Many tools are available to assist Youth Basketball Parents in capturing the attention of the college coaches. Which basketball club should you choose? Which high school should you attend? Should I spend the money on an online recruiting profile or hire a recruiting service? What was readily apparent during my interview with Coach Randall was that the effectiveness of the tools would vary depending on the coach, program, division level, and gender of your child. I will not be able to provide you with a definite answer, but I will be able to share the perspective of a successful basketball coach. This why I am so excited to share the insights of basketball experts in my Coach’s Corner features.
Club Basketball
On the topic of club basketball, Coach Randall stated that the club decision would be different for each parent and each kid. Until the age where recruiting starts, the critical factors in club selection are the quality of coaching and commitment to skill development and training. The coaching must reflect the current needs of the child and the type of child that they are. Could your child endure and be driven by an intense coach who tends to yell during games or practice, or would they be better served by a coach with a more understated even temperament? It is important to shine the spotlight on your child and be truthful about their current skill level and personality ((The True Lessons of the Recession | Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2012-04-20/true-lessons-recession)). This will provide you with the essential information that will assist you with the club you select.
I always cringe when I hear stories of parents driving three hours for a club practice.
Coach Randall on Club Basketball
Coach Randall contends that if you are located in a state with wide-open rural locations, you may need to travel a long distance to get to a club ((Donating Points And Miles To Charity Around The Holidays. https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffwhitmore/2019/12/16/donating-points-and-miles-to-charity-around-the-holidays/)). In most situations, however, you should be able to find a quality club close to your geographic location. He says that he hears parents say that they need to drive that distance to join a program to find good competition for their child. He has a simple answer. Don’t drive the three hours for practice. If your child requires better competition, simply have them play up one or two grade levels. It is vital to keep a constant eye on not burning out your child’s love for the game. Find a club close to home. Let your child live their basketball dream, but still have time available to spend with their friends.
While Coach Randall understands the evolution of club basketball in the United States and the reasons for the club system. He feels that the focus on playing numerous games three to four weekends every month in summer can make a player “callous to competition” and bring them further down the road to burnout. “Sometimes I wish instead of club basketball (today’s players) could play one on one, two on two, or three on three (more often). (This way) they always have the ball in their hand, and every play matters. If they do not play defense, they will get scored on. It helps the players build a scoring mentality.” He feels that the kids spend too much time in organized activities. Sometimes this tends to hurt the player more than help them. He wishes we could go back to the day where the kids just went out into the driveway or to the playground to play.
He has seen situations where parents push to have their child on a high-level national club that flies from state to state playing every weekend. Their kid, however, is number 13 on the depth chart on a team with 14 players. The detriment of the lack of playing time aside, this can erode the child’s confidence in their game. It may serve them better to get consistent playing time on a medium level club.
He does say that he has built numerous relationships with club directors and coaches. Once trust is built with the club, he values and trusts their opinions more. That said, he emphasizes that he will listen to club coaches whenever they call him.
There are some phenomenal club coaches out there. Take the time and do some in-depth research to find the best fit for your child. Decide what is most important. Don’t get sucked in by all of the bells and whistles. The quality of people is what matters most.
Coach Lance Randall
Online Recruiting Profiles and Recruiting Services
College coaches are flooded daily with emails from prospective collegiate athletes that are looking to get recruited. Many of these emails originate from online recruiting sites. Coach Randall says that he will typically get 40 emails per day from recruiting services, parents, players, and coaches. It is overwhelming. The sad fact is that the majority of the players showing up in the emails are not good enough to get on their recruiting radar at present ((The sad fact is that the majority of gang members seem to …. https://www.coursehero.com/file/p7qb13o/The-sad-fact-is-that-the-majority-of-gang-members-seem-to-come-from-poverty/)). I specifically asked Coach to gauge the importance of the online recruiting profiles in his recruitment of players. He emphatically replied, “On a scale from one to ten with ten being that we can’t live without them and one being that the emails are filling up his deleted (file folder) on his computer, I would give them a 1.5.” He quickly added that this is his opinion from the perspective of his program. Other coaches and programs could find them more valuable.
It was fascinating to hear him say that if he sees an email from a recruiting service that he automatically deletes it. Parents can spend thousands of dollars on hiring recruiting services. Coach Randall does not recommend them. He does not believe that they are scams, but it is challenging to take a recommendation from a recruiting service if he has not built up a relationship with them over time. He has no basis for trusting their opinion since they do not spend time with or coach the player. That being said, he does have relationships with a few recruiting services in the USA and Europe that he does utilize because he knows and has built up trust with the owners.
As a final note, he wanted to stress that he never wants to receive emails or calls from parents who want him to recruit their child. He prefers that it be the player that reaches out to his program. The player has to have the “fire in the belly” to play college basketball. They should be the ones shouldering most of the work in the recruitment process. Parents should be in the background, supporting them whenever they can.
High School Coaches
I take a lot of stock to what high school coaches say since they have (the players) every day in practice and multiple years in their program.
Coach Lance Randall
Clearly, the opinion of the player’s high school coach carries great weight with Coach Randall. High school coaches see these kids every day as opposed to a club coach that gets them for one or two practices a week. They are aware of how they are as a student, and they have an excellent feel for the reputation of the player in the high school and community. Their opinion means even more if I know them and the conference competition level in which they play.
Conclusion
As I am sitting here composing the blog posts of my interview with Coach Randall, I internally wish that I had access this these types of insights when my children were at a younger age. This is fueling my passion for the mission of Youth Basketball Parent. There is more to come from Lance. In the final post, Lance will speak to the do’s and don’t’s of parent and player behavior in the recruiting process, the difficulties of bringing in the right players, and scholarships.
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