A Message to Freshman and Sophomores
The Wholey Blog – Volume 2
By Michael Wholey 12/1/22 9:00 AM EST
A new feature, the Wholey Blog aims to bring insight into the travel circuit, recruiting, and all things basketball providing information to parents, coaches, and players. The blog will come out monthly and aims to provide educational material to Prep Hoops subscribers.
Congratulations, you are a Freshman and Sophomore that has made your high school varsity squad. Maybe you participated in summer workouts with your high school coach, lifting weights, doing skill sessions, conditioning, and participating in summer and fall leagues. Or maybe your high school program does not do any of those things and you simply showed up to tryouts and made the varsity team. Now what? We are two weeks into the varsity season, and you have not received much playing time. The coach is playing 6-8 players, and most of them are Juniors and Seniors. If you are in this situation, this blog is for you.
Participation numbers across the country are down in participation in girls’ basketball. As numbers have decreased, many schools (especially in Florida) no longer have Junior Varsity teams. Varsity head coaches are left in a tough spot, trying to fill out their varsity roster. Often, varsity head coaches have to choose between upper classmen or younger player for their final roster spots. As a freshman or sophomore on varsity, many females are not ready for varsity. The older players are bigger, stronger, faster, more mature, more skilled, or maybe they are just more familiar with the coaches offensive and defensive playbook.
The coach wants Freshman and Sophomores on the varsity squad because he or she is building a program and wants his younger players to learn from the older players. But the coach wants to win, so he is going to play the best players or the players he is most comfortable and confident in. If you are a freshman or sophomore who is on your varsity team but is not receiving much playing time, here are some tips:
Don’t get discouraged
Not playing is not fun. You want to be out on the court. You want to help your team win. You want to compete with your teammates. But your situation is very common. A low percentage of Freshman and Sophomores play significant minutes on varsity. Bring a positive attitude to practice. Be your teammates biggest cheerleader. Find ways to contribute to help your team win not just by scoring points. Be a great practice player. Communicate from the bench to your teammates on the court. And most importantly maintain proper body language on the bench. The front image for this article portrays bad body language vs good body language. The photo of the male basketball player from Lehigh has become a famous picture used by coaches all over the country as an example to their players. What does this player’s body language say to you? Are they rooting on their team? Are they invested in trying to help their team win and find ways to bring positive energy and contribute in any way they can. UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma has this to say about body language and the type of player he recruits.
Get Your Butt In the Gym
Back in 2016, Wisconsin women’s basketball head coach Bobbie Kelsey made the following comments at a post-game press conference. The overall message was that players need to put the phone down and get to the gym. The now famous acronym is GYBITG (Get Your Butt In The Gym). It is a great message that a lot of players need to here. You can complain that you are not playing or that the coach does not like you. You can make excuses that the coach plays favorites or only plays older players or you can Get Your Butt In The Gym. If you put in the work, you will see results. Shane Battier is famous college and professional basketball player that played for Duke University and spent many teams playing for the Miami Heat. He has a great quote about playing time that is summarized
– Shane Battier“I don’t complain about playing time. My job is to play so well the coach can’t sit me.”
It is such a great message because being a coach is equally as hard as being a player. If you stop making excuses and stop complaining and take all the time and then some and invest it in yourself and put in the work in the gym, the results and playing time will follow.
Learn from the Bench
Whether you like it or not, there are things you can learn from the bench. I understand you want in the game, and you want to help your team win, and compete with your teammates but there are lessons and things to be learned from your time on the bench. Do not accept that you will always be on the bench, continue to work hard, show up every day in practice with a strong work ethic, be prepared to play a role and contribute each game but while on the bench, also take it in. Look at the game from a coach standpoint and learn the scouting report of the opposing team or your own teams playbook. Practice patience, humility, good sportsmanship, and resilience while collecting splinters in your butt. Your situation is not permanent, it is temporary. Whether in high school, college, or in your professional life well after the ball stops bouncing, you will experience disappointment and loss – you will have setbacks. How you carry yourself on the bench and how you treat your current situation will help you down the road when these challenging circumstances do occur.
If you have a moment, evaluate where you currently are and the situation you are in and what you would like it to look like next season. Your current role on the team and the amount of playing time you are getting this season does not have to be permanent. Your role on the team and you’re playing time this season is temporary and whether it is this season or next season, all these things can change. Ask your coach for an assessment of your game, and what he/she things your strengths are and what are your weaknesses. What are the things that the coach would like to see you improve on and would help you have an increased role on the team and help contribute to your team to compete to win games. Do not neglect your strengths but find a ratio of working on your weaknesses while continuing to improve on your strengths. If your coach things you need to work on your left hand for ball handling, when you do individual drills at a skill session, maybe do 3 times as many reps with your left hand then your right hand. Give up some Friday nights, wake up early on weekend mornings, and outwork your competition. Maybe you can sneak in some extra jump shots and free throws in the driveway before it gets dark. It all adds up and hard work and determination always reap results.
For now, smile and celebrate for your teammates. Clap frequently. Cheer loudly. Great your teammates at half court during timeouts. Grab a cup of water for your point guard when no one else does. Throw your hands up when someone makes an amazing shot or at the buzzer after a big win. Someday your time will come, and you will want others to do that for you, and when it happens, it will be that more special because of how you handled your current situation.
Michael Wholey is the lead scout for Florida Prep Girls Hoop Florida and a former division one Assistant Coach at American University, University of Memphis, and Georgia Tech. Wholey and the rest of the Prep Girls Hoop staff, seek to cover the entire state of player, keeping subscribers up to date with player evaluations, recruiting info, and statewide news. Our audience often supplies us with some of our best information. If you have any information on players, teams, or statewide news in the state of Florida, emailing Michael Wholey at WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com or DM him through Twitter or Instagram @WholeyPrepHoops.