» Posts about ‘College’

Every summer, today’s young players seek and try out for top AAU Teams across the country in hopes of getting exposure in front of college coaches at NCAA Viewing tournaments. But, when kids get to the tournaments some find that the flaws in their games are exposed when playing against superior competition.

As a result, a lot of kids do not show well in the tournament and essentially get exposed (in front of college coaches) as players who are incapable of competing at the Division I or II level.

This fact led me to ask the following questions: Have your kids prepared themselves physically and mentally to compete against quality players in front of college coaches? Do you even know what college coaches are looking for? How strong is your team? Will college coaches even attend your games? Do college coaches even know who you are?

These are important things to figure out BEFORE you get in that environment. There are a lot of factors that go into whether or not your child will get a look, let alone a scholarship out of the deal and there are no guarantees. But, there are some things you can do in order to get a look from college coaches and showcase your talents in that environment.

Here are some things you can do to help your chances:

Get your game right.

This one is the most important of all. If your game is below average you have no business playing in an NCAA Viewing tournament. Coaches spend thousands of hours scouting collegiate and high school athletes, analyzing video and breaking their games down on film. If you have holes in your game, a college coach will see right through you. Spend more time on your strength & conditioning, footwork, shooting, ball-handling, passing and defending. If any of these things are below average you are wasting your time and money.

Find the right AAU Team.

This one is just as important as the first, but even more difficult to actually do. Contact your local AAU chapter or your high school coach’s contacts to find out which teams are playing in NCAA Viewing tournaments. All AAU clubs that play in NCAA viewing tournaments tend to load up the teams with all-star talent to compete. These elite level travel teams understand that they need serious talent in order to have the best chance of advancing deeper into the tournaments, which means more college coaches watching their players. If your game isn’t right you have no chance of being on a team like this. Further, there can be parental politics, chemistry issues, weak coaching, weak leadership and internal agendas on teams like this, thus making it almost impossible to be successful. Picking the right program will take doing your due diligence for certain.

Get on some coaches radars.

Do not assume any coach knows who you are. There are millions of kids playing AAU basketball and there is no way a coach can know about everyone. That means you need to take the initiative to get on someone’s radar. If you have game film, compile about 2 minutes of clear footage that shows you possess the skill set to compete at the college level. If you do not have game film, get some. (Note: Do not send game film of you dominating against weaker opponents. Coaches will question how good you really are relative to playing against tougher competition. Show them your game against quality opponents so they can accurately assess your game.)

Next, post it on YouTube and email some Assistant Coaches a link to your footage. Follow up with a phone call to the coach and ask for feedback. See what they think you need to work on. Let them know you are interested in their school and you would be curious as to what they are looking for in their next Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Forward, Center recruit. Let the coach know which tournaments you will be playing in next. Do this with multiple coaches at schools you are interested in. This way, at least you have contacted some coaches to get a look, no matter how brief.

Be realistic.

Being realistic means understanding your chances of getting an NCAA Division I School Scholarship are extremely low, right around 1%. Widen your pool of schools to choose from by considering NCAA Division II and Division III schools. That way, your chances of finding a better match for your skill set increase dramatically.

Compete at the tournament.

When you finally do get to the tournament, compete and have fun! Coaches want to see how you respond in a highly competitive environment. Don’t be afraid to show a coach what you are capable of.  Show them you can defend and compete against top players, and that you can make open shots and handle pressure. You don’t have to go out and score 45 points and grab 20 rebounds to get someone’s attention (although a performance like that is certainly an attention getter) if that isn’t your game. Just demonstrate that you are a solid, complete player by making open shots, blocking out, defending at a high level, taking care of the basketball, making great passes to your teammates, showing leadership and being a great teammate.

By taking care of what you can control before you get to a viewing tournament, your chances of competing at a high level and getting a look once you get there will increase significantly.