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PostPosted: 12 Feb 2010, 19:17 

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Hey my name is Daxton. I'm in sixth grade and I'm trying to write an essay on how to accomplish my biggest goal in life. My goal is to be a collegiate athlete and get a basketball scholarship. I was wondering how hard and how many hours of practice it takes to accomplish this goal. I know that most people don't get scholarships. I heard that about out of every 1000 people 1 person gets a scholarship is this true?


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PostPosted: 12 Feb 2010, 21:49 
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Hi Daxton,

First of all, you need to get good grades... good basketball players are a dime a dozen.. but good student athletes are harder to come by. So take care of your academics first.
The next thing you would need to work on is being fundamentally sound - at EVERY aspect of the game..... ball handling, passing, shooting, defense etc. Then you need to understand the game, both offensively and defensively.
Jeff Haefner wrote a great article on this site, he and his brother Joe run this great website. I will copy and paste it for you.

Here is something I found out there for you... this was more about football... but its probably the same for every sport.

in order to receive an athletic scholarship three things have to happen. One, you have to find a program that has available scholarships to offer. Two - you have to find a program that has a pressing need that the coach is trying to fill. - And three, you have to be extremely talented and you have to contact the coach and find a way to display your skills to that coach. While there are hundreds of thousands of high school athletes, there are not hundreds of thousands of high school athletes that have the skills to compete at the high D1 level or the skills to be awarded an athletic scholarship.

You can check this site out too for more statistics...
Click here: Baseball coach Steve Rousey talks about the reality of sports scholarships - CSUN University News Clippings


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PostPosted: 12 Feb 2010, 21:53 
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Basketball Tips: How to Get a Basketball Scholarship
By Jeff Haefner

Every year, thousands of high school and junior college basketball players compete to get one of the few basketball scholarships that are awarded each year. Here are some basketball tips on how to increase your chances of being selected to receive one of those coveted positions.

Talent and Ability

First and foremost, you have to maximize your basketball skill. Every day you are not getting better, someone else is getting better than you. You have to work and work to become the best player you can be. Work on your skills, be in condition and get stronger.

The jump from high school to college is a big jump. Players are bigger, stronger and more experienced. The game is longer, faster and more physical than anything you have experienced so far in your career. Don’t fall into the trap that you are doing enough to get yourself ready. Without exception, when new college players report for their first workouts they are surprised at how different it is compared to high school. Work to be ready.

The Value of Summer Basketball

Basketball recruiting has changed drastically over the last 15 years. Rules that colleges have to abide by have become more restrictive. The pressure to get commitments from players has resulted in players deciding earlier and earlier on what schools they are going to attend. It is no longer sufficient to be a good player with your high school team. Your senior year in college has almost become irrelevant! Colleges need to identify prospects earlier and earlier in their career. Coaches now go to places where they can identify and evaluate multiple prospects at one time. The places for that have become AAU tournaments and high profile “recruiting summer camps.”

AAU (or Amateur Athletic Union) is an organization that sponsors amateur sporting events. In basketball, they sponsor spring, summer and fall tournaments in multiple age groups. The age brackets are usually 19 & under, 17 & under, 15 & under, etc. The advantage of that system is that you can play up a bracket to get in better competition (a 15 year old can play in a 17 & U tournament but a 17 year cannot play in a 15 & U tournament). The tournaments are usually played during “live” college recruiting periods so college recruiters heavily attend them. If you can find an AAU basketball team in your area and it is an appropriate age bracket it would be well worth your effort to join the program.

High profile “recruiting camps” are camps that are held during the summer that attract high-level players, which in turn, attract college recruiters. Most of these are private camps, not camps owned by universities, colleges or high schools. They usually offer excellent instruction and very competitive games. Call a couple of colleges and find out what camps they attend to evaluate prospects and make plans to attend.

Summer basketball has become the most significant aspect of recruiting. At no other time can a college coach go to one spot and evaluate 300-400 players at one time. If you want to get one of those scholarships, you have to be where the coaches are.

Be Pro-Active

Don’t wait for a college to find you, go find them. If there are schools that you are interested in, contact them early, and let them know of your interest. Visit the campus, invite the coach to come and see you play. Have your high school coach contact the schools you are interested in. Be sure they have the information they need to evaluate you. Things like game schedules, summer schedules, etc. should be sent to all schools you are interested in. Return all questionnaires and comply with all the requirements that they have for acceptance to school.

Take Care of Your Schoolwork

Believe it or not, college coaches want athletes with good grades! Players in college are “student-athletes.” They attend class, write papers, and do research. Coaches really don’t like to take chances on academic risks. Get good grades; take your standardized tests (SATs, ACTs) as early and as often as possible. Unless you are truly a great player, coaches will not wait for you.

To get a scholarship, you have to register for the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse. This is the organization that will evaluate your grades to determine whether or not you are eligible to play. Even if you are in junior college, they will go back to your high school grades to determine your eligibility (there are different rules for “qualifiers” and “non-qualifiers” coming out of high school and junior college). Take care of your registration as early as possible.

There used to be a saying, “if you can play, they will find you.” That is NOT true any more!! Being able to play is not enough, now. You have to be out where the coaches can find you.

For more basketball players tips, check out our free ebooks and resources on this site…

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/toptips.html
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/basketballfundamentals.html


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PostPosted: 12 Feb 2010, 22:17 
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Now you are way ahead of the game Daxton....only being 11 - BUT if you want to realize your dream.... it is going to take a lot of work on your part.. hours and hours of practice, PERFECT practice. You need to find a good coach to help you with your dream... some one to guide you and help you along your way. Remember this please, you are young.... have some FUN playing this great game.

From what I read before its more like 1-2 out of a 100 that get a full ride or a partial one... Tell us a little more about yourself... height - position you play - shooting stats etc.

Are there school teams that you can play with? AAU programs - any place where you can get some playing experiences?

I've given you a lot of information... look through this to see what you need... and ask any other questions if you have them. REMEMBER.... ACADEMICS come FIRST. Good luck


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PostPosted: 16 Feb 2010, 01:06 
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Location: San Antonio
A great movie to understand this process is Hoop Reality. It is a little rough in language but shows the journey of an top athlete going through this process. Also has some very interesting stats as to how many get scholarships per year and those that don't.

Once again I do advise that there is strong language but great story and lesson to learn from.

_________________
Coach Springer
Founder/Head Coach
Spartan Basketball
http://www.spartanpt.com/blog


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PostPosted: 16 Feb 2010, 03:44 
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Daxton: I was offered a hockey scholarship by Michigan State in 1964 and oh yes, I am ancient. How did i get it, I really don't know but what I do know is my grandfather threw me on the ice with skates at the age of three. I fell in love with the game and would come home from school, and put on my skates and play outside on the pond till eleven at night and on the weekends, we would begin playing at nine or so and finish at the same time at night. Now the problem, and Coach Sars eluded to it very concisely, when Michigan came around calling, I had no grades. In fact, i was thinking of quitting school and pursuing hockey as a career. Well, I did, Played many years in a fledgling hockey league called the E.P.H.L. gained nothing but memories, scars and lost most of my teeth. when i retired, I had nothing and became a prison guard for 15 years. I finally wised up and went back to school as a mature student and now i have a PhD but waited too long to do that. My entire goal with this letter is..don't wait till you are 43 like me to go back to school, get it all now. I gave away many years of great coaching because of lack of education. You wanna be a division 1 player, GET THE GRADES. Dont disappoint me young man..Coach Mac


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PostPosted: 16 Feb 2010, 07:22 
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Great advice Mac -

I thought I was old when I went to college at 32 - and yes waiting that long was the dumbest thing I did... but maybe it helped to form me to the person I am today..... and it cost me a lot of money in retirement.....

So, Daxton, now you heard it from two of the more
"seasoned" coaches in this group.
Take care of your education as you pursue your dream of playing D1 Ball... good luck.


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PostPosted: 16 Feb 2010, 19:13 
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This has nothing to do with basketball, but I am extremely technophobic and need a link to watch the Olympics on my computer. I am in China so many of the links are unreachable. Can anyone of the more seasoned computer operators help me.Joe Jeff, hope you don't mind me using this blog site in an effort to secure the information....Coach Mac


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PostPosted: 16 Feb 2010, 21:53 
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I found this Mac... hope it helps you.

http://watchwinterolympics.org/


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