I see a theme developing here lol
4 Likes
One other comment that I will toss out here:
The NBA is an extremely, extremely long shot, but let’s just assume that you are serious about pursuing this dream. I can relate. Hell, even after realizing that I was only being recruited by Division 3 football schools, I retained the teensy-tiny belief that maybe someday I would play professional football. I didn’t (the market for 5’11" offensive tackles was a little cool the year I graduated), but I got a great education and still had the opportunity to play a college sport. So leaving a bunch of other stuff in your post untouched, I will say that if you have solid grades and merely “participate” on your high school team, even if your coach doesn’t play you for whatever reason, you likely will have the opportunity to play Division 3 college basketball if you choose.
(Pause, deep breath because most people will misunderstand)
Most Division 3 athletes are recruited in some capacity. By rule, we are not offered any athletic scholarships, but usually there is a “recruitment” process (i.e. the coach makes phone calls, visits your school, watches tape, and you eventually get invited for a campus visit). The vast majority of even Division 3 athletes were starters on their high school team, and many are team captains, all-league, all-state, etc. It’s much more than glorified intramurals, which is the perception that some people have (someone usually asks if my college team would have beaten a good high school team; my dead-serious, no-bullshit answer is that we’d win by 50, easily).
With that said, since there are no limits on scholarships and it’s always useful to have warm bodies for practice, most Division 3 schools will also accept any athlete that gets into the school who wants to try out for the team. That is, if you want to play college basketball and are not on the radar of any scholarship schools, your route to doing so is continuing your academics, and sending emails to every Division 3 basketball coach in the area at schools you would consider attending. Inform them of your academic qualifications and your desire to play college ball. Stay away from any excuses of why you are not playing for your high school team or your coach being an asshole or anything else of the sort. You’re just a kid that works hard and has good grades who would appreciate the opportunity to try out for their team. Some may decline, but a few will likely let you show up at school, practice with the team and at least give you the chance to prove yourself. If you show up, and you work hard, and you can play, it won’t matter worth a damn whether you scored points in high school or not. Most of our starters (football, not basketball) had been star players on their high school teams, but we did occasionally have a contributing player who had been “just a guy” in high school that bloomed late and became a solid college player.
There are a lot of other things to unpack that I won’t even touch regarding your relationship with your parents and other issues; I just wanted to get this point made that if you want to continue your basketball dream at the college level, this is probably how it’s going to have to happen.
7 Likes
It’s crazy how you’re trying to put me down.
Why do you say it won’t bear fruit?
it’s actually the opposite. it’s sane. you’re the delusional kid.
your parents don’t believe in your dreams.
your coach won’t even let you play. if you had D1 talent, or even much less than that, you’d be on his court.
everybody in this thread thinks you’re delusional.
At what point do you realize ‘maybe it’s not them. maybe it’s me.’?
it’s cool to chase dreams. I’m chasing being the strongest Lightweight amateur strongman in the country. I’m doing that because I’m like a top 20 guy right now. It’s a quest that makes sense. It would NOT make sense for me to say ‘I’m gonna be the worlds strongest man if I work hard enough!!’ Because I’m not 6’7 and I will never weigh 400+ lbs.
Some goals are reasonable.
Some goals are not reasonable.
Your goals are not reasonable.
1 Like
flipcollar - Saying the things I was only hinting at … trying to get him to admit it to himself. Hey some kids gotta get beat over the head with a hammer to get it…
1 Like
These guys gave you some honest, harsh truths.
If you’re serious about this, please read my post above.
Make a list of Division 3 colleges that you can attend and play basketball, email every one of their coaches, introduce yourself (professionally, not like you’re writing a text message), let them know that you’re a senior at ABC High School with a 4.0 GPA and 1400 on your SAT’s and that you’re interested in playing college basketball. If they ask any questions about your current team or stats, acknowledge that you haven’t played much this year but let them know you’re a hard worker and willing to do whatever it takes to have the opportunity to play college ball. That’s your path forward.
3 Likes
Come on man, your ego cant possibly be that fragile.
You are turning everything in to a you vs the world scenario. Unless you are the absolute best few in the world nobody makes it in this world on their own.
Right now, the people who love you more than anyone ever will are (in your mind) against you and the person who holds the keys to success is against you. Shit, most of the people in this thread aren’t on your side when you’re a hard working kid - we love that shit here.
All the talent in the world, all the resources in the world and all the hard work will amount to nothing if you just leave a trail of broken relationships. It will catch up with even the best.
My advice to you is take 20% of the time you spend working on grades and basketball and spend it trying to fix these relationships.
Even if you’re too thick to see it, they are as important as training and grades.
As a parting thought, for your reality to hang together, your folks and coach are actively out to stimmy you. What possible motive would they have to do this? If you dig a little deeper than your little bitch attitude, you’ll probably find yoir answers and it has nothing to do with lofty goals.
Also, keep in mind Malcolm Butler made it onto the Patriots playing at some D4 school … if you have talent keep refining it, keep working hard and have a good attitude…
I realize that I was extreme about my view of my parents, I made the comment in my anger.
But I’m not a bitch, get that straight. If I was a bitch I would have either given up already or never cared about anything my parents had to say.
I’m not delusional. I know exactly what is going on and I know all the reasons behind them. Stop posting that shit.
Everyone thinks what they want to think. Everyone thinks I’m a loser, too, though. Does that make me delusional that maybe if I work on myself I won’t be a loser?
I take full blame for all of my positions in life.
You say you want to be top 20 strongest amateur lightweight guys. I completely agree with you. That’s feasible and I believe that you’ll do it. And if you fail the first time, keep going. Just remember that it took you a process to get to the level of having an opportunity to do that, just like it takes work to get to the level of having the opportunity to play college basketball.
My coach cut me for a reason, but its not always about skills. The same coach cut a player from the team that was the 2nd best scorer because he missed one game for a scholarship meeting. Everyone knows that coach is an asshole, but you’re right; a D1 bound player would be on his team regardless. It all comes down to how good the player is regardless of exposure whatever the fuck you want to call it.
But for you to say that it’s impossible for me to get to that level… that’s wrong. I know D1 players and I know how good I have to be to get to that level. It’s just a matter of getting there. I don’t understand your reasoning on that, and that’s fine. People can feel how they want and you’re entitled to your opinion, you’re going to believe what you want to believe regardless until I make you swallow every word you just said.
There’s a quote by Mahatma Gandhi that says,
“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”
I’ll leave that up there. Just because you don’t think I can doesn’t mean shit to me. I didn’t ask for that opinion anyway. I just asked for a method to convince my parents to let me practice more.
It’s as simple as that. I’m out of my feelings.
You have people who try and fail and try and succeed. Then you have people who don’t try at all. You must want me to be the one who doesn’t try at all. That’s okay. I’m not trying to be sentimental, but many of the famous people you look up to failed before succeeding many times.
Every one looks up at the NBA players and shit like damn, I can’t be like that.
Did you know that Jimmy Butler was thrown out by his mother and lived homeless for awhile?
Russel Westbrook’s best friend died when he was in high school. He never gave up though through all that struggle.
They are human beings just like me. Basketball is nothing magical. You all mystify shit like people are born with innate talent, but the fundamentals are all the fucking same.
That’s the difference between people like US (me and them) and people like you. I fight at all costs.
Earlier last summer I got into a fight on the bus when a crazy man harassed and spit on my little brother. When he spit on my brother and I rushed back onto the bus and when I was charging to him he hit me in the mouth with a stick and knocked my front tooth out. But I still beat the shit out of him. Even though I can’t smile right anymore I still protected the honor of my family even in the face of adversity. The guy could have had a gun. If he did he could have just blown my dome piece. But I did what I had to do, regardless of my certainty.
You talk about hitting me with cold hard truths. What’s the difference between me and them? Tell me. I’m the same height as some NBA players. The only way that their better than me, aside from athleticism, which is also trainable, and mentality, which is developed through playing and practicing, is literally that they are more skilled than me. Who are you to say that I can never reach that level?
I am 32 and I still can’t claim this.
6 Likes
So now you’re just going to turn into Jimmy Butler or Russell Westbrook.
Glad there’s a plan.
Anyway, is there a reason you’re still ignoring suggestions from someone that actually played college sports who’s giving you advice on how to approach this in favor of arguing with other people in some misguided effort to prove your toughness and special-ness?
4 Likes
Do you expect me to say, “Well damn, D1 is a long shot, NBA an exponentially longer one, so I probably shouldn’t even try to get there”?
They aren’t giving me advice, they’re trying to cut me down. How are you saying that? They’re telling me I’m delusional for having big goals and trying to work at them with everything I have. They are telling me that I have an unattainable dream, as if I’m trying to defy the laws of physics or something. They’re telling me that even though we are both the same, I can’t be as great as someone else.
And its not like I can’t play basketball. I’m actually good. Every time I go to a gym people ask me what school I’m from, and wonder why I don’t play for anyone.
Watch these videos
Simeon and Orr are both from Chicago and nearly all of the starters are D1 Bound. This is the best competition. Whitnall is from Wisconsin, and their top player often goes scores 35-45 points. He played Orr and got his shit beat against the backboard multiple times. He’s D1 Bound though, going to play for Calipari ar UK. Talent did not stop him from getting his score attempt sent backcourt. Better decision making does though as he would have passed the ball if he knows that a weak side shot blocker is coming for his ass. Look at them play. What is stopping me from being at this level? Literally nothing but skill. This body is capable of everything I just saw in those videos. It’s just a matter of bringing it out. You all sound delusional. I guess its delusional to think I can work on my shot to the point where I can make it like these players can, or dribble like they can.
People ARE born with innate talent, which is called athleticism. Athleticism is not trainable. There are varying degrees of athleticism, and whatever level you were born at is generally what you will be at for the rest of your life.
If your coach won’t let you play on your high school team, the odds that you’re going to get looked at by any schools is very slim. If you really care, instead of going to the gym twice a day, take one of your 10 weekly hoops sessions and go to your coach’s house or office instead and talk to him about it. If you’re really as good as you say you are, then essentially what you’re doing is analogous to building a beautiful car that has no axels. How tf are you gonna make it anywhere if you have no way to be seen? Get a starting spot on the team and then worry about how much more dedicated and talented you are than everybody else.
True. The difference between an NBA all star and a fat dude who plays men’s league on Tuesday nights is…well, nothing. They both understand the fundamentals.
I was recently in high school and now I coach high school athletes. I know exactly what type of person you are, and I respect the passion. I really do. Your biggest problem is that you aren’t grounded. You have nothing restraining you. You beat up a guy on the bus? That’s the kind of stupid shit that people lose scholarships for. If you’re lucky enough to get one, and you do something like that? Say good bye to your dreams. Nobody wants a thug on their team in college.
You can’t be going all out, all the time, and expect not to burn out. Even the pros taking a vacation. Golden State handed the Cavs a championship in 2016. They took their vacation time, and came back and beat the Cavs in 5 games the next year. Pretty decisive.
Bottom line is that these guys are at that level NOW. You aren’t. You’re running out of time. My advice is get on the high school team and go to the best fit that you can find for college. Doesn’t have to be D1. You can blossom into a fantastic player there if you have what it takes, and then you can transfer somewhere else where you know you could get looked at by NBA scouts. We aren’t saying it’s impossible. We’re just saying that you need to change the way you act and look at things for this to work. Good luck
3 Likes
What does it truly mean to be grounded?
Thank you for believing in me. That means a lot and so does your advice.
Btw i beat the guy up on the bus because he harassed us for a good 20 minutes and spit on my brother on our way out, and the bus driver was looking in the mirror and didn’t do a thing about it. The police were called way after the fight and everyone looked at me as if I did something wrong. The police looked at me crazy when they saw my bloody shirt and missing tooth, but they said I did the right thing.
That’s not even the point though.
I’m a junior by the way and every day that goes by without practice I get anxious, thats why whenever my parents tell me I can’t go to the gym I get filled with anger.
About my coach. There are two coaches. One of them is cool with me and actually does believe in me. The other one, the heas coach, is different. He said that because I couldn’t come to practice on Saturdays that I lacked the commitment to play basketball. I’m committed though. However, he subsequently let two football players who I am literally better in all aspects regarding skill than join the team. So I took it personal. Sometimes I would watch the team practice from outside the gym door. The coach would crack jokes about me to the team and they would laugh. It was humiliating. Additionally, I remember having to pay to watch the games even though I earned my spot on the team! The other coach said I had a guaranteed spot on the team but another player from a higher level school transferred and I guess I became obsolete. I know a lot of you know what humiliation feels like so I won’t go into that.
1 Like