In the Summer Basketball Season is Over, Now What post, I wrote about preparing yourself for Academic Eligibility to play college basketball. We are a couple of months into the school year. A couple of report card periods and ACT test dates have passed. This makes the perfect time to do an academic checkup to make sure you are on the right path for academic eligibility. This is also a great opportunity for me to share additional beneficial information to you.
Most players and parents think playing on an AAU/travel team is the only thing necessary to get a college basketball scholarship. That is so far from the truth. It just does not work that way.
As of today, if you’re not receiving any mail or phone calls from college coaches, its kind of unrealistic to think you are going to play college basketball. I’m just being honest.
Now, let me clarify some things. Only juniors and seniors can get phone calls from D1 college coaches. According to the NCAA’s College Bound Student Athlete Guide, you can start receiving some kind of mailings from a D1 coach, whether it’s a camp brochure, prospect questionnaire, NCAA materials, or non-athletic recruiting publications as a sophomore. The point I’m trying to make — If coaches aren’t showing any interest in you (by reaching out to you), you are a long way from playing college basketball.