292 - College Exposure Event Advice.
With Coach Semrau - Florida State 2009.
Things College Coaches Don't Like To See Or Hear...
Again, many questions are asked to me about the things "Major" college coaches look for in players. I think it is easier to state the things college coaches DON'T LIKE to see in players, and go from there.
If you want to play college basketball at the highest level that YOU can play at, you can't do these things:
1) Making excuses when things don't go your way. The "Major" Schools don't want kids who have an excuse for everything, you know... "I don't feel good today", "I am not starting so I am not going to practice hard", "I don't like so and so on my team" blah blah blah... "Major" schools want great players, and great players don't do these things. Excuses like that are things middle schoolers and early high schoolers say. You want to be great? Don't be like everyone else. They don't like you bashing your former teammates and coaches. If you bash those folks, you more than likely are going to bash them (college coaches) as well. They can't risk that in their program.
2) Using "lack of confidence" as a crutch when you aren't playing well. Everyone has some issue sometime with their own self-confidence, but great ones minimize and eliminate that "lack" quickly and get on with business. Think about the great players you have seen play: Michael Jordan, Diana Taurasi, Lisa Leslie, keep naming them... You never hear them say "I don't have confidence any more in myself"... you hear some good players say it, but never the great ones. Some might say, "Well, yeah, that's Michael Jordan, he is the greatest", but the thing is, why sell yourself short? The more you work & prepare, the less "lack of confidence" comes into play.
3) Looking up in the stands at your parents or family or friends when you are playing. Quit taking advice from them as you play. How many players do you see at college games looking into the stands getting advice from their parents, family, or friends? The reason is that colleges see that as you being too dependent on parents, etc... and / or you don't know how to be coached by YOUR ACTUAL coach. That is a habit that needs to stop when you are young, that is, if you want to be great.
4) Falling down and throwing your body recklessly around. How many games have you seen players just flail themselves into someone or into a crowd, trying to make it look like they were fouled and end up just losing the ball? Many times probably. Again, how many college players do you see, that are great, do that? Not many. Yeah, you see some flop on defense, but that only goes so far. Talent plus work gets you in a position to do great things, not flopping and flailing.
5) Worrying about other people and what they are doing. Great players concern themselves with themselves and their team, aka "they aren't distracted". The teams that usually win are the ones that focus on themselves and the ones that don't are focused on others.
6) Making faces everytime you don't get your way. Either you don't like a call, or you don't like being subbed out of a game, or you don't like sitting on the bench... whatever the case, you make a face. Usually, face-makers are about themselves. They make faces because they want people to believe that it wasn't their fault and that whoever did this thing to them (coach, referee...) is wrong and they are right. Coaches don't want face-makers on their teams. There is a difference between showing emotion and making faces. Showing emotion usually takes place in the heat of a game and the desire and passion you have in wanting to win i expressed. It is usually not expressed through a technical foul, but just by a quick fist pumping or expression. Face-makers do their thing at any time of the game, just because they can't control their emotions. If you can't control yourself with a normal high school or AAU Crowd, how can you control yourself when you are on television or in front of a large college crowd?
Here is an interesting statement:
The best way to have a coach "notice" you is to have a negative attitude. Be selfish and only worry about yourself. Get on your teammates when they make mistakes. When you make mistakes, make excuses and blame others. Miss practice on a regular basis. Skip classes, get bad grades and don't make school a priority.
I hope you understand what I am getting at. Getting "noticed" isn't what's important...what's important is what you get "noticed" for.
As a player, I understand that you want acknowlegement from a coach, but that shouldn't be your number one goal. You should play because you love the game and because you want to get better. Don't make it your goal to please a coach and to get "noticed". Some coaches really get bothered when they see a player who is so hungry for attention that their game suffers because of it.
If you work hard, hustle, ask questions, put in extra time and show a commitment to your team and to the game, you will get noticed and your coach will recognize that.
I would say the most important thing is to make your teammates better on a daily basis.
Posted on May 17, 2005.
Again, many questions are asked to me about the things "Major" college coaches look for in players. I think it is easier to state the things college coaches DON'T LIKE to see in players, and go from there.
If you want to play college basketball at the highest level that YOU can play at, you can't do these things:
1) Making excuses when things don't go your way. The "Major" Schools don't want kids who have an excuse for everything, you know... "I don't feel good today", "I am not starting so I am not going to practice hard", "I don't like so and so on my team" blah blah blah... "Major" schools want great players, and great players don't do these things. Excuses like that are things middle schoolers and early high schoolers say. You want to be great? Don't be like everyone else. They don't like you bashing your former teammates and coaches. If you bash those folks, you more than likely are going to bash them (college coaches) as well. They can't risk that in their program.
2) Using "lack of confidence" as a crutch when you aren't playing well. Everyone has some issue sometime with their own self-confidence, but great ones minimize and eliminate that "lack" quickly and get on with business. Think about the great players you have seen play: Michael Jordan, Diana Taurasi, Lisa Leslie, keep naming them... You never hear them say "I don't have confidence any more in myself"... you hear some good players say it, but never the great ones. Some might say, "Well, yeah, that's Michael Jordan, he is the greatest", but the thing is, why sell yourself short? The more you work & prepare, the less "lack of confidence" comes into play.
3) Looking up in the stands at your parents or family or friends when you are playing. Quit taking advice from them as you play. How many players do you see at college games looking into the stands getting advice from their parents, family, or friends? The reason is that colleges see that as you being too dependent on parents, etc... and / or you don't know how to be coached by YOUR ACTUAL coach. That is a habit that needs to stop when you are young, that is, if you want to be great.
4) Falling down and throwing your body recklessly around. How many games have you seen players just flail themselves into someone or into a crowd, trying to make it look like they were fouled and end up just losing the ball? Many times probably. Again, how many college players do you see, that are great, do that? Not many. Yeah, you see some flop on defense, but that only goes so far. Talent plus work gets you in a position to do great things, not flopping and flailing.
5) Worrying about other people and what they are doing. Great players concern themselves with themselves and their team, aka "they aren't distracted". The teams that usually win are the ones that focus on themselves and the ones that don't are focused on others.
6) Making faces everytime you don't get your way. Either you don't like a call, or you don't like being subbed out of a game, or you don't like sitting on the bench... whatever the case, you make a face. Usually, face-makers are about themselves. They make faces because they want people to believe that it wasn't their fault and that whoever did this thing to them (coach, referee...) is wrong and they are right. Coaches don't want face-makers on their teams. There is a difference between showing emotion and making faces. Showing emotion usually takes place in the heat of a game and the desire and passion you have in wanting to win i expressed. It is usually not expressed through a technical foul, but just by a quick fist pumping or expression. Face-makers do their thing at any time of the game, just because they can't control their emotions. If you can't control yourself with a normal high school or AAU Crowd, how can you control yourself when you are on television or in front of a large college crowd?
Here is an interesting statement:
The best way to have a coach "notice" you is to have a negative attitude. Be selfish and only worry about yourself. Get on your teammates when they make mistakes. When you make mistakes, make excuses and blame others. Miss practice on a regular basis. Skip classes, get bad grades and don't make school a priority.
I hope you understand what I am getting at. Getting "noticed" isn't what's important...what's important is what you get "noticed" for.
As a player, I understand that you want acknowlegement from a coach, but that shouldn't be your number one goal. You should play because you love the game and because you want to get better. Don't make it your goal to please a coach and to get "noticed". Some coaches really get bothered when they see a player who is so hungry for attention that their game suffers because of it.
If you work hard, hustle, ask questions, put in extra time and show a commitment to your team and to the game, you will get noticed and your coach will recognize that.
I would say the most important thing is to make your teammates better on a daily basis.
Posted on May 17, 2005.
And The College Coaches Don't Care About The Score Of The Game...
With Coach McGraw - Notre' Dame 2005.
If you read through this entire web site, you begin to figure out why our program has been very productive over the years. This post, I think, helps answer some of your questions about how we are able to do some of the things we have done, and still be competitive and successful.
When our players start at 8,9,10, and even part of their 11s age groups, we teach the players to not worry about the scoreboard when their team starts getting beat really bad. We take our time with those teams, trying to teach them the basics and how to begin playing at an intense, focused and intelligent level that, in time, will catch up and pass the teams that blow us out at the younger age groups.
That teaches the players how to be "good losers", and when they get older, "good winners" and how to appreciate winning and not taking it forgranted. We don't want the kids to lose by 20 and 30 and 40 when they are younger, but the way we are set-up, it is more than often, going to happen, especially at the spring portion of their season at 10s. These kids begin to learn that they need each other to do their part for the team to be successful, and they need to learn the value of working hard to get a win and start to win consistently. Usually, at the 11s age and moving onward those same teams that took some bad beatings are now doing the pounding.
The hidden message behind this all, is for the players and their parents who stick through the early tough times, to understand the big picture of AAU Basketball.
When our kids get to the end of their 13s age and start moving up into their high school age groups, they are going to need the things they learned at 8,9,10 and 11.
We send our teams, mainly through the 292 Program, to as many college recruiting events as possible. At these events, the recruiters tend to swarm to many of our games because of the reputation we have built.
Our players aren't overly concerned about winning in these events, but are playing to win. They are more concerned about working together and trying to outwork the other teams, and the winning, then takes care of itself. That helps immensely when they are at recruiting events, when hundreds of recruiting eyes are tuned on them.
The players aren't looking up at the scoreboard, or being distracted by what "name" coach is evaluating their game. They are concerned about working hard together and thus, usually, make a good showing at the event as a team. That, in turn, allows many of our individual players to get the prized scholarship that so many of the other thousand upon thousand kids also want.
Colleges want to see your whole game, your physical game, your mental game, how well you act towards your teammates and coaches when you are winning and losing, how well you act when you are getting beat, how well you act when you are winning, and if you start getting stressed out because you are losing. They want to see how you sit on the bench, where you sit on the bench, where your focus is when you are not in the game, and if you know what to do when you sub in.
All of that, can be ingrained in kids at 8,9,10, and 11. The winning will, again, eventually, take care of itself when you get older. We just teach our players that you are going to get beat, it is just part of the game, and that winning is not easy. It may look easy to some teams at 10s, because they either have tremendous athletes who are just better at that age than us, or they may have spent a year or even two getting ready for the 10s age.
There is a lot of basketball left in these girl's careers and you want them playing at a high level when the "money" is on the table. Getting slammed at the younger age groups, and being patient about it, is an investment. You are investing your time and money in patience, knowing that our program's track record usually allows for the best opportunity for a scholarship in the future.
The college coaches don't care about the score of your game. They care about how you play and you act within a team concept. The college recruiters evaluate hundreds upon hundreds of games in short amount of time, and don't base your evaluation on winning and losing. They do, however, see how you play and how you try to help your team win.
One of our teams was at a huge recruiting tournament in 2005 in Chicago and the college coaches are seated under the scoreboards where they cannot see them. The facility had scoreboards on only one side of their courts. The scoreboard faced the parents who were sitting on the opposite end of the courts from the recruiters. The point? The point is, the college recruiter is concerned about how the players play, not about who is winning.
On this Chicago Team, we had 8 players. 5 of the 8 were Stealers from the start of their careers. The 5 original Stealers all took some really bad beatings at their younger age groups:
Brittany Strachan (10s team won two games her first year in 1998, then lost 65-12 in their first game at the DI Nationals at age 10 in 2000. At this time, our only 10s team to qualify for a DI National.)
LaShaunda Pratt (Was on Brittany Strachan's Team that won two games all season, at age 8. Her team in 2000 made the 11s' DI Nationals and lost in pool play 62-22.)
Katheryn Lyons (Was on LaShaunda's Team in 2000 at the 11s DI Nationals)
Gina Simmons (Her 10s' Team didn't qualify for the DII Nationals in 2001.)
Erinn Thompson (Her first team made the DII Nationals, but lost their first three games by 25 points or more.)
Tim Strachan, Brittany's Father, said "The good thing about the Stealers is that the program teaches you how to be humble when your child is at a younger age. "As a parent, you think your child and their team is the best and never should get beat like that, but getting beat like that makes you want to work harder. "It makes them tougher and you start finding out who wants to work and who doesn't. "Things eventually change over time and you see the benefit of hard work at the end of their careers. "As a 10s' parent, you don't see that, but as a 16s' parent it is clear as day."
On that same note, our first two "Stealers' Hall-of-Fame" Members: Rachel Stockdale and Chante' Black made one DI National between the two of them. Chante' made one, that we hosted, in 2001, while Rachel's Team got close, but never made one. Both players went on to play in the ACC. Yes, it was harder then to qualify for a DI National, and less teams qualified.
The thing is, you play to win, you coach to win, and you, as a parent want to win every time you step on the court, but you don't make it the end of all ends. You do the best you can, and you continually improve, and the real "win" will come out at the end.
Building each year, to that main goal, of each player and their parents.
When our players start at 8,9,10, and even part of their 11s age groups, we teach the players to not worry about the scoreboard when their team starts getting beat really bad. We take our time with those teams, trying to teach them the basics and how to begin playing at an intense, focused and intelligent level that, in time, will catch up and pass the teams that blow us out at the younger age groups.
That teaches the players how to be "good losers", and when they get older, "good winners" and how to appreciate winning and not taking it forgranted. We don't want the kids to lose by 20 and 30 and 40 when they are younger, but the way we are set-up, it is more than often, going to happen, especially at the spring portion of their season at 10s. These kids begin to learn that they need each other to do their part for the team to be successful, and they need to learn the value of working hard to get a win and start to win consistently. Usually, at the 11s age and moving onward those same teams that took some bad beatings are now doing the pounding.
The hidden message behind this all, is for the players and their parents who stick through the early tough times, to understand the big picture of AAU Basketball.
When our kids get to the end of their 13s age and start moving up into their high school age groups, they are going to need the things they learned at 8,9,10 and 11.
We send our teams, mainly through the 292 Program, to as many college recruiting events as possible. At these events, the recruiters tend to swarm to many of our games because of the reputation we have built.
Our players aren't overly concerned about winning in these events, but are playing to win. They are more concerned about working together and trying to outwork the other teams, and the winning, then takes care of itself. That helps immensely when they are at recruiting events, when hundreds of recruiting eyes are tuned on them.
The players aren't looking up at the scoreboard, or being distracted by what "name" coach is evaluating their game. They are concerned about working hard together and thus, usually, make a good showing at the event as a team. That, in turn, allows many of our individual players to get the prized scholarship that so many of the other thousand upon thousand kids also want.
Colleges want to see your whole game, your physical game, your mental game, how well you act towards your teammates and coaches when you are winning and losing, how well you act when you are getting beat, how well you act when you are winning, and if you start getting stressed out because you are losing. They want to see how you sit on the bench, where you sit on the bench, where your focus is when you are not in the game, and if you know what to do when you sub in.
All of that, can be ingrained in kids at 8,9,10, and 11. The winning will, again, eventually, take care of itself when you get older. We just teach our players that you are going to get beat, it is just part of the game, and that winning is not easy. It may look easy to some teams at 10s, because they either have tremendous athletes who are just better at that age than us, or they may have spent a year or even two getting ready for the 10s age.
There is a lot of basketball left in these girl's careers and you want them playing at a high level when the "money" is on the table. Getting slammed at the younger age groups, and being patient about it, is an investment. You are investing your time and money in patience, knowing that our program's track record usually allows for the best opportunity for a scholarship in the future.
The college coaches don't care about the score of your game. They care about how you play and you act within a team concept. The college recruiters evaluate hundreds upon hundreds of games in short amount of time, and don't base your evaluation on winning and losing. They do, however, see how you play and how you try to help your team win.
One of our teams was at a huge recruiting tournament in 2005 in Chicago and the college coaches are seated under the scoreboards where they cannot see them. The facility had scoreboards on only one side of their courts. The scoreboard faced the parents who were sitting on the opposite end of the courts from the recruiters. The point? The point is, the college recruiter is concerned about how the players play, not about who is winning.
On this Chicago Team, we had 8 players. 5 of the 8 were Stealers from the start of their careers. The 5 original Stealers all took some really bad beatings at their younger age groups:
Brittany Strachan (10s team won two games her first year in 1998, then lost 65-12 in their first game at the DI Nationals at age 10 in 2000. At this time, our only 10s team to qualify for a DI National.)
LaShaunda Pratt (Was on Brittany Strachan's Team that won two games all season, at age 8. Her team in 2000 made the 11s' DI Nationals and lost in pool play 62-22.)
Katheryn Lyons (Was on LaShaunda's Team in 2000 at the 11s DI Nationals)
Gina Simmons (Her 10s' Team didn't qualify for the DII Nationals in 2001.)
Erinn Thompson (Her first team made the DII Nationals, but lost their first three games by 25 points or more.)
Tim Strachan, Brittany's Father, said "The good thing about the Stealers is that the program teaches you how to be humble when your child is at a younger age. "As a parent, you think your child and their team is the best and never should get beat like that, but getting beat like that makes you want to work harder. "It makes them tougher and you start finding out who wants to work and who doesn't. "Things eventually change over time and you see the benefit of hard work at the end of their careers. "As a 10s' parent, you don't see that, but as a 16s' parent it is clear as day."
On that same note, our first two "Stealers' Hall-of-Fame" Members: Rachel Stockdale and Chante' Black made one DI National between the two of them. Chante' made one, that we hosted, in 2001, while Rachel's Team got close, but never made one. Both players went on to play in the ACC. Yes, it was harder then to qualify for a DI National, and less teams qualified.
The thing is, you play to win, you coach to win, and you, as a parent want to win every time you step on the court, but you don't make it the end of all ends. You do the best you can, and you continually improve, and the real "win" will come out at the end.
Building each year, to that main goal, of each player and their parents.
A Reality Check & A Bit Of Fun...
Coach Butler - University of Florida.
I,____________, herby declare that being the parent of a ___ year old who participates in youth sports do decree that I shall act older and more emotionally developed that my child. I agree to the following guidelines of behavior. If I cannot control myself, I agree to the penalties contained here within.
I hereby agree that I shall not yell at the referee. If I do yell at the referee, he/she will be allowed to come over to my office and yell at me every time he/she perceives that I have made a mistake.
I hereby agree that I shall not yell at the coach to put my child into the game or be the one to take the game-winning shot. If I violate this rule, my child will be allowed to come to my ofice and yell at my boss and tell hom I should be the one to get the next promotion.
I hereby agree not to yell at the other team. If I do, I shall have to go to my child's school and prepare snacks for the entire grade, since some of the children on the other team are my child's classmates.
I hereby agree that I shall not yell directions to my child in the middle of the game. If I do, my child shall be allowed to come to my next party and shout directions such as "No, Dad, don't eat the miniature corn on the cob like a typewriter!" or "No, Mom, don't double dip!"
I shall not yell, "The game's on your shoulders! It's all up to you! You are gonna win or lose it right here!" If I fail in this regard, my child will be allowed to come to my job, look over my shoulder and say, "The mortgage! The mortgage! Get this document right or else we'll lose the house! C'mon you can do it! The family's counting on you!"
I shall not say, "You are here to win, not to lollygag around!" If, in the heat of the battle, I say this to my child, he will be allowed to come to me while I am watching "Survivor" and snatch the remote control from my hands and say, "The Wilsons just added a pool to their house, Billy's mom just got a huge new SUV, and two of your co-workers just got promoted. What are you doing? We're here to win, aren't we, not just to lollygag around?"
I shall not force my child to play a sport that he or she does not like. If I do, my child will be allowed to choose my next career and will not be asked to do so based on strengths, weaknesses, likes or dislikes. He or she may simply choose my career based on mone earnings, hours (depending on whether he or she wanted me at home more or less), or simply because he may want to tell his friends something cool about me at school like, "Oh, yeah, well my dad works all night fixing the track at Space Mountain at Disney World!"
I shall not call my child "Honey", "Baby" or "Sweetie" from the stands. On my first offense, I shall have to take the whole team to the video arcade to restore any lost "cool points" I may have stripped from my child. On the second offense, I will have to allow my child any hair coloring, piercing, or tatooing of his/her choice. On the third offense, I will have to sign an agreement to buy him/her a BMW on his/her 16th birthday.
- Paul Peavey is a licensed psychotherapist, motivational speaker and former stand-up comic. Hopefully, by sharing this contract with some parents involved with youth sports, they will understand that, believe it or not, the number one reason children sign up to play sports is to have fun. If you allow them to do this, they can learn about their bodies, teamwork, perseverance, and, yes, how painful a basketball to the head can be while they are daydreaming on the court.
Do you know any parents that could use this reality check?
I hereby agree that I shall not yell at the referee. If I do yell at the referee, he/she will be allowed to come over to my office and yell at me every time he/she perceives that I have made a mistake.
I hereby agree that I shall not yell at the coach to put my child into the game or be the one to take the game-winning shot. If I violate this rule, my child will be allowed to come to my ofice and yell at my boss and tell hom I should be the one to get the next promotion.
I hereby agree not to yell at the other team. If I do, I shall have to go to my child's school and prepare snacks for the entire grade, since some of the children on the other team are my child's classmates.
I hereby agree that I shall not yell directions to my child in the middle of the game. If I do, my child shall be allowed to come to my next party and shout directions such as "No, Dad, don't eat the miniature corn on the cob like a typewriter!" or "No, Mom, don't double dip!"
I shall not yell, "The game's on your shoulders! It's all up to you! You are gonna win or lose it right here!" If I fail in this regard, my child will be allowed to come to my job, look over my shoulder and say, "The mortgage! The mortgage! Get this document right or else we'll lose the house! C'mon you can do it! The family's counting on you!"
I shall not say, "You are here to win, not to lollygag around!" If, in the heat of the battle, I say this to my child, he will be allowed to come to me while I am watching "Survivor" and snatch the remote control from my hands and say, "The Wilsons just added a pool to their house, Billy's mom just got a huge new SUV, and two of your co-workers just got promoted. What are you doing? We're here to win, aren't we, not just to lollygag around?"
I shall not force my child to play a sport that he or she does not like. If I do, my child will be allowed to choose my next career and will not be asked to do so based on strengths, weaknesses, likes or dislikes. He or she may simply choose my career based on mone earnings, hours (depending on whether he or she wanted me at home more or less), or simply because he may want to tell his friends something cool about me at school like, "Oh, yeah, well my dad works all night fixing the track at Space Mountain at Disney World!"
I shall not call my child "Honey", "Baby" or "Sweetie" from the stands. On my first offense, I shall have to take the whole team to the video arcade to restore any lost "cool points" I may have stripped from my child. On the second offense, I will have to allow my child any hair coloring, piercing, or tatooing of his/her choice. On the third offense, I will have to sign an agreement to buy him/her a BMW on his/her 16th birthday.
- Paul Peavey is a licensed psychotherapist, motivational speaker and former stand-up comic. Hopefully, by sharing this contract with some parents involved with youth sports, they will understand that, believe it or not, the number one reason children sign up to play sports is to have fun. If you allow them to do this, they can learn about their bodies, teamwork, perseverance, and, yes, how painful a basketball to the head can be while they are daydreaming on the court.
Do you know any parents that could use this reality check?