i saw a similar post in a football thread and thought it would be good to hear from some that has gone through the process.

 

I'm looking for ideas of what parents should be looking to do for their son's that are going to be freshman, sophomores or juniors.

 

Where should we (parents) start?

A lot of similarities to football. To be recruited for basketball, have great size and quickness/speed. Play as much as possible in as many places as possible. Have a great 'team first' attitude, get good grades and do your best to be a good citizen.

 

As a parent, understand that what matters to recruiters are things that can be measured (height, speed, etc.). Taking charges on your HS team is important and so is diving for loose balls. However, if your small or slow, your options will be limited.

Start making highlight tapes and get them on the AAU Circuit. They need to play for a well established AAU program or play with a program that plays in bigger tournaments for recognition. Highlight tapes are ok to send out but if you have actual full game film if interested thats what coaches would like to see. The quality of the AAU program and tournaments really are whats important.

There's not really much to do with recruiting for players until after their Sophomore year. Prior to this time, players should not think about recruiting at all and should instead focus on working their butts off every day to get better. If the player does everything the coach asks in terms of working out, that is not nearly enough! The player has to do much more on his own outside of practice to get better. After all, the 12th guy at the end of the bench is doing everything the coach asks the team to do.

 

Recruiting usually starts the summer before the Junior year. That's when mail from college basketball programs might start showing up at the school or the house. Most of these letters will be form letters that untold other kids are receiving, so don't put a tremendous amount of value in them. You will know that a school has legitimate interest when the assistant coach starts sending the player handwritten notes and personally calling or texting the player when the rules allow. When the Head Coach starts calling, then and only then will you know for sure that you are a serious target of their program and you might expect a scholarship offer soon. Head Coaches don't waste time chasing down recruiting leads. That's what assistant coaches are for.

 

So, how do you get recruited for basketball? Here are some things to think about:

 

First, and maybe more importantly than anything else, the player and his family must make a brutally honest assessment of the player's ability. This is really hard for many players and their families to honestly do, but it is a necessary step for a successful recruitment. Not everyone is going to play at a D1 school. In many, if not most, regions in the state, you can be the best player in the region and still not be good enough to play D1. My guess is that, on average, if you are not clearly one of the Top 10 to 15 players in the entire state, you are not going to play D1. Kentucky generally just doesn't produce more talent than that. However, there are many opportunities to get a free college education playing D2 or NAIA basketball, so don't overlook them. Everyone has to know their level, which is why you have to make an honest assessment of your ability. Don't miss out on an opportunity because you think you are better than you really are.

 

Second, clean up (if necessary) any negative issues on social media and get your academics in order. Before the first phone call comes from the assistant coach, he will look at your posts on social media to find out what type of person you are. Players have lost free college educations for stupid things put on social media referencing drug use, etc. Also, many schools will ask for your high school transcript early in the recruiting process to make sure you can succeed academically in college and that you are on track to meet the NCAA eligibility requirements. Coaches don't want players who are going to be a problem in the future, either socially or academically. Also, always play hard (you never know when a coach is watching) and be a good teammate. After all, unless you are going to be really good at the next level, there is a good chance that your role on a college team (at least for the first couple of years) will be to play hard in limited minutes and be a good college teammate.

 

Third, make sure as much of your play as possible is captured on video and you have someone who knows how to create a hi-lite video and post it on the internet. You want to make things easy for the college coaches and it's much easier for them to check you out on the internet than to have to see you in person. Also, if coaches are really interested in you, be prepared to give them a full-game tape of at least one of your games so they can really see how good you are, whether you play defense and rebound, whether turn the ball over too much, whether you take plays off occasionally, etc. This is necessary because everyone is an all-star on a hi-lite video!

 

Fourth, get on an AAU team that plays a schedule where you will have the opportunity to be seen by coaches. This will involve a significant investment of time, travel and expense, so it can be a sacrifice for the player and his family. If your AAU schedule doesn't allow you to play in front of coaches, you will still get the benefit of becoming a better player by playing against the better competition in AAU. Unfortunately, however, it may not help your recruiting very much because the other AAU coaches and players are not going to mention how good you are to anyone. The whole goal is to be seen by as many coaches as possible and to play well while they are watching.

 

Fifth (and I think this one is really underrated or unknown), reach out to the college and their coaching staff, especially at college programs below the D1 level. Once you have honestly evaluated your ability (see #1 above), you should look for a college at your level that you would like to attend. Then reach out to those schools by calling them (or having the Head Coach of your high school team make the call) and expressing interest in their program (call an assistant, not the Head Coach), letting them know where they can find your hi-lite video on the internet, going to their basketball camps in the summer, arranging an "unofficial" visit, etc. An unofficial visit simply means that you visit them on their campus at your expense. You can take as many unofficial visits as you want. All it takes from the college is an hour or so of an assistant coach's time to meet with you. If you are capable of playing at their level (which is why you have to honestly evaluate your ability), then the school would love for you to come visit. It's just common sense that college coaches are going to spend most of their recruiting efforts on players that they think that they can get--so let them know you are interested. If you reach out to the school and show interest in them, then they are much more likely to recruit you for their program. However, don't repeatedly call or pester a college coach. If you've called once or twice and not gotten a return call, then you have received all the information you need about what they think your potential to play for them is.

 

Sorry for the long post. Good luck in the process!

Excellent post. A lot of good information in there that I am sure most parents and players do not consider.

AAU is the key. Play with a good program who promotes their kids and puts them in position to succeed.

Although I'm just an observer from the bleachers that loves the game I have several friends that coach in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th regions. Everything I've heard from them is on par with what's been said here. #1 is things you don't have much control over - size, skills, potential. #2 is things you have a lot of control over - work ethic, team-first attitude, mental toughness. The key though is getting exposure whether it's through AAU, camps, showcases, etc. Everyone of my coach friends gave me the same advice when I put my kids in AAU - they need to play to get exposure but make sure they don't pick up any bad habits. The biggest downside to AAU is the free reign that kids get. It was sad to go to those games and see a lot of them turn into games you'd see at the park - all about breaking someone's ankles, lob dunks, and the other flashier plays. I remember one of my coach friends making the comment "EVERY coach that has recruited one of my players said the same thing about AAU. It's great because it allows us to see the best play the best during a time when we are able to watch in person. It's terrible because it's more about individually showcasing ability than playing together as a team to achieve a common goal. AAU games rarely puts players in situations like they see at the college level. When it comes to preparing them for the next level, high school basketball is most programs is better preparation. It's unfortunate that we (college coaches) don't get the chance to see many high school games in person to get a better evaluation of what kind of player that recruit is within a team that more closely compares to college."

@82Cards 's point #5 is easily the most important. It is tough. You may reach out to 50 coaches and only get 5 responses, and of those 5, three of them may be a generic camp invite via email.

 

But creating contact and relationships with those other 2 coaches (in the above example) is important. Even if your child has no desire to go to that school, the connection creates 1. A possible fallback school in case others fall through, and 2. you can use that school as leverage when being recruited by other coaches.

 

There is a limit to how much coaches can call players, however, players may contact coaches as much as they'd like. And coaches are very impressed when the player his/herself can reach out and hold a conversation themselves. PM me if you have any questions; this may be the one topic I actually know the most about on this site.