Scout’s Take: Social Media
A day in the life of a high school basketball scout is a non-stop day of phone calls, text messages, voicemails, e-mails, hours on the laptop and reviewing notes on recruits. It is not a easy job trying to evaluate…
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Continue ReadingA day in the life of a high school basketball scout is a non-stop day of phone calls, text messages, voicemails, e-mails, hours on the laptop and reviewing notes on recruits. It is not a easy job trying to evaluate a player and figuring out what level he may be after only seeing a player in one game. For the most part I can tell in the first 10 minutes of a game if a player has the ability to play at the collegiate level. Shot mechanics, fundamentals and natural athletic ability are the three attributes that stand out immediately.
One of the main attributes that college coaches ask about before almost all of this is what kind of attitude or character does “the player” have. The question of “What good does “the player” do for our program if he is not coachable or has a attitude that may be detrimental to our program?” I have had numerous coaches contact me intrigued about a player I have wrote about or published a tweet about and the college coach move on to the next player because of character or attitude issues.
As a recruit in today’s day in age, you have so many social media outlets that anything you say or do is just a click away and could cost you a college scholarship or a chance at playing at the next level, whatever that level may be. Be very cautions and understand that anything you say or do that can be seen by prospective college coach is enough to warrant a program not recruiting you.
One example that comes to mind is the 2012-2013 NCHSAA state 4-A champions Olympic High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Head Coach Ty Baumgarner’s team that season did not allow any type of social media posts from the first game until the bus ride home from Chapel Hill after their team secured a 30-0 mark and the state title. The nucleus of that group went on to play college basketball at a high level. There was no room for any college coach to warrant any misunderstanding about a player or his mindset during the season. No room for selfishness on the team based on someone’s posts or tweets.
In short, during the season, make it about the team and don’t be distracted by something that could allow you to not reach your goals by posting something in the moment or something that you did not think through clearly. This is a part of your “job interview” for being able to play college basketball.
This statement may seem contradictory coming from a guy who posts tweet after tweet regarding recruits and writes stories about them for a national website, but it should not interfere with the season at hand for the recruit. It is for the coaches, parents and fans.