will not be recruited at the level you could if you displayed leadership by being able to handle criticism respectfully. 

3. Your Body Language

When you are being recruited, coaches are watching your every move. Once they see that you can play at their level, coaches begin to evaluate other areas of you as a player. So each interaction they observe has the potential of helping or hurting your recruiting. 

Here are some examples:

With your coach

• Poor eye contact

• Eye rolls

• Disengaged when subbed out

With your teammates

• Lack excitement when they make a good play

• Showing frustration when they make mistakes

• Clear frustration after wins because YOU didn’t play well

With the refs

• Complain about every call you disagree with

via GIPHY

4. Your Social Media

Posting, retweeting, liking content that uses profanity, drugs, alcohol, nudity or cyberbullying of any kind. Those are just a few things that I witnessed first hand from recruits that we had interest in. These actions unfortunately lead to us removing them from our lists.

5. Your Relationships

How do you treat your mom, your dad, your sisters, brothers, friends, coaches and teammates? College coaches pay attention to all of that.

Carrie Moore, the Recruiting Coordinator for North Carolina WBB says it best here:

Full Episode Here

6. Your Effort

Coaches appreciate when you put a little effort into the recruiting process. Take some time and do a little research on the programs that you know you will be engaging in conversation with. I’m not saying being fun/engaging on the phone call will get you offers but it definitely helps. 

In the beginning stages of recruiting, college coaches call and do their best to introduce you to them and the university they’re representing. The least you can do is do a little research to help the conversation go more smoothly.

Coaches are on the phone with a lot of kids everyday and this is a simple way to separate yourself. In other words, don’t be a dud 😴

If you’re nervous or just not the most interesting person, prepare some educated questions to ask, coaches will appreciate it! So hop on Google and learn some things about your potential future school.

7. Your parents

Coaches LOVE enthusiastic parents but there’s a difference..

Sneaky nice GIFs from #TheBrotherhood

Tough but true, parents have the potential to negatively impact their athlete’s recruitment. As mentioned above, once it’s clear a recruit can play at that college’s level they will begin to evaluate other things, including the behaviors of parents.

Here are some examples..

• Excessive yelling at refs, coaches and players

• Criticizing your athlete’s AAU/HS coaches both to college coaches and on social media

• Unrealistic expectations of your athlete’s recruiting process

Final Thoughts

College coaches have a responsibility to the players and families that are currently in their program, so it’s important for them to do their homework on you. 

As a recruit and parent, you don’t want any of these easy to change mistakes to detract from your opportunity to play at the next level. So if you are doing any of the above mentioned things, it could be playing a role in your lack of recruiting.

Luckily, there’s still time to make some changes 😊

Happy Recruiting!

3 Ways To Help Your Players Get Recruited

Whether you are a high school or AAU coach, your role in recruiting is crucial. With social media and all of the recruiting platforms, it’s important to remember that nothing can replace your first hand experience with the players that coaches are recruiting.

Here are a few ways to make sure that you are prepared to help your players reach that next level.

• This may seem obvious but.. Pick up your phone! The number of coaches that would be slow to respond or not return phone calls was surprising.

  Whether it’s a DI coach or NAIA, understand that keeping communication lines open could majorly impact your players future.

  College coaches understand that you have busy lives but if you don’t have the time, assign calls to an assistant that you trust to make sure that your player is not missing out on any opportunities.

• Have accurate stats on your players. As a college coach, there were many times where I had to scramble to get accurate information on the kids we were recruiting.

  Some states don’t have the convenient stat sites that keep these up to date so having correct information on your individual players performance can be very helpful in a coach’s evaluation.

• Film, film, film!

  Technology has made it much easier for college coaches to discover kids around the world. It is impossible to expect college coaches, especially during season to make it out to as many games as they would like.

  One way to help encourage them to make a trip is to have film so that they have more confidence in the caliber of player they are going to come and watch.

  If you don’t have enough staff, ask a parent or student you trust.

• College coaches know that you want the best for your players and sometimes that can get in the way of reality.

  If your player is a DIII/NAIA player but you like the sound of DI or DII more, that is doing nothing but harm for your player.

  Not only that, it can impact your reputation as a coach, especially when it comes to evaluations.

  If you are struggling to figure out the appropriate level that your player is at, it’s okay to ask local college coaches for their honest feedback. 

• When stating your player’s height, be honest.. When speaking on your player’s coachability, be honest..

  When asked about your player’s parents, be honest...It will only build rapport.

  When coaches can trust you, it will go a long way when you have players down the road that are an appropriate fit for their programs.

“Not only that, it can impact your reputation as a coach.”

• Once you have all the appropriate information and have a decent feel for the level of your player, help them get opportunities in front of coaches.

  During the high school season, reach out to college coaches with statistics, accomplishments and/or any other applicable information to help get your players name out.

  Sending your team’s schedule along with that email is another way to make recruiting your player easier and if you want to take it a step further circle what you think will be the most competitive games - the better the game, the better the evaluation!

  • Players can take this step too but receiving these types of emails from high school coaches legitimizes the information and has a higher chance of getting a response. 
    
    
    

• For AAU coaches, this is a little bit of an easier process due to July being a live recruiting period but to reference a point I made earlier about making evaluations more clear, as much as you can, play the appropriate level of competition.

  College coaches know that you have a lot of pressure to win games with the current makeup of AAU but understand it doesn’t help your players when we watch them play in blowouts.

  Not only that but vs players that don’t at least half resemble the athletes they will be up against at the next level.

  So as much as you can, research your tournaments and bracket levels to make sure you are playing quality competitive opponents as frequently as possible.

• And finally, for players that choose not to participate at the AAU level, more power to them. There are plenty of opportunities outside of July.

  High school team camps and elite camps that are hosted on university campuses are just a couple of ways to get your players seen during the summer season. 

There are so many other ways to impact your players recruitment in a positive way, these are just a few to get you going in the right direction. Thanks for reading!