[abcdefghijklParticipant]

I’ve just begun my high school career and tryouts are about a month away. The only basketball-related goal I have is to earn a division I basketball scholarship to any school. I want it more than anything and I’ve worked hard my whole life so that I can maybe someday achieve that goal. That being said, I would appreciate some pointers on what I can do to succeed in high school basketball and get college scouts to recruit me and what kind of attributes a scout might be looking for in a player. Any advice would be appreciated.

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

Go Ham

Pray

Eat right and stay away from loose women

I’m dead serious

[Scottoant93Participant]

Alright heres some things you should do

be a good teammate

Show hustle and heart

play within yourself-if your a slasher don’t be jacking up 3s, do what you do best

be coachable- if a coach tells you to do something do it, even if it means coming off the bench as a sixth man, refusing will make you seem selfish and uncoachable, if you do well you will get noticed(unless your coach is ahole)

when at tryouts look around and scan the talent- are there many scorers,hustlers, defensive players and do what is lacking, try to make yourself standout

[hotsauceParticipant]

 Hustle and never give up thats how i got on my high school team

 

[omphalosParticipant]

Address your weaknesses every year. If your handle is lacking, focus on it in the off-season, if you’re purely a slasher, work on shooting the long ball so you have that option available if defenders start backing off you.

Most importantly though, try to play a position which will suit your adult height, rather than your height now. I was switched from guard to forward in high school after an early growth spurt, but I’m undersized for a PG these days and should never have gone off the ball. Take a look at your parents and try to estimate how tall you’ll be, then roll with that.

Do what the coach says, but keep developing the skills which will help you at the next level.

ProudGrandpa is right about loose women though, they can hold you back if you’re not careful.

[JustAFanWithSkillsParticipant]

 get off this site & hit the gym good luck

[aamir543Participant]

I just had my tryouts a week ago, and I missed the team on the last cuts.(50 kids tried out, and I made it to the final 18.) Coach told me that if I was a freshman, I would have made it, but the main reason was because I was noticibly out of shape. I had all the intangibles, I was a hard worker, I had the best post game, I crashed the boards, and I showed the coaches that I could spread the floor, but I couldn’t run for sh!t. I also can’t jump. Remember, put your heart and soul out there, and you will DEFINATLY make it. I’m not the flashiest guy, but I was a decent speeds worth of ability away from being a solid contributer on the team, cause I played with a ton of heart.

And remember, try to show them that you’re a lockdown defender, cuase coaches always find a way to put defenders on the floor.

[moochieeParticipant]

Always be looking for ways to improve your game. Outside the gym, try to get into really good shape. It’s easy to say hustle, or play your ass off, or be a lockdown defender, but if you are not fit everything on the court becomes so much harder.

[kngojcParticipant]

 Get in great shape. The longer and faster you can run, the better your chances are you can look and feel fresh in the fourth quarter and blow by everyone.

Speaking from my position, one year I got cut basically because I’m white (no big deal right?) and another year they made sure to create an extra cut just so that they could cut me. Gotta love politics in basketball. I’m not bitter… lol

Just make sure you always stay hungry for more. Don’t back down and don’t let anyone tell you you’re not good enough. The minute you stop believing in what you want and what you can do, is the minute you will start feeling. The best advice I can give is a quote from one of my old coaches. "The only one that can stop you is you." Good luck man.

[JoeWolf1]

 Yeah, for tryouts you gotta be in great shape and leave it all on the court.  Also, be coachable.  If the coach asks you to do something, do it and show you are taking to heart what they say.  Some dudes, are going to be joking around in practice and you gotta seperate yourself from them.  Tryouts aren’t always fair, but yuo gotta put your best foot forward. Good luck.

[Andrew1984Participant]

I’m not saying play selfishly, because you shouldn’t, but if you’re going to attract attention from D-I scouts, you’re going to have to put up numbers. No D-I scouts are looking for guys who scored 9 points per game in high school. Yes, team first, but you have individual goals as well.

That said, do everything you can do to improve your individual skill set. Find an individual skill set coach who knows what he’s doing, and do at least two hours of individual skill drills and shoot tons and tons of shots from different angles. Learn how to shoot consistently off the dribble going left, off the dribble going right, etc. Master different individual moves; up-and-unders, step-backs, spin-dribbles, make your shot fake look identical to your shot so you can get defenders up in the air.

Track your percentages. Write them down. If you make an adjustment to your mechanics, find out if you’re shooting a higher percentage after the adjustment that you’ve made. A lot of things are measurable. If you can make 75 percent of your 3-pointers off the catch in an empty gym with no defender and someone rebounding for you, you should be able to make about 40 percent of your 3-pointers in a game.

[SmooveKRYPTParticipant]

 Don’t think about numbers early on. You don’t really have to ball out til nearly your Junior yr to get looked at. As long as you’re constantly progressing every year your coaches will notice, and if you’re really putting in work the college scouts/coaches will too. Show intensity and effort on the defensive end and you’ll find minutes easier to come by.

Honestly though, my best advice is to find a summer travel team. That’s where players really splash onto the scene & you can actually show your full skill set. Unless you’re an absolute star, chances are HS coaches are gonna restrict your game in some way. Possibly even playing you out of position(in my case) I played mostly 4& 5 in HS because I was the tallest guy at my school, but I’m naturally a 3. When I got with my travel team after my Jr year that allowed me to play my game is when I really rounded out and showed what I could do. Got a few D-1 looks after our last tournament, but ended up getting hurt my senior yr and none came to fruition since I went back to playing out of position. I’m certain I could’ve gotten a D-1 offer had I started playing summer ball a year earlier.

[aamir543Participant]

DO NOT BE SELFISH! The coaches may take you based on your talent, but your teamates will get irratated when they see that you jball hog, and try to take your man off the dribble every time. There was a guy on my team at tryouts that tried to do it himself, and told me not to set any screens. And the worst part is that although he was able to shake his man and find the open lane, the whole D would collapse on him, and myself and another big would be open underneath the basket, but he would just take the contested shot and miss, so although I want you to show them what you could do, tryto make good decisions, and get your teamates involved.

And if you’re a tall guy with good length, but not a big, use your length and show them that you can be a good defender. And if you’re a point guard with explosivness, than try to make the big play, while still being in control, show them that you can change the game be stealing the ball and going up for a layup, as well as being effective in the fastbreak, and try to value the possesion, and limit turnovers.

And I don’t know whether you go to a big or small school, but most times, coaches know who they want and who they don’t, even freshman, they know the front runners. If you are not one of those guys, make sure you prove that you are better than those guys. If you make the first cut, than that means you have the coach’s attention, and make sure you don’t do anything other than what you do best. Just stick to your game, and you’ll have a shot.

[torontoraptors10Participant]

Be open minded

Don’t act like you’re tough sh*t

Practice everyday (in Gr 9 and 10, I used to work on my shot 2 hrs every day)

ALWAYS WORK ON YOUR GAME, NEVER ACT LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING AND PLAY HARD WHETHER IT BE PRACTICE OR A REAL GAME

Be humble

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