Shootin' Hoops: 2 College Recruitment Tips For Basketball Players

25 January 2015
 Categories: , Blog

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You know you have a lot to offer your future college, but you have to let college recruiters know too. Only 3.3 percent of male high school students and 3.7 percent of female high school students get recruited for college basketball. That is a very low percentage, but these tips may help you make the cut. 

1. Take The Right Classes

The first thing you have to worry about is taking the right courses. Getting good grades in courses that college recruiters are not interested is not going to count for much. The best thing you can do is talk to your school counselor about your college basketball aspirations. Your counselor should have a list of National Collegiate Athletic Association or the NCAA approved courses. You have the right to ask for a printout of this list to make sure that you are taking the right classes at all times.

Be sure to talk to your counselor about this list each semester, as it tends to change from time to time. For example, the NCAA recently refocused their attention to English and Mathematics. It is best to start talking to your counselor about your aspirations in the ninth grade. If you are beyond this grade, you can still show colleges that you are currently on the right track. 

The following are some of the required courses:

  • 4 years of English
  • 3 years of mathematics (be sure that you take Algebra 1 or higher)
  • 2 years of natural or physical science (remember that college recruiters look favorably upon a lab course, so choose a high school that offers this option, although it is not necessary)
  • 1 additional year of math or natural science
  • 2 years of social science
  • 4 years of additional courses, such as philosophy, foreign language or comparative religion

There is one more tip that you should consider.

2. Make A Promising Video

You may need a little help from your parents, but you should make a short video containing 15 to 25 highlights that show your abilities. You can send this to the coach of the schools you are considering, and you can also give it to the recruiters if they ask for one. Make sure that the video is filmed as professional as possible, so that it won't be hard to decipher what is going on in each highlight.

Do not make the mistake of highlighting yourself as a jack of all trades. The recruiter is looking for a person to fill 1 position, not all of them, so choose one of your strengths and highlight that in your video.

As you can see, getting noticed takes some planning on your part, but it is worth it. Do not forget to register with the NCAA as soon as possible, as you will need to when recruiters start looking for their picks. Contact a company like Hoops4Nations for more information.