Top 10 Tips for Getting Recruited to Play College Basketball

Whether you’re just starting your recruiting journey or you’re well into your senior year, we have put together our best top ten tips that every basketball player should know. We’ve selected these tips because from our experience these are the most influential tips that will make an impact in your recruitment and really help you reach your goal of getting recruited to play college basketball.

TIP #1: GET ORGANIZED

You can have a dream of playing college basketball and want it more than anything else in the world, but if you don’t put your thoughts and wants into action you’re never going to get to where you want to be. If you can get yourself organized as early as possible you will greatly benefit in the long run. Here are somethings you can do to get yourself organized:

• Plan the days and times for when you are going to: work on your highlight video, contact college coaches, lift weights, go shopping for your diet, prep meals etc.
• Figure out your timeline for when what to achieve certain markers in your recruitment process
• Use organizational apps on your phone to help you get into a routine with things
• Place reminders on your phone for example: the date you want to create your NCAA clearinghouse account, a high level basketball competition you want to attend etc.
• Think about the future and plan accordingly. This might be monthly, 6-months, 12-months in advance to help you maximize your chances of getting recruited, for example: any exposure events you want to attend, which school would you like to visit, do you want a tutor to help you get your grades up etc.

TIP #2: STAY ON TOP OF YOUR HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

You’ve probably read so many other articles that tell you about how important having a good highlight video is, and they’re right. One of the most important things you can do when trying to get recruited is to make sure you’re regularly adding and updating your highlight video. Your highlight video is your first impression. You want your video to highlight everything you can do at your highest ability. Only include games against solid competition. Coaches are looking for this. Get into a good routine of when you get home from a tournament or a game, to go straight onto your computer to upload and get to work. This is the best time to get it done because you will still be fired up from playing and motivated to do the work. You will also avoid getting backed up with video which can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and procrastination (two things that can really hamper your recruiting progress). Staying on top of your highlights will make you feel more motivated especially when a coach contacts you and you have your highlight video up-to-date and looking good. This in turn makes you look good to the coach, which is what it’s all about.

TIP #3: TARGET SCHOOLS & FIND SCHOOLS RECRUITING YOUR POSITION

This kind of feeds into tip #1 about being organized. You need to be realistic about the division and schools you want to target. Assess where you are at now and where you plan to be by the time you will start getting offers. Here’s how you can go about doing this:

• Make a list of your most preferred schools you want to play for
• Make a list of all the schools you who you realistically know you can play for now
• Make a list of back-up schools that you know you can definitely play for

To create these lists think about:

• Can I play at this school’s level?
• Which states do you want to play in?
• How big/small is the school?
• Do they offer the majors you want to study?
• Does their basketball program/culture excite you?
• Can I get additional scholarships (academic, grants)?
• Can I live on/off campus?

We have put together complete lists of all the divisions to help you go through and decide which schools you are interested in: NCAA D1, NCAA D2, NCAA D3, NAIA, NJCAA D1, NJCAA D2, NJCAA D3, CCCAA, NCCAA, and USCAA. For those of you who are later on in your recruiting and are at the point of making decisions on where to go, you should focus on finding schools who are recruiting your positions specifically.

TIP #4: STAY ON TOP OF YOUR ACADEMICS

Being a great college basketball is only half of it. College coaches are also looking for players who can perform academically too. Especially if you are looking to get a scholarship offer, you are going to have maintain your grades in order to keep it. If you have a good GPA and solid test scores you are likely to breeze through the admissions process of most schools. Maintaining a high GPA is also a good indicator that you are a disciplined student-athlete who can manage your priorities in the classroom and on the basketball court. This is highly desirable to college coaches. If you have great grades, high GPA, solid SAT/ACT scores then that’s another check by your name and might make the difference when it comes to decision time.

TIP #5: COMPETE AGAINST HIGH LEVEL COMPETITION

Playing against high level competition is good for your recruitment. Why? Because college coaches want to see what you can do against players just as good if not better than you. This helps them see if you have what it takes to play at their level of college basketball. It also shows them that you are a competitive student-athlete who wants to play hard and prove yourself on the court. Anyone can have a tone of highlights playing against lower level competition but the players who catch the eye of college coaches are the ones who can still perform and get highlights against players who pose a challenge to them.

TIP #6: YOU HAVE TO PUT THE LEG WORK IN

A college coach is not going to know who you are without you putting yourself out there and getting yourself noticed. With social media, this has become both easier and more difficult at the same time. On one hand it is easier than ever to post who you are and what you’re doing on your chosen social media account (Facebook, X, IG etc.) but on the other hand every other basketball player is doing the same thing causing a massive pool of competition. The only way to make this work in your favor is to stand out. You have to do what others don’t want to do. Things that you can do to gain the advantage and get ahead include:

• Posting quality posts on social media daily to get yourself in the feed of college coaches
• Regularly emailing college coaches to tell them who you are and why they should recruit you
• Call college coaches – a lot of players shy away from getting on the phone these days so this is a great way to make a lasting impression and stand out to a coach
• Attend college camps and events to get coaches eyes on you in person and dazzle them with your performance

This by far is not an exhaustive list, but the main point here is that college coaches are not going to hunt you down if they don’t know who are. And even if they do know who you are, you are still going to be the one who puts the work in to make sure they 100% want you all the way till you sign your NLI and the deal is done. Always be in the mindset that coaches are constantly recruiting players, and will have a list of players in case something happens to their first choice.

TIP #7: BE REALISTIC ON WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE & MAKE IT HAPPEN

It is good to aspire to play NCAA Division 1 basketball. There is nothing wrong with this. You wouldn’t set a low goal, always aim high. However, with that being said there comes a point when you have to be realistic on what is achievable for you. If playing D1 is realistic then great, go to tip #1 and start planning your strategy to get it done! If you know from the responses you are receiving from college coaches D1 isn’t looking like an option for you then it’s time to refocus and make more effort with the NCAA D2 and NAIA schools. Being realistic with yourself is only going to help you. You can make the most of your time and get college coaches who are interested in you and want to recruit you. You will know when you have successfully figured out your level because the coaches you contact are getting back to you and are serious about you.

TIP #8: PRACTICE TALKING TO COLLEGE COACHES

This might sound odd but its not. You’ve put in the work, your video has got a college coach interested and they want to talk with you on the phone. Do you know what you’re going to say? Maybe you do, but it’s a good idea to think about the type of questions the coach is going to ask you and write your answers down. Remember, this might be the first time you have spoken to this coach and how you interact will determine if they continue to recruit you or not. It can be a nerve-racking moment, so just like you would prepare yourself for a game, you should do the same before speaking with a coach. This way you may also realize you have some specific questions you want to ask and can make a note of them. It is always a good idea to go into a phone call conversation with some notes. This way if you do go blank you have something to refer to and it will make the conversation flow a lot better.

TIP #9: KEEP YOUR MINDSET POSITIVE & OPEN

Getting yourself recruited to play college basketball is a long and demanding task. Keeping yourself in a positive mind set is going to help you. More importantly, you should keep an open mind. By this we mean don’t be closed off to offers from other divisions like NAIA, NCAA D3 or even JUCO. They may have a really good situation for you. If you combine a positive mindset with an open-minded attitude, you will start to see everything as an opportunity. Remember, every basketball player’s path is different. You might have to go to a JUCO to finally reach your goal of playing D1. Also, it’s going to take a lot of discipline, dedication and sacrifice to achieve your goal. Having the right mindset will help you through the days that are hard and the tasks that are tough. To get ahead in your recruitment you have to do what 99.9% of your competition is just not willing to do. Think about that for a moment. Do you have the right mindset?

TIP #10: STAY CONSISTENT

Have you ever heard the saying “consistency is key”? What this means is that if you do the small disciplines every day, eventually, over a long period of time, your effort and actions will pay off. You can see how this applies to recruitment. If you stay focused on your basketball training, your diet, your highlight video, your academics, your emails etc. you will eventually get to that one coach who wants you. You have to make getting recruited your top priority above everything else. If you can be consistent, then you have a much better chance than most in getting yourself recruited. Don’t let things that don’t matter throw you off your path.

CONCLUSION

You have to do things others aren’t willing or can’t do. If you do this you will increase your chances of successfully getting recruited. If you work hard for what you want, you get organized, you get into regular habits like making and taking notes, improving your emails and pushing through your fears, you will get there. If you take these tips on board and apply them to your recruitment strategy, when the moment comes and a  coach is deciding between you and another player of equal skill and talent, guess what, those things you decided to do will pay off. Chances are the coach will choose you because you went that extra mile, you did the extra work to stand out and at that very moment it will pay off. Something to think about