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Recruiting enthusiastic kids is harder than it has ever
been. Finding kids that are upbeat,
loving life, loving the game, and who have this tremendous appreciation for when
teammates do something well is uncommon.
Be that person. Every day. Not just on the basketball court, but in the
classroom, at home, and in the community as well. Be that person that brings energy and
enthusiasm to the room when you walk in.
When I first started coaching college basketball, I was
surprised when in recruiting, my head coach said that he does not have any idea
of the stats of the players he recruits.
Talent and skill level definitely are visible at first, but the
character of our recruits was equally important. And as we went through the entire process and
had to narrow down our efforts and decide which players to finally offer
scholarships to, character won out over talent.
We felt that high character kids had more of a chance to
grow, develop, and get better. We also
felt that high character kids would do wonders for our ‘culture’ and would help
create an environment that would help everybody grow and compete everyday at a
high level. We wanted athletes that
other athletes wanted to be around everyday.
During the first call to the kids’ high school coach, one of
the first questions my head coach would ask was, ‘What kind of kid is he?’ If the response wasn’t, ‘he is a GREAT kid,’
9 times out of 10, we would stop recruiting the kid. Getting a, ‘Well, his is a pretty good kid,’
was a red flag for us, as we wondered why is he not a great kid. Things like selfishness, work ethic, bad body
language and lack of consistency would keep us from offering an athlete a
scholarship.
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Energy and enthusiasm, on the court and in life, are
valuable character traits for all.
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