Recruiting Advantages

A little more than a month ago Adrian Wojnarowski wrote an article on the recruiting advantage that Coach K has by coaching the USA National Team. There were a fare share of people that agreed and disagreed with the article. Think what you want, almost everything they do benefits recruiting and their image. Speaking at coaches' clinics throughout the country is another example of gaining a recruiting advantage, especially if the clinic is run by prominent HS or AAU coaches. Do you think coaching Team USA is an advantage?

Of course it's an advantage to coach potential recruits or to have access to them. I don't think it's the main reason why these coaches do it but it certainly doesn't hurt them in recruiting. It's an honor to have a USA across your chest and if by chance it helps with recruiting, then coaches will do it.

Do you think it's a little odd that the three biggest recruits that Coach K brought in this year at Duke all have been playing for the US Junior National (16u-19u) teams for the last several years? He has a different kind of access to them because he is the Senior National Team coach. Another question to ask is, does coaching LeBron, Kobe, and Carmelo create an advantage in recruiting. It sure does. Why? "We could use you like we used LeBron." "This is a set that we used for Kobe that I think we could run for you." Wouldn't that peak your interest a little bit as a recruit or a parent?

Another interesting tidbit is that Tyler Lydon, a Syracuse commit, was a late addition to tryout for US 18U team this past summer. He made the team as well. He clearly helped the team as well, as they won a gold medal at the 18U FIBA Americas tournament. What people don't always see is that Jim Boehiem, his future coach, is in charge of the committee to select these teams. A little, "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." It was clearly for recruiting, regardless of how well Lydon did.

Well, why don't other coaches do the same thing? They are trying. Billy Donovan of Florida, Sean Miller oF Arizona, Shaka Smart of VCU, John Beilien of Michigan, etc., have all done a stint of coaching for the US at the younger levels. Does it make them a better coach? Absolutely, they get to bounce ideas of different coaches that could have very different philosophies in a lot of different things. Along with playing against countries that have completely different philosophies in regards to playing the game.  At the same time, it gives them access to potential recruits that they would never have if they didn't try. A few of the coaches haven't coached the younger squads but working for USA Basketball is never a bad thing.

It's a two street as well. Coaches get to see a different side of the athletes that they normally wouldn't see. At the same time, athletes get to see the coaches differently than others would. They get to see how they operate in practice, how they use film to teach, and how they communicate with their players. It should give the athletes an idea if they actually want to play for that certain coach. That's a huge plus when trying to figure out the recruiting process.

If you stop by any Division One practice you will notice that certain assistant coaches do very little or nothing in regards to coaching. Why? They are strictly recruiters. Their sole job is to find/recruit players to come to their school. It's not the case everywhere but it happens a lot more than people know about. If you can't recruit, then you technically can't coach, because you will be out of a job quickly. To have "coaches" who just recruit shows the importance of recruiting. It's probably 75% or more of most coaches' jobs.

Ask any coach and they will take any recruiting advantage they can. They need players. If this wasn't the case, why do head coaches hire AAU coaches as assistants who aren't technically qualified according to the job qualifications? They want to get their hands on certain kids from certain programs and the best way to do that is to hire someone that has a relationship with a kid or a coach within a certain program.

Skill Trainers

Just like with anything in life, there are some good things and some bad things. Like the AAU scene,  these "skill trainers" that are popping up all over the place. There are some that really have a grasp of what is going on and there are others that are in it for nothing but the money, and many in between.

I believe the first step to any skill session is to sit down and talk with the trainer and figure out goals. When I say goals, I mean, what does the athlete want to accomplish by working with the trainer? Do you want to make the team, do you want to make varsity, do you want to play minutes on varsity, do you want to start, do you want to play in college, and/or do you want to play professionally? These are all questions that should be asked by the trainer to order to figure a plan over the course of time. 

The goal is to be realistic. If a athlete has never played basketball until the 10th grade and wants to start on the varsity team, that's just not realistic in most settings regardless of how much time the trainer has to work with the athlete. If the goal is to play in college or professionally then the athlete has to work on their own A LOT in order to achieve these goals. No trainer is going to make a college or professional player. It's all up to the athlete, they have to make many personal sacrifices in order to achieve their goals. Again, a trainer can't make that happen. They can push the limits to help but if you work with a certain trainer, regardless of how good they are, it doesn't matter.

I could be completely wrong on this but I think there should be a lot of communication between the skills trainer and the HS coach. Why? Wouldn't you think it would be important to have one of your players working on drills/skills that are important for your HS program? I'm not saying that the trainer can't work on anything else in regards to what the HS program does, but it's important for the development of all for people to be on the same page. 

I also think it's really important that there is a focus on the HS season during the fall. Most of the drills/skills should be based on what the HS coach sees the athlete's role for the upcoming season. Some states don't have an issue with working with trainers because they are able to work with their athletes all year. Other states allow HS programs to pay for a trainer for their kids, as long as the HS coach(es) aren't involved in the skill sessions. 

Yes, I know that an athlete's role could differ from their HS and AAU teams. Again, I'm not saying that athletes can't work on other skills but it's important for their improvement with their HS teams just before their HS season starts. An example would be a 6'5" player who is the tallest player in their HS program and they are forced to play a majority of their time in the post. During AAU, they are more of a wing player and that is probably the position they will play in college. They can work on their perimeter skills all year round but in the few weeks before practice starts for their HS team, it's important that they are still pretty good in the post.

Does the skill trainer(s) actually work on defense? I ask because I don't know. I've seen numerous skill sessions and not once have I seen them work on the defensive side of the ball. Now, I've seen them play one on one and two on two but nothing with a true emphasis on defense. Offense is only half of the game, it's important to work on the other side of the ball on a consistent basis as well. 

A part of the game is overlooked by many, including coaches, is the mental part of the game. Why is overlooked? It's not a part of the game that is on the newest Vines, or the new YouTube videos. Do the trainers talk about strategy? Do they talk about what to do in different situations, especially end of the half/game situations? Do they put you in situations to fail? Failure is a good thing for athletes. The best shooters from three only make 40% of them. That's a lot of failure and the athletes have to be able to handle it.  

Here are a few other things that are important when choosing a trainer. How many athletes do they work with during the same session? You don't want to have 8-10 athletes in each session because there is too many down time. The athlete should be working constantly. Yes, there will be some built in breaks but they shouldn't be for long. You want to get the most amount of bang for your buck. 

Who are the trainer's other clients? Don't you think it's important for the trainer to have an idea how to work with many different skill levels? Would it work for someone that is training NBA players to train a true beginner right after? Do they work with only younger kids? Can you challenge yourself by working with the better players or do you have to stay with kids in the same grade(s)? Those are questions that you will have to ask before working with anyone.

The last thing I want to talk about is, there are some skills that shouldn't be done by certain players. The main reason I say this, is there are certain skills that college and/or NBA players can do that certain players just can't. I don't mean it in a bad way but a lot of the time, the athlete just isn't ready for it. An example is in the video below with Kevin Durant.

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This is an advanced drill. It's doesn't seem like it but it clearly is. Why? KD shoots around 95% from that spot without a defense. How many athletes can say that shoot that high from anywhere? Not many. So why are trainers making their athletes do these types of drills? Then they can say that the athlete is doing the same drills that KD is doing. 

Another example is, how many athletes are shooting pull-up three's during their HS or AAU games? Not many and even less are actually making that shot. The athlete would probably get better by getting a bunch of inside-out threes, which are more realistic and game-like. 

I deal with the kind of stuff in the class that I teach. I was told by one of students that he would never get into the lane during a game, so he was going to work on his one foot fadeaway jumper. Yet, he couldn't make that jumper, from 15 feet, consistently while on balance. I told him that it would be better to work that shot on balance. He then proceeded to make his next fadeaway, I laughed, he then hit the top of the backboard on the next one. My point, exactly.

This whole blog might seem like a knock on skill trainers but I don't mean it that way. I think there is a time and a place for them especially for challenging athletes. Just make sure that there is research is done beforehand to make sure you have a good trainer rather than one that is stealing money.