Weekly Word: Finding The Right Fit
In a couple of my previous “Weekly Word” articles, I have touched on prospects selecting a college that is the right ‘fit’ for them. In this article, I wanted to take the time to expand upon that idea and offer…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingIn a couple of my previous “Weekly Word” articles, I have touched on prospects selecting a college that is the right ‘fit’ for them. In this article, I wanted to take the time to expand upon that idea and offer up some thoughts and suggestions as to how to approach looking for the perfect school for you. Believe it or not, there are more than 1,500 schools in the country that offer women’s basketball, not to mention 42 in this state alone, so there are definitely a variety of options for you to consider. All of the major associations, like the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, and USCAA offer lists of their member schools on their main websites. So what should be considered when looking for the right ‘fit’?
Dream Big AND Have A Plan
I’m not one to crush someone’s dreams and tell them they can’t or won’t make it to the WNBA, Europe, or whatever. But I am an analytics guy, and the fact that the percentages of those high school players who make it to professional basketball are simply fractions of a percent, I am also a realist. Please, have professional basketball as a goal for yourself if that’s something you truly want, but also have a plan in place if that isn’t an opportunity available to you. We are all told we can no longer play a game we love…some of us at 18-years old, some of us at 22-years old, and some of us at 40-years old…but we’re all told. What will come next for you?
Too many people today are hung up on being pros or being Division-I players, when I feel like they should be hung up on which school can help them be the most successful both on and off the court. Once you get to college basketball, your basketball career has four, six, maybe eight to ten years left if you’re extremely lucky, while life has 50-70 years left.
Also once you get to college, all you’ll be worried about are your grades, your coaches, your teammates, and winning the next game against whoever you play. Your thoughts about what “level” (i.e. D1, D2, D3, etc.) will escape your thoughts completely. College needs to be a life choice, not just a basketball decision. Basketball is a tool to pay for the education to help you succeed in life, so always at least have a plan for life after basketball.
The Pursuit Of Happiness
When selecting a college, do it for the right reasons. First, YOU have to be happy, because YOU are the one who will be attending there, not your family, friends, or coaches. Make sure you are happy with the location (distance from home, climate, local conveniences you need to survive). Think about it like this…what if you select a school just to be a D1 player because it’s the lone D1 offer you have. How will you feel if you have a 3-19 record in late-January, it’s 10-degrees below zero outside, and you have to walk 15 minutes across campus to get to your next class?
Second, do they have the major you want to pursue? We’re talking about finding a discipline that you want to be happy and comfortable in for the rest of your life. Don’t adapt yourself to a major that “might” work instead just to play ball. Would you rather play on a great team for four years and have a so-so temperament in a profession for 40 years because you adapted to a major, or would you rather be on a solid team for four years and be completely happy and fulfilled with your profession for the next 40 years?
Third, what’s more important to you…(a) playing a lot of minutes early and putting up numbers, or (b) performing whatever role you can, no matter how small, in a successful situation? Either is fine, and we all have our own goals, tolerances, and opinions, BUT you better be honest with yourself about this or you will be miserable. I see so many kids who have started and played at an early age in high school, go to a competitive college situation and be ‘real’ Freshmen for the first time. They don’t play much, no one is there to coddle them anymore, and they can’t take constructive criticism and demanding coaching at that level, so they transfer early in their careers until they figure out all successful college situations are that way, or they just quit.
Fourth, try to get to know some of the current and past players from each school you are considering, ask them what they like and dislike most about the school, the town, and the program, and make sure what they are saying about their experiences match up with what you are interested in for your four years of college.
And finally, are you a priority to a school? No, it doesn’t matter if you were their first choice or last choice, if they offer you a scholarship then you have school paid for. However, do they like you or do they love you? Are you a priority recruit for them? Go where you are wanted, because that coaching staff will give you the benefit of the doubt and be apologists for you more often than not when you are struggling on the court, sick, injured, or even maybe when you are struggling in the classroom. Trust me, no matter how ‘fair’ you think everyone should be treated, there IS a pecking order on teams, especially once you get to college. You want to go where you are wanted and they love your game, because if you’re a roster-filler, you are expendable and will be recruited over year after year after year. Scholarships are 1-year ‘promise rings’ not 4-year ‘marriages’.
But I’m A Division-I Player
Listen, I like confidence, and yes, there are over 350 Division-I schools right now. There are ultracompetitive situations like Notre Dame and UConn, and there are some really bad situations where teams win three to five games annually. Again, I’m not here to crush anyone’s dreams, and if you are determined to play at the Division-I level, there are certainly many different avenues to do so. But, let me play Devil’s advocate here and offer up a real-life situation I dealt with as a grassroots coach a few years ago.
I had a former player who was a talented guard. He could run, jump, handle the ball, and was tall for his position, but he couldn’t shoot it very well at all. He had offers from two Division-I schools who had both won five or fewer games each of the past few seasons, and he had offers from two Division-II schools who were regularly in the Top-10 in the country and whose coaches had connections to professional players, coaches, and agents.
When it came down to him selecting a school, this prospect told me that he was a Division-I player, and I suggested he was correct because he did possess two Division-I offers…no argument there. But what I proposed to him was to consider this: if you attend School-X who each season is 4-26, doesn’t compete for a conference title (might not even make the conference tournament), isn’t playing in any national tournaments, whose coaches don’t have any / many professional connections, and who draws no professional scouts (NBA, Europe, or otherwise) to games, will you be okay with it if your basketball career ends at 22-years old?
Then I asked him how he would feel if he attended School-Y, played for a conference and possibly a national title each year, had scouts at his games who the head coach knew because they were successful, and then had an opportunity to play into his late 20s or early 30s and earn a paycheck playing basketball, how would that feel? He said he liked the sound of that a lot better…but School-Y was one of the Division-II options.
Long story short, he ended up attending School-Y, was in the national tournament all four years, and ended up playing for a paycheck in Europe for five years while seeing the sights of Italy, Greece, Spain, etc., and has never regretted that decision since. Now, I recognize this is a perfect scenario, but it’s also one that has worked out for many players who have gotten beyond the “I’m D1” opinion and considered other options. If he would have still chosen School-X (Division-I option), I would have fully supported him because that’s the decision he thought was best for him at that time.
Other Items To Consider
– One thing I do with any player of mine who is interested in playing college basketball is help them make a spreadsheet. Everything is considered…town size, classroom size, professor to student ratio, distance from home (time and miles), program success (last five years), individual coach success (especially if they recently arrived from a different situation), postseason success for both the coach and program, contract length, academic majors of interest, and more. I also like to make comparisons with town size and distance to towns they are most familiar with, no matter how big or small, to help them understand what they’re walking into.
– Have a conversation with the Head Coach and how they see you fit into their program. Discuss role definition, what opportunity is there for you immediately versus maybe your Junior year, and be candid and honest about your desires. This is not a time to demand anything or talk with them about what another school might have promised you, but it is okay to discuss where they see you fitting in.
– Have another conversation with the Head Coach about finances, stipends, financial aid packages, and grant money. Be very clear about how expenses will be taken care of and what specifically you are going to need to come out of pocket with monetarily. It is absolutely fine to discuss finances, especially if that’s going to help you make a decision. But it isn’t a time to demand money or compare with another school. I would discuss what you can afford out of pocket instead of stating what you need from their end.
Header photo of Cameron Tabor of New Castle High School; photo courtesy of Jordan Kartholl of the Muncie Star Press…thestarpress.com.