I played Division 1 basketball at Colgate University. And throughout my life I have interacted with countless college coaches at all levels of the game. In this video, I’m going to talk about 8 things that college basketball coaches are actually looking for in players they recruit.
Although having extreme size and athleticism can improve your odds of playing in college, I didn’t have any of those things. So, these are 9 attributes that any basketball player can develop, regardless of size and athleticism.
Remember, when a coach comes to watch you play, they aren’t really watching the full game, they are watching you. And if they didn’t only come to watch you play, these are ways you can still stand out, for better or worse.
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I played division one basketball at Colgate University and throughout my life I’ve interacted with countless college coaches from all levels of the game in this video I’m going to talk about eight things that college coaches are actually looking for in the players that they recruit although having extreme size and athleticism can improve your odds of playing college basketball I didn’t have any of those things these are eight attributes that any basketball player can develop regardless of size or athleticism remember when a coach comes to watch you play they really watching the full game they’re watching you and if they didn’t only come to watch you play these are ways you can still Stand Out For Better or Worse college basketball is a business this means that at all times coaches need to be doing one thing to maintain job security win when a coach tells a high school player they want them to come to their school they’re trusting that the player will help them win games help them win championships there are so many ways that you can be a winning basketball player but I truly believe that being part of a winning culture in high school school will prove to coaches that you know what it takes my junior year of high school we won the most games in school history during my aou season playing on the Under Armour circuit we won the Under armar Association championship in my senior year of high school we once again set the program record for wins and actually won the sectional championship for the first time in school history then in prep school we won our league title and lost in the state championship on all these teams I obviously had varying amounts of impact on the winning but what a college coach knew when they were recruiting me is that I knew what it took and I competed my ass off during every game it didn’t matter the score I valued and prioritized winning over my own stats even in high school you need to find ways to uplift your team be a great leader put a value on winning culture because again winning is all that matters once you get to college do you actually do these things honestly if I was a college coach at any level except the high major division one level I would value being part of a winning culture almost as much as any other skill obviously keeping in mind that the player is good enough for my level in the first place college coaches want players who can come in and have an immediate impact this might not necessarily mean playing 30 minutes a game as a freshman which is obviously really hard to do but it means that just by being there just by showing up every day you are making the team better if a player is hesitant in themselves or their skill set in high school then how can a coach trust them to be confident and effective when they get to college so what do I mean by being sure of yourself it means making decisions on the court with confidence and conviction when you take a shot even if you miss everyone knows that that is a shot that you will always take when you turn it over it’s not because you were hesitant it’s because you just lost the ball or got unlucky this might sound weird but I’ll tell you how to make it look like you are completely sure of yourself on the court when you mess up which is obviously inevitable you do not react in a negative way you do not pout or show frustration all that shows to a coach on the sideline is maybe you don’t believe in yourself so how could they believe in you and then when you do hit a shot or make a good pass you don’t showbo and run around the court like you just hit the lottery because if you do this then it seems like you got lucky like you can’t believe you just did something good a player who ass sure of themselves expects to make great plays all they have to do is run back on defense like I talked about in my video about confidence this might be a fake it till you make it scenario like it was for me in high school but eventually it will feel normal and a coach will take note of that this one is so simple yet so important and I see good players make this mistake all the time imagine a college coach comes to watch you play and when you get subbed out of the game you throw your hands up in frustration or you sit on the bench but you’re engaged you don’t care or worst of all you actually argue with the coach as you walk off the floor what does that tell someone who might have to coach you for 4 years maybe you don’t like your high school coach and that is fine but complaining to them in a way that makes it obvious to anyone that’s watching the game is a huge no no and then when you or your teammates make mistakes during a game just keep playing I’ve watched games where a player’s teammate either turns the ball over or takes a bad shot and the player noticeably makes a big fuss about it or even worse starts criticizing their teammate during the game instead you have to remember control what you can control get back on defense and then maybe during a dead ball show leadership by going up to that player and calmly having a conversation about it this shows that you just keep playing even when things aren’t going well and it also shows you know how to interact with teammates these are two incredibly important things to a coach sitting on the sidelines who is trying to build a winning culture yes on the court production matters immensely you have to be really good at basketball outside of just the intangible things to playing college so what is that one thing that you’re truly lead at that separates you from your peers I think for me it was more of two things I was a really really good shooter and I was also a high IQ player who could read the game on a different level from most high school players if you were just kind of average at everything obviously other players are going to stand out from you however if you are truly a lead at one thing and maybe even below average at almost everything else you will still stand out the most obvious skill that you can develop is shooting if you can become an elite shooter you will give yourself a really good opportunity of playing college basketball but over the years I have played with and against division one players who were Elite in the pick and roll or Elite on defense or Elite in the post or Elite rebounders and maybe just average at other things you should always be trying to build a well-rounded game especially when you train but try and develop that one skill that makes you stand out and become great at it it’s when you stack these Elite skills on top of one another when a truly special college player emerges this is something I do not hear enough about and yet I’ve talked to college coaches who have told me how much they value communication skills from a recruit remember college coaches are trying to build a winning program this means that they need guys who are going to be really good in the locker room showing a coach that you have a personality that you bring energy to the conversations with them will show them that you’ll bring positive energy to the team I remember when I was getting recruited any chance I got to talk to a college coach I would look them in the eyes shake their hand make sure they knew I was engaged in the conversation when they ask you a question don’t just respond with yes or no or even worse yeah really yeah that’s all you got give them real answers show them you’re a real human being with personality who can bring life and joy to the team this goes hand inand with being energetic but whenever a college coach talks to you you have to realize something they are taking time out of their day when they could be talking to any number of kids to talk to you specifically so show an interest in their school be curious ask questions tell them you would love to visit campus ask if they have an elite Camp why would a coach take an interest in you if you make it clear you have no interest in their school and maybe you actually don’t have any interest in their school well my advice is fake it because something I always say and something that I have learned from being around so many college coaches is that they all talk the school you thought you were better than so you didn’t even make an effort during a conversation with the coach might be best for friends with the coach of a school that you do want to go to I remember hearing this one story about a kid who was on a zoom recruiting call with a coach I guess the whole time the kid was clearly on his phone or had other tabs open on his computer all while this coach was talking to him do not do this it is disrespectful and it will hurt your reputation remember coaches talk controllable things are the things that any basketball player can do regardless of size or athleticism or basketball skill it really just requires effort some examples of these would be sprinting the floor every time boxing out high-fiving your teammates cheering for your teammates when you’re on the bench making the extra pass these are things that show a coach you really care and you’re willing to go the extra mile to win games for some reason I was always terrible at taking charges but I will tell you there is nothing coaches love more than a really good player who is willing to put their body on the line and take a charge the great part about controllable things is just that they are always in your control don’t take them for granted because college coaches certainly won’t when they’re trying to build a championship program as I have mentioned in other videos during aou on the Under Armor circuit I didn’t do much more than stand in the corner and just shoot threes and yet Colgate still started recruiting me that’s because I made sure I was doing all these controllable things all the time that helped me stand out basketball is a beautiful game I hope you realize that if your goal is to play college basketball and coaches want to see that enthusiasm come out in the way that you play now again I’m not talking about showboating or getting into it with your opponents all the time I’m talking about having passion wanting to compete all the time you know arama said in the interview recruiting kids that are really upbeat in loving life and love the game and have a tremendous appreciation for when your teammates do something well is hard to find you shouldn’t have to force this you are so lucky to be playing a sport that you love it should Bubble Up in every action you take when you are around the game it gives me energy just talking about having enthusiasm for basketball that’s how much I love this game when a coach talks to you they should feel how passionate you are when they go to watch you play they should be able to see how much you uplift your teammates how you you don’t take possessions off because that would just be a waste of the time that you have on the court coaches want players that think of basketball as their life when you get to College there are going to be a lot of outside distractions good and bad but at the end of the day other than getting your degree you were recruited to play basketball coaches want to know that your commitment your love for the game is real so that it will translate for the four years that you have together stop thinking about yourself all the time or your stats or trying to be too cool just go out and have fun a coach watching you will naturally gravitate towards that positive energy remember you only get one chance to go on this basketball journey and these are all things that almost any player can do really well take advantage of them so you don’t look back on your journey with any regrets