Recruiting is Killing Basketball

Note: With the latest viral press conferences with coaching legends Greg Popovich and Geno Auriemma, I searched my files for this old article that was originally published on a now defunct coaching web site. I edited for grammar, but left the content alone, although my current ideas have changed slightly. However, either I could see into the future 20 years ago or coaches now are complaining about largely the same things we complained about 20 years ago, as Clive Thompson wrote:

Basketball 2004 is influenced more by recruiting than any other factor. Recruiting is more prevalent than jump shots or wins and losses when discussing basketball. College fan message boards ebb and flow with tales of possible signings, the future of a program seemingly decided every spring on the dotted line, not during the fall and winter on the hardwood. Recruiting dominates basketball at every level, and it is slowly killing the game.

The United States still dominates, as it exports far more players to foreign professional leagues than it imports for NCAA Division I and the NBA. However, the gap decreases every year, as NBA teams draft more and more foreign players, citing their height, versatility, shooting, and fundamental skill levels, and college programs recruit foreign players to close the talent gap or fill a need, usually height or a shooter, they are unable to fill through domestic recruiting.

Recruiting is prevalent at every level from AAU teams where many teams are formed by a parent or coach recruiting local recreation league players to play on their all-star AAU team, to the NBA where the NBA recruits talented prep stars despite protestations to the contrary. David Stern publicly advocates for an age limit, but lowered the current limit, albeit by mere days, to allow Darko Milicic to enter the 2003 NBA Draft. He knows the league would have suffered this season through Kobe’s trial, TMac’s complaints, AI’s injuries, and the rash of coach firings and big salary dumps, err, I mean trades, if not for the superlative play of Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, who would be age-limit casualties, not franchise-saviors, if Stern had the backbone to turn pubic lip service into action.

Youth Basketball

I coached at the AAU National Championships, and, in theory, believe it is a great experience and opportunity, but the golden caveat of Nationals ruins youth basketball. Players skip from team to team to improve their chances to attend and play at Nationals. Once upon a time, youth basketball was played for fun and to teach young players basic fundamentals. Now, there is an U9 National Champion, and eight-year-olds who know how to switch from man defense to a zone without the coach using a timeout.

Players are more sophisticated at an early age, but that does not mean they are better, or that the system provides a better experience for players and parents. Just because someone can collect the most precocious players does not mean the same individual can coach. Oftentimes, young players peak early because of size or speed advantages, and they never learn necessary skills to continue progressing as players once others catch up to their physical attributes. Children are not developed because a slick-talking AAU coach can recruit a new player to fill a need during the next season.

Coaches use the lure of a trip to Nationals to recruit new players, just like college coaches. Parents hear Nationals, think parental bragging rights, and flip for the opportunity, especially when the new team foots some of the bill or is sponsored by a shoe company. This begins the family’s affair with the “Entitlement Affliction,” as parents and players start to believe people owe them something because their children had an early growth spurt, is especially fast, or maybe has better coordination or strength for their age.

High School Basketball

High school basketball gets hammered from both sides, as coaches recruit precocious players to their programs, and college programs recruit high school players.

High school coaches who recruit youth players build programs with players others develop, then reap the rewards of a winning team due to their talent advantage. The coach may or may not advance their skills. The coach may or may not be competent, regardless of win-loss record.

Some high-school players get big heads when they are recruited by colleges. Others suffer from delusion, believing a letter equals interest and scholarship offers. These players become obsessed with their recruitment and their rankings amongst other top players and spend all summer chasing both.

Summers used to be the time for player development; now, summer is all about exposure, and not just to the sun. Players seek tournaments the college coaches attend; they play year-round for club and AAU games. These club games begin the week teams are eliminated from high school competition, resulting in fewer three-sport athletes, greater specialization, and year-round basketball.

The search for the scholarship means games and more games, leaving little time for shooting and practice time, despite this year-round basketball schedule. The best players suffer deeply from “Entitlement Affliction,” as parents believe they know enough to suggest new coaches for their high school, or they change AAU teams when their children are not shooting enough. They buy into their own greatness because shoe companies pay for them to fly all over the country to tournaments and camps.

College Basketball

Talent wins games, and coaches need to recruit talent. Therefore, coaches hire assistants for recruiting ability, not teaching ability. Plenty of Division I assistant coaches cannot teach the game at all, but they can recruit, or appear as though they should be able to recruit because they are young, former players. The emphasis is backward, as coaches should be teachers first and accumulators of talent second. Unfortunately, recruiting is the single greatest element of college basketball because of NCAA rules limiting offseason practice time and the propensity of players jumping to the NBA after one or two seasons, which influences the hiring processes.

The best players enter college with the same “Entitlement Affliction.” They have been “The Man” for so long, they do not know how not to be. They do not understand the team game or how to fit into a system. They believe they know their own greatness, greatly inflated by the hangers-on who buy into the idea of entitlement. Yet, they do not know how to defend or play without the ball because their coaches never cared much about either.

Recruiting spawns the year-round AAU play currently damaging the game, as it is more convenient for college coaches to attend two to three tournaments with 40-50 teams filled with legitimate college prospects than to attend high school basketball games and tournaments during their season. These tournaments masquerade as competitive games, although they are merely showcase events for college coaches and scouts. Borderline players travel to as many showcase events and tournaments as logistics allow, ignoring practice time and individual workouts that could actually improve their skills or physical attributes, which would increase their value to colleges.

NBA Basketball

The chosen few playing in the NBA are, with some exceptions, products of the entitlement affliction, players who have been coddled since the first glimpse of their precocious ability. They do not know how to play team basketball as teammates and coaches always adjusted to their game because they have been stars for so long.

Agents and shoe companies recruiting college players to the League before they are ready also kills the professional game. Teams have players on the end of the bench who do not have the basic skills to play, but who possess some physical attribute (height, long arms, quickness) warranting their contract as the team hopes they develop. These players get the best seat in the house 82 games a year rather than added playing time on the college level.

Players such as Kendrick Perkins, Ndubi Ebi and Sebastian Telfair skipped college because someone convinced them the millions guaranteed in all first-round contracts was worth the jump, regardless of their preparedness. Consequently, players learn to play while already in the league, as opposed to developing their games at lower levels and entering the league needing only to add experience and seasoning to an already developed repertoire of skills and basketball knowledge.

At every level, the game deteriorates aesthetically, as fewer players understand the nuances of the game or possess fundamental skills. Few players are great shooters, yet each game consists of dozens of errant three-point attempts as players fall in love with shooting beyond the arc. Few coaches are motivated to develop players, as the players illustrate no commitment to anything other than the best deal and leave at the drop of the hat if offered something better, whether an 11-year-old getting a chance to qualify for nationals or a college player seeking more playing time to enhance his professional potential.

Basketball is backwards. Players want millions and shoe deals before they have produced at the professional level. College coaches are hired for their ability to recruit, not to coach or develop players. High-school players enhance their recruitment by being seen more and more, not by improving their skills and ability to play. Even youth coaches ignore skill development, focusing on attracting new players with better skills or athleticism. None of it makes sense, but it is consistent. From the top down and the bottom up, recruiting rules American basketball, ruining the game year by year.