High School Programs

Over the past eight years I have been to a lot of high school basketball games and have seen my fair share of craziness. I've recruited a wide range of athletes and an even wider range of parents. The more I go to games and practices the less I get an understanding of how things work at certain programs. My dad is a high school coach back in NY and I know how he runs his program but everyone is different.

I've been to games where recruits have been suspended, where they have been taken out of the starting lineup, where they haven't played with no explanation (at least according to the kid and their parents), and where they've played the whole game because the coach has no other choice. It's hard for me not to judge high school coaches but at the same time I'm not at practice everyday. I don't know what the inner workings of the team are. Some high school coaches are great and will do whatever they can for their kids, others are just receiving their nice paycheck and calling it a day.

There are some coaches that I know that are willing to take kids on visits to schools. There are some coaches that are willing to discipline their players when their parents don't. There are some coaches who will do whatever it takes to win. There are some coaches that know that no one kid is bigger than the program.

Being a high school isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. The best ones are the ones that put in the time over the spring, summer, and fall to make sure that each and every kid in his/her program has the opportunity to get better. Many kids and parents fail to understand that the season doesn't start when there are tryouts. The true season started the day after your last game the previous year.

I went to tell you a story about a friend of mine that was a high school coach in the state of Minnesota. He kept on getting calls from a parent about why "little Johnny" isn't playing. He told the parent several reasons why (though coaches shouldn't have to explain to parents why kids aren't playing) and the calls didn't stop. Finally, my friend says, "Why don't you come to practice for 30 straight days and then tell me if Johnny should be playing more?" Naturally, the parent agreed. He came to practice for the first ten days and then never came again, and then never called about playing time again.

I just want to say thanks to the good high school coaches throughout the country who work their tail off and get their kids ready for college or the real world. I don't mean just basketball coaches.