HoopRecruiter.com was created to assist high school basketball players who have the ability to play college basketball actually
get to college. Too often we see students who either do not have a plan in place to make that dream a reality, or they end up going to a university that does not fit for who they are so they end up leaving after a year or two because the school isn’t right for them. Not only does this happen with issues on the court (the style of play, your position, relationship with the coach, playing time, etc) but in the classroom, on campus, dealing with teachers and the community, etc.
Aside from the tools that our site has to offer, we recommend that the student-athlete have a complete plan in place to show the coaches they communicate with that you are serious about your future endeavors. You are not going to get recruited by accident – you need to have a strong formula in place and use the resources that are available to you.
The First Step
The first thing you need to do is narrow down your list of schools that you are interested in attending. Just doing a ‘shotgun approach’ where you send information out to every school you can think of is a waste of your time.
Investigate the schools you are considering and focus at first on these details:
- Location
- Cost
- Majors offered
- Student Body
- School Size
- Academic Reputation
- Campus Lifestyle
You can eliminate a lot of schools just on these details. After you find schools that match these aspects, then focus on the basketball side of things, which will again minimize your school list. Don’t forget to check D-II, D-III, and NAIA schools as well. We can help with this step in our
College Planner and College Search functions.
Who is going to help?
Hopefully you are in a situation where you are getting assistance from family members, school guidance counselors and your high school coach. Unfortunately however there are many people out there who need all the help they can get and get very little assistance from anyone else. This really is something where your high school coach should be play a pivotal role, but too many are not properly equipped or lack the time to help.
The main reason we put all of this together – and the services our site provides – is to fill the gap when others aren’t helping. Need help finding information on colleges and universities? How about getting together your grades and your game stats? Do you have letters of recommendation, newspapers articles, test scores or transcripts you would like to show coaches? Should you send DVD’s or a USB drive to a coach with some game highlights? How do you find out about scholarships or financial aid? Should you plan a college visit and if you do, what kind of things do you ask on your visit? What kind of things do you ask a college coach who is interested in you?
These are all things that you need to prepare for, and if you don’t have someone who can help you with this, ask us – that’s what we’re here for and why we created the site.
I have some schools that I am interested in, now what?
Now that you have a list of schools you are interested in and have decided who will help you figure out this next stage of your life, you need to do some work on preparing your ‘Profile.’ When a coach gets access to your information, you want to blow them away. Make your first impression a strong one. Whether you use our site or not to help organize these things, here are items that we highly recommend you have available:
Game Stats – If you can’t get this from your coach, then do the best you can to put this together yourself. Let college coaches know that this information is your best guess, but you need to have some stats available.
Style of Play – Let coaches know what position you play, what offense and defense you prefer, etc. These are always good ways to find out if the playing style fits you.
Personal Stats – Do you know how tall you are and how much you weigh? Coaches want to know that stuff so find out.
Grades – Best thing to do here is to get a transcript from the school so that you can have all your grades as well as the classes that you have taken.
Game Schedule – Whether this is for your high school team or your travel team, get a list of games together so coaches can come and see you play. Better to have this readily available then to have to track it down.
Game Film – There are many times that coaches do not have an opportunity to come to your games, so the best way to get them interested – more than stats, newspaper articles, or recommendations – is for them to see what you can do. We will soon publish an article on how to make a quality ‘Highlight Film’ but first would recommend that the video quality is high so you are easy to see, that you do some ‘skills work’ to show your game (if you’re a guard have some video of you dribbling through cones or working on your handle; if you are a post player video a drill of you working on your post moves, etc). Also, get some actual game film that shows you on both ends of the floor. Your video doesn’t need to be 30 minutes long to make an impression, but needs to entice the coach to contact you.
Once you put this information together, show the coaches your initiative by getting this information out to them. We can help you create this ‘profile’ and e-mail coaches directly from our site in a precise, well laid out format. Now you are in charge of your recruitment and not leaving everything to chance.
This is not an easy process, and anyone who tells you that it is doesn’t understand. Separate yourself from all of the other high school players who want to play college basketball. Be honest of your ability and find a school that is a fit for you on all levels. Get to work, but remember if you need help, all you need to do is ask.
