I’ve seen posts on social media about the Nike EYBL vs EYCL. The posts have been referencing which is better, financial package comparisons, and even comparisons in reference to the Under Armour setup.
I want to share my recruiting experience with the Nike, Adidas and Under Armour tournaments as a college coach.
Continue readingRecently, I overheard a conversation a gentleman was having. Apparently, he owns a real estate firm. He mentioned a talk he had to have with his agents about being secret agents. The agents had been too afraid to tell their family and friends that they were real estate agents. Basically, they kept it a secret from them.
I had a conversation with a travel team coach last week. We were discussing his team’s travel schedule. I was giving him insight on how college coaches are strategic about which evaluation tournaments they attend.
During our conversation, he made the statement “I have to let the coaches know where we will be at.”
I posted a video on social media. I talked about transitioning from regular basketball season into travel basketball season. In the video I said, “If you didn’t receive any interest from college coaches during the regular basketball season, you have to do something different, during travel basketball season”.
After posting the video, I received a message from a parent thanking me for information I provided. His daughter had to miss this year’s regular high school basketball season. However, despite missing the season, she has interest from college coaches because of the work her dad has done 2 years prior to missing this season.
Connecting The Dots
How do the 3 stories above relate to each other?
The Big Picture
There are hundreds of thousands of high school girls basketball players competing for college basketball scholarships.
There are hundreds to thousands of teams that play in a mega tournament during an evaluation weekend.
It’s not uncommon for college coaches to evaluate at least 1 thousand players during an evaluation weekend.
Simply playing in basketball tournaments isn’t enough to get you a basketball scholarship.
High school and travel team coaches have to know how to establish a relationship with college coaches.
Parents and players have to know how to establish a relationship with college coaches.
Once coaches, players and parents establish the relationship with college coaches. Then they have to know how to continue and nurture the relationship.
Getting on a College Coach’s Radar
This is the time of the year to prepare to get on a college coach’s radar.
College coaches are in the last stretch of their basketball season. They are playing their last games of the regular season. Then they head to the conference tournament.
Most teams’ seasons will end during the conference tournament. Once their season is over, they turn their attention to travel basketball season recruiting.
That means they are aggressively gathering travel team schedules, rosters and deciding which evaluation events to attend.
Time to Prepare
Now through March is the best time to start emailing college coaches.
However, before you send an email, you have to know who to email.
Power 5 programs recruit nationally and mid major programs recruit regionally.
Honestly, it will be easier to establish a relationship with a mid major program’s coach than a Power 5 program coach. Not saying that you shouldn’t try but it will be easier to start connecting with mid major programs first.
Research Tools
You can get a list of all the Power 5 schools and their conferences by going here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Five_conferences#Current_conferences_and_teams
This map gives you a great visual of the Power 5 schools in each state: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Five_conferences#Map_of_Power_Five_teams
You can use this NCAA tool, https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/5/3/membership-directory.aspx, to research all the schools by state. You will be able to see which schools are Division I, II and III. There is also a link to their academic and athletic website.
Activity
Use the Research Tools above to:
“Everybody’s Sore. Everybody’s Tired. Everybody has an excuse. Don’t Be Everybody.”
-Lewis Caralla
College Basketball Academy Updates
Website: https://thecbbacademy.com/index.aspx
To participate in the College Basketball Academy Individual Pathway, rising juniors and seniors
1) Must be registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center.
Register for your Free Profile Page Account at https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/
2) Must Self-Nominate. Self nomination ends May 24, 2024. NOW OPEN!!
Visit https://thecbbacademy.com/sports/2023/9/13/nomination-and-selection-process.aspx for self-nomination details.
Save The Dates
Evaluation Period April 19-21
Division 1 college coaches are allowed to evaluate Travel Teams
Recruiting Shut Down May 6-12
Division 1 college coaches cannot have any contact with players
Evaluation Period May 17-19
Division 1 college coaches are allowed to evaluate Travel Teams
Scholastic Evaluation Period June 13-15
Division 1 college coaches are allowed to evaluate High School Teams
Evaluation Period July 12-15
Division 1 college coaches are allowed to evaluate Travel Teams
Evaluation Period July 19-22
Division 1 college coaches are allowed to evaluate Travel Teams
Evaluation Period July 26-29
Division 1 college coaches are allowed to evaluate Travel Teams and Individual players at the NCAA College Basketball Academy only
Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help:
College Coaches game plan for each new year. They game plan for each week of practice. They game plan for each practice. They game plan for each game.
Game planning doesn’t stop there.
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