Welcome back! In the last post we touched on some general questions that you might want to ask college coaches as you get fully immersed in the recruiting process. Today I wanted to give you a list of some questions more specifically related to the basketball program and the coaching staff. It seems that many times, girls don't spend much time exploring how good of a fit the basketball part of your college decision is going to be for them. It seems like boys will ask all sorts of questions about style of play etc., but girls tend not to do very much of that. However, remember that if you are going to school and fortunate enough to be competing on the basketball team, a large chunk of your time and efforts are going to be dedicated to basketball related activities - so I think it is beneficial to find out if it will be a good fit for you.
I can't tell you the number of times that I have spoken with potential student-athletes and they have made statements like, "I'm only going to go Division 1." My initial response is, well that is a great goal - but can you tell me the differences between Division 1 and Division 2? Generally I end up asking the questions - "How many college basketball games have you been to?" "Have you been to a D2 or D3 game?" I've found sadly that most kids have never even been to a college game. And if they have, the odds of it being a school that is similar to the same level at which they are being recruited, are not very good.
That being said, I suggest that you try to get out and see a variety of college games. Do it early, don't just wait until you are a senior. If you have means of doing so, I would also highly suggest trying to get to a practice or individual workouts. If you can go on an unofficial visit during the fall, the odds are that you could catch some individual workouts, maybe even watch the team play pick-up - as well as get a chance to speak with coaches and see the facilities. All of these things will help give you a better idea of what it is that you are working for. As you get closer and closer to being "actively recruited," these types of things become a lot easier to do. But my suggestion would be to see if you can do this when you're a sophomore. It gives you a great idea of what you are working for, and hopefully serves as some motivation for you to be even more aggressive in your preparations!
As you begin to explore colleges, or coaches begin calling etc. - be sure to use the internet to learn as much as you can. For example, go to a womens basketball site, and look at their statistics. Check out their season box score and you can get a good idea about a number of things: how many players get in a game on average, what percentage of scoring and playing time is returning to the team next year, does the team shoot a lot of 3's etc. Now, I also realize that a stat sheet doesn't tell the whole story, but it is a start for you to look at in terms of getting glimpse into some things.
What follows are a collection of questions related more specifically to the basketball program itself. The questions are in no particular order. If would like more of an interpretation for some of the questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
1. Which division is the school? (Is it NCAA 1, 2 or 3 or NAIA 1 or 2)
2. What conference to you compete in? Who else is in the conference?
3. Do you offer athletic related scholarship money?
4. If they are a D2 school... ask them if they are "fully funded" or how many scholarships they have to work with? How many of their players are on a "full-scholarship?"
5. How long have you coached at the school? How long have your assistants (or the head coach, depending on who you are talking to) been there?)
6. What do you like most about coaching at _____?
7. What are your offensive and defensive philosophies?
7.5 What is your general coaching philosophy (or that of the head coach)?
8. How many players do you carry on your roster?
9. On average, how many players would play "significant" minutes for you during the course of a game?
10. How many returners are on your roster?
11. How have your teams done over the past few years?
12. Does your conference receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament?
13. Does that bid come from your conference tournament or from the regular season conference champion?
14. How do you see my basketball and physical skills and abilities fitting into your program?
15. What nights does your conference generally play its games on?
16. What is your typical weekly travel schedule like?
17. What are your facilities like?
18. Does womens basketball have their own strength and conditioning coach?
19. Can you tell me about pre-season workouts?
20. If I did come to your school, as an incoming freshman, when would I be expected to report to campus?
21. How many years does the head coach have left on her/his contract?
22. What sort of community service activities does your program participate in?
23. Could you give me an idea of what a typical week during pre-season, in-season and post-season would look like for your student-athletes?
24. How do you travel to your games?
25. Do take any big trips to tournaments each year?
The last set of questions, which are more recruiting specific, will be posted in the coming days. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or there is anything we can be of assistance with.
Make today great!
