High School Basketball Forum: The Limited Role of High School Coaches and the College Recruiting Process

Replies (11)

• I'm not sure what your getting at Interests Me. Whatever happened to if the kid can play then colleges will recruit them??? I mean, let's just say that a "student-athlete" is a decent player for his/her H.S. and they are putting videos on youtube and have their own website etc., then that is about all you can do isn't it? I would think that enough colleges see them through this type of networking and would make the decision to either offer them a scholarship OR not offer them a scholarship. Pretty simple, isn't it? Fact is, playing college ANYTHING is very tough and demanding. Contrary to what some parents think, every Tommy and Susie is NOT college athlete material no matter how they are marketed via internet. I say if a kid can play then they can play and someone will find them. Just think how it was for prospective athletes before the internet age.

  -- Posted by Hemingway on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 9:17 AM

• Baseball and basketball are somewhat related in regards to recruiting. Let's face it. Showcases and camps have made things a lot easier for the college coaches. You have to be outstanding before they will come to a school to watch a high school game. If you're in the upper echlon, then yes, they will come cause the player has choices and if the coaches don't show that they care, the player will probably go elsewhere.

  In baseball, the college coaches may come to watch a player that can throw in the upper 80's to 95, they will hardly ever come to a game to watch a position player. Becasue of the showcases/tryouts the coaches usually know how hard a kid can throw, how fast he can run. The things they dont's know which are probably just as important are the intangibles of the player (leadership/Faith/committment).

  Most college coaches these days recruit the player's attitude first, (unless you're one of the 88-95 range) his performance in the classroom (ACT's, GPA, Rank In Class,) and his committment to the game are some top priorities.

  Faith and "you've gotta believe" are qualities that you must have, giving up is not an option.

  There are a lot of players that can play the game, but there's not a lot that can stand up to the other pressures and demands that are at the next level.

  -- Posted by mac baseball on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 10:00 AM
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  Heminingway, it is not difficult to figure out. They are making reference to what HS coaches can do and how families can also contribute to the cause.

  -- Posted by Blam it on the Ref on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 11:13 AM
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  I also believe the SE Missouri had an article about recruiting also.

  -- Posted by Blam it on the Ref on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 11:15 AM

• I disagree to an extint. Some players no matter what the sport get over looked. I'm not gonna mention names but when I was playing there was a pitcher from delta that had no offers to play after graduation. He had played summer ball his whole life for Chaffee and the summer after his graduation was no different. This kid was always 1 of the top pitchers in the area but pitchers that wasn't near as good as he was had offers and he didn't.

  That summer we were playing festus & this kid was pitching that game. A coach from Jeff Co was there to watch another kid for festus play that had already signed. After the game our pitcher was offered a full scholarship to play ball there. So had this coach not been there that nite this kid may have never been noticed. He eventually pitched 4 years total in college because a coach was at the game to watch a kid that had already signed. Including pitching for central Missouri state in the D2 college world series.

  -- Posted by buck on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 12:01 PM

• I know what it is about Blam, I'm just saying that all you can do as a parent/player is market the kid as much as you can and then you eventually just have to leave it in the college coaches hands. I also don't think that a HS coach is totally responsible for getting a kid "looked at" or a scholarship. On the same token, if a kid is lazy, not very coachable, or has a bad attitude then that is the stuff that needs to be communicated to the coach or coaches recruiting the kid as does if the kid is a great kid, very coachable, great attitude, etc. It's not the HS coaches job to sugarcoat what isn't there.

  -- Posted by Hemingway on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 12:18 PM
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  Recruiting = inexact science......you hit gold on some and come up dry on others. Some players get overrated and some get underrated, and some never get seen at all. It's not fair, but the only thing fair in life is the green grass between the 2 foul lines

  -- Posted by 6+4+3=2 on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 12:22 PM

• If a kid wants to play bad enough, he or she can find a place to play. Buck, you contradict yourself, sort of. The kids you speak of DID get noticed. Maybe it did not happen as quickly or on the terms that the kid or family would have liked. But it sounds like the kid did not give up, and eventually got noticed.

  Some kids(and parents)have way too high of an expectation. Some parents want to give a coach a hard time for 4 years, then complain that the coach is not helping their kid. Hemingway is exactly right. It would be foolish to recommend someone to a college coach if they could not be honest about the kid. You would end up possibly burning a bridge for a future kid.

  You also have some college coaches who think they have to recruit someone from the city or out of state to compete. Plenty of good athletes in this area that could develop into nice college players. The best example I could think of would be a kid like Nick Niemcyck.

  -- Posted by GSP on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 12:51 PM

• I doubt that there are colleges coaches surfin youtube for small town talent. Most college coaches have piles of letters and game tape to look through each year. If a high school coach has a kid they think can play most will help them contact colleges. The problem with semo is that most small town folks think that their home town star can play at the next level and most of the time they can't.

  -- Posted by bballfan40 on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 5:50 PM

• Youtube makes it easier for college coaches to look at coverage when links are brought. Heck of a lot easier to pull up something on the internet rather then dig out a dvd player and keep up with the millions of dvd's sent to them. Too many small town coaches want to pad the stats. Make a player look better than what they really are on paper but on tape they can see what they really can do and have the ability to do.

  -- Posted by Interests Me on Mon, Jan 31, 2011, at 6:16 PM

• most college coaches want to see a game tape not a highlight video where a kid never misses a shot and is never seen on the defensive side of the floor. Most want to see how a player moves without the ball, guards, helps their teammates get open, and if they have a good attitude on the floor, or a bad one its not all about just scoring. That was my point just because a player puts up a 30 plus game a night does not make them a college player.

  -- Posted by bballfan40 on Tue, Feb 1, 2011, at 11:35 AM