Recruiting Tips: Know Your College Level

In this series “Recruiting Tips” we will dive into a different issue in each story that deals with recruiting and can help guide the prospect through the world of recruiting.  Today we look at knowing what level prospect you are.  Many times the perception the prospect has and reality are two very different things.

One thing very apparent to me in covering recruiting over the years is every prospect playing on the circuit thinks they are a division one prospect.  In reality most of them aren't.  There is nothing wrong with that being your dream, but as your career moves into your junior and senior years you need to be realistic.

I watch players play and after the game talk to them about what schools they are interested in.  Many times I watch a prospect going into his senior year and think he would be a nice D3 or NAIA prospect in the right system.  The player will go on to tell me he is only considering D1 programs.  Tape don't lie!  That is a scouting term used for saying you are what you are.  So many prospects feel embarrassed to reveal they are being recruited by smaller college programs.  They blow them off because they think they are better than that.  Many times teammates or friends are being recruited by bigger schools and they think because they are on the same team they should be too.  Doesn't work that way!  You are judged on your abilities and college coaches/scouts project a level you would be best at.  It doesn't matter what the kid on your team next to you does.  You are the level you are being recruited at.

A misconception about travel team ball is it is all about the live periods.  While no doubt live period events are very important, what many don't realize is that D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO programs are out almost every single weekend during the spring and summer recruiting.  Those are also the schools that during a player's senior year are in the high school gyms trying to find fits for their programs.  It doesn't matter if D1s are in a gym if you aren't a D1 player.  Yes, it is cool for prospects to see coaches they recognize from TV or logos on polos of D1 programs, but if they realistically aren't recruiting you it would be much more beneficial to the player to have the D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCOs at their games.

Only 3.4% of high school basketball players play at ANY college level.  That's not just D1 that is D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and junior college.  There are way more small college programs than D1's.  Playing college basketball is something that very few players get to do.  Do not look down on schools just because you don't see them on national television every night!  Those schools are showing interest in you because they believe you can help their program.  In return they are giving you scholarship money to go to school and giving you an opportunity to be successful.  In many cases those “small” schools beat those programs you are dying to play for.

Over the last five years the average number of D1 commits out of high school from Illinois is approximately 29 per class.

Illinois D1s by Class Over Last 5 Years

2019 – 32
2020 – 30
2021 – 23
2022 – 25
2023 – 35

There are way more than 29 players in each class that are playing travel team basketball.  There are also way more than 29 players in Illinois that will end up at a college playing D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO.  At least 6-8 times that number minimum.  Also just because you go to these programs doesn't mean that you will not end up at a D1 down the road with the portal if you play well at a JUCO or another school.

Another aspect to look at is wanting to play at the level you are best suited for.  That doesn't always mean the highest scholarship you have in terms of basketball “status.”  Year after year I see a kid commit to a program over other schools he would have played more and been able to be a bigger part of the team.  The reason is they want to play at the highest level even if in their heart they know they aren't that good.  It is a status thing to them and the people around them.  After a year at that school they realize they aren't up to par and end up on the 2000+ player transfer list.  Get it right from the beginning!

The transfer portal has completely changed college basketball over the last several years.  It has impacted recruiting at the high school recruiting significantly at every level.  College programs are holding scholarships into the spring and sometimes late summer because they would rather take an experienced transfer whether from a level up or down than a high school prospect that has to be developed.  College coaches are paid to win games and at the end of the day most of the time the 22 year old is more capable of doing that than an 18 year old freshman.

Players, coaches, and advisors need to be more realistic about what level their student athlete is and help put them in the best position to succeed.  Both on and off the court.