A global focus on South Australian basketball - how do we become a part of it?

Given the level of recruitment going on in South Australia for the featured athletes on this site I felt it was an opportune time to mention this and provide a discourse on becoming a part of highperformancehoopsnetwork.com.

The featured athletes have a lot of work to do and improvement to achieve success. However, the main point to make here is there is no way that our state's elite basketballers will entirely sneak under the D1 or D2 radar in the College system as may have been the case in the past.

Recruitment of SA talent reaching a historically unprecedented level

Readers may not realise this but the recruitment of SA athletes is actually at an unprecedented level at the moment. A relatively significant number of D1 college coaches in this, and last, recruiting period have visited athletes at their school or home, depending on the grade of the athlete. One coach who went deep in the NCAA tournament last year even stated "Of all the times I have visited Australia this is one of the rare times I've been to Adelaide, and the first time I have bypassed Melbourne". These are not small schools either, from mid major to high major D1 programs.

Many may not realise that schools in every single conference across D1 College basketball has considered, recruited and is interested in SA talent right now. I would not suggest it is a 1/3rd of the schools, more like as many as 1/2 of schools in the D1 NCAA that has looked at our talent and most have registered varying levels of interest in the young men out of South Australia (featured athletes) . Pretty much all of the coaches at the recent BA Elite Athletes Combine, which had about 25 D1 College coaches in attendance, would have had the bulk of the SA athletes involved highlighted on their scouting sheets. As the basketballers move into eventually choosing their programs and start their college careers I feel the credibility of basketball in this state will only continue to build and generate even more interest for the kids coming through now.

How can I join if I am a college coach?

If you are a college coach you simply need to register your interest, register for our newsletter updates and/or recruit our featured athletes and then you are a part of our network - Simple. Be aware that we don't tell kids which schools to go to but can validate and verify any information on your program you provide and pass that on. We also want to make sure you are informed, knowledgeable on their character, performances and have lots of access to footage. We are here to make college coaches' recruiting efficient and effective through accurate information, footage and stats.

How can a player join?

If you are an SA player, coach or parent and want to be a part of highperformancehoopsnetwork.com I want to explain how you do it.

For our state's players and their families, highperformancehoopsnetwork.com is nothing you pay to "join". We have featured athletes and will soon have some partners involved, to work with girls basketball, as well as hopefully emerging athletes, but to be a part of this network you need to keep doing what you are doing, just do it better. We will find you if you are good enough.

I've recently been contacted by a range of families asking how they can have their child join highperformancehoopsnetwork.com. We sometimes live in a society of entitlement for our youth and feel that we can buy an opportunity, or they should get it because they feel their child puts in some extra work. I have explained to these families you do not buy yourself into this network, a little bit of extra work will not be enough, you need to be working towards being an elite athlete, if you want to know how much work that will take feel free to ask. You must be an elite player, good student and great kid (team morals, coachable, sociable with peers, elite level worker, competitor) - selection criteria is on this page. Next question is; "how will they get the chance to be seen". Answer to that is I currently coach the U18 SA Metro team for Basketball SA and work for the State Director of Coaching in the the NITP and if you are at the level required - I will see you in these programs. I talk to club coaches, Coaching Directors. State Coaches, the State Coaching Director in my coaching roles so will often hear about you through those avenues. How do you get into these programs such as State and NITP? Succeeding in the club system is the best way, talk to your Coaching Director about what you need to do to succeed in your club environment and for them to put your name forward for the NITP or state program.

I was recently chatting to one of the best U16 players in South Australia, a great young man that is gifted but if he does not put in the work now he will get passed-by and potentially not be good enough to achieve his goals.

My feedback to him was "South Australian basketball could soon have focus on it from around the world. There is no better time in history to be an elite junior player coming through our system than now. You need to decide whether you want to be a good player in SA or a player recruited globally".

If you want to know how much work and the kind of attitude you need to have there are some great blogs you can read and learn from on this site. Daniel Carlin (Some Lessons Learned on the Journey so far) and Isaac White (Mental Toughness and Dedication), are 2 blogs definitely worth reading.

The future

The featured athletes need to understand when they are in the grind and push for personal excellence that they are a part of something bigger than them. Their performance, attitude and success will help them build something for the next South Australian players coming through. I hope that through the ups and downs of their college careers this idea helps drive them to greatness as they connect with a higher purpose than themselves. They know the "never forget where you come from" mantra actually will help them keep grounded, driven and successful.

So in closing, now is a GREAT time to be an elite player in South Australia - you will not sneak under the radar both nationally AND internationally - but YOU have to put in the work in the classroom and on the court. Ballers, the ball is in YOUR court.