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How do you make a basketball mixtape
How to Make a Basketball Highlight Video for Men’s Basketball
In a perfect world, basketball coaches would be able to evaluate all their top recruits in person. But unfortunately, they just don’t have the time or budget to see every prospect this way. Cue: basketball highlight videos. A well-crafted highlight video can put a recruit on a coach’s radar and secure them a second in-person evaluation. Follow these guidelines to create a video that stands out.
Quick Links
The importance of video in college basketball recruiting
How to make a basketball skills video
College basketball recruiting video tips
What do coaches look for in a basketball highlight video?
What are some good basketball highlight video songs?
How long should a basketball highlight video be?
Center highlight video
Point guard highlight video
Power forward highlight video
Shooting guard highlight video
Small forward highlight video
How to make a basketball highlight video on hudl
Basketball recruiting video services
The importance of a college basketball recruiting video
Here’s the hard hitting truth—most coaches don’t simply “discover” recruits.![]()
They don’t have the budget or time to see every prospect play in-person. And with high school and college basketball games being more staggered throughout the week compared to other sports, traveling is nearly impossible when coaches are in season. That’s why highlight videos have become essential in the basketball recruiting process. In a matter of minutes, they can garner coach interest and help student-athletes get an in-depth, second evaluation. Think of it as the first step toward getting on a coach’s radar and securing an opportunity to be evaluated in person later.
How to make a basketball skills video
One of the best parts of shooting a men’s basketball skills video is that you don’t need all the bells and whistles of a traditional highlight video. Whether you miss a shot or don’t have the best angle, your basketball skills video doesn’t have to be perfect—it’s more important to go game speed at all times and showcase your athleticism and technical abilities.
In the video below, former D1 and pro basketball player Eric Vierneisel explains that coaches want to see multiple reps of drills that showcase your skills, including:
- Ball handling and shooting drills
- Change of speed and direction
- Jumping and leaping
- Strength training and conditioning workouts, like box jumps and speed ladder work
- Shooting range and consistency
College basketball recruiting video tips
For some student-athletes, a basketball highlight video might be the reason they secure an in-person evaluation.
Creating a highlight film is not as complicated as it sounds. Follow these straight-forward tips to create a video that truly stands out:
- Before you set out to film, ask your high school coach if they have footage already available. Online video services for high school coaches, like Hudl, are popular resources.
- Choose games against your best competition, such as varsity level, high-level AAU games or any nationwide tournaments. College coaches want to see how you stack up against top talent. Typically clips from two or three games is enough, but you can use more if needed.
- Focus the camera from mid-court while making sure the student-athlete is easily recognizable. The camera view shouldn’t be obstructed by the crowd, other players on the court or people walking by.
- Use a tripod to avoid a shaky camera.
- Don’t zoom in and out.
- Make sure the person filming the match isn’t cheering. If there is excessive and distracting background noise, mute the video completely.
Don’t add music to the video either. - Put a title card at the front of your basketball highlight video that includes your name and graduation year, such as “John Doe Basketball Recruiting Video Class of 2021.”
- Stack your best clips first. Typically, you’ll start your video by highlighting your shooting ability.
- Focus on your three or four strongest strengths and organize your clips to highlight them. For example, if you’re an excellent three-point shooter, showcasing six straight threes is much more effective than one three-pointer, a pass, then a free throw, and then maybe another three, etc.
- Cap your video at 20 to 30 clips and keep it under four minutes.
- Send college coaches your highlight video, as well as one unedited full game video. If they’re interested in a recruit after watching their highlight film, they will want to evaluate the full game next.
What do college coaches look for in a basketball highlight video?
A well-edited highlight video gives student-athletes a chance to show college coaches their strongest skills, athleticism, versatility and basketball IQ—all in just a few minutes.
Coaches look for recruits who have the right technique and can execute on the fundamentals. They want to see footage against high-level competition where the recruit was truly tested—think varsity high school games, national tournaments, showcases and elite camps. If the highlight video does its job and captures the coach’s attention, then the coach will also want to evaluate performance from an unedited full game, which provides further insight into the recruit’s basketball IQ and game awareness. That’s why we always recommend sending a brief and impactful highlight film, as well as one full game.
What are some good basketball highlight video songs?
Music can set an energetic tone, but it shouldn’t take away from an athlete’s performance. For that reason, we typically don’t recommend including music in a basketball highlight video. And to be honest, coaches don’t care too much about the frills; they just want to evaluate the recruit. In fact, if there’s excessive background noise, like yelling, it’s best to mute the sound completely.
How long should a basketball highlight video be?
Student-athletes need to quickly capture a coach’s attention—with an emphasis on quickly. Basketball highlight videos should be under four minutes with 20-30 great plays that demonstrate the athlete’s strongest skills. In addition to a brief highlight film, student-athletes should separately provide full game film. If the coach is interested after watching the highlight reel, they’ll want to evaluate the recruit in one unedited game.
Center highlight video
College coaches want to evaluate the strongest parts of a center’s game. They look for technique and the ability to overpower players. Height and wingspan are key physical tools that will stand out, as well.
- Shooting ability (range) and ability to finish around the rim
- Ability to score against traditional post defense
- Rebounding
- Shot blocking and defensive ability to disrupt flow and passes (even when not blocking shots)
- Successfully guard multiple positions
- Quickness and footwork
- Properly executed pick and roll plays and defensive stops
- Game awareness—ability to process in game time and make the right decisions
In the video below, Team Edition Coordinator John Pugliese—a former NCAA Division 1, 2 and 3 college coach who’s watched hundreds of highlight/skills videos—breaks down what college coaches want to see from potential men’s basketball recruits competing for a center roster spot.
Point guard highlight video
Scoring and shooting ability is the most important aspect for perimeter players. Point guards who can take control, possess leadership skills and have a take-charge attitude will stand out.
- Shooting ability (range) and scoring
- Ability to penetrate and finish at the rim
- Ball handling and passing (making the right pass, knowing when to pass—and when not to)
- Court vision and controlling pace of the game
- Good decisions in transition
- Quickness
- Defense rotations and ability to guard bigger players and multiple positions
- Game awareness—ability to process in game time and make the right decisions
There are a few key skills student-athletes should include in their point guard highlight videos. In the video below, former NCAA D1, D2 and D3 college coach John Pugliese says potential recruits should make sure their video shows that they’re a great leader, highlights how they respond to and perform under pressure and showcases their ability to process and make decisions during games.
Power forward highlight video
Power forwards need to have a dynamic skill set and be able to demonstrate their ability to shoot, especially at mid-range.
- Shooting ability (range) and ability to finish around the rim
- Rebounding
- Shot blocking and defensive ability to disrupt flow of the game (even when not blocking shots)
- Successfully guard multiple positions
- Quickness and footwork
- Game awareness—ability to process in game time and make the right decisions
College coaches expect a lot from power forwards, and potential recruits interested in landing a men’s basketball roster spot should be prepared to showcase that they’re a jack-of-all-trades. Coaches want student-athletes to display their strength on the court, from rebounding, running, and transitioning the ball to their ability to guard, block jump shots and adapt to the opposing team.
Shooting guard highlight video
Coaches obviously want to evaluate a shooting guard’s ability to score, and they’re also looking at their technique and whether they can execute the fundamentals.
- Shooting ability and range
- Ability to make shots when moving off the dribble (catch and shoot movement)
- Defensive ability to stop penetration
- Active hands and touches on the ball
- Ball handling—this is a must for shooting guards
- Court vision
- Quickness
- Defense rotations and ability to guard bigger players and multiple positions, as well as help defense when opponent is driving by
- Game awareness—ability to process in game time and make the right decisions
In the video below, former men’s basketball coach John Pugliese breaks down what shooting guards should include in their highlight videos. Recruits interested in competing at the next level need to display more than their shooting and scoring abilities to land a roster spot—they also need to show college coaches what separates them from their competition.
Small forward highlight video
Versatility is important among small forwards.
Similar to shooting guards, small forwards need to be exceptional shooters, especially at the short-to mid-range scoring area.
- Shooting ability and range
- Ability to make shots when moving off the dribble (catch and shoot movement)
- Defensive ability to stop penetration
- Active hands and touches on the ball
- Ball handling
- Court vision
- Quickness
- Defense rotations and ability to guard bigger players and multiple positions, as well as help defense when opponent is driving by
- Game awareness—ability to process in game time and make the right decisions
Student-athletes interested in landing a small forward roster spot should highlight that they have a variety of skills on the basketball court. College coaches look for recruits who can use their size and strength to guard and defend multiple positions, are multi-level scorers and can play defense, finish and transition.
How to make a basketball highlight video on hudl
Online video services for high school coaches, like Hudl, are becoming more popular in basketball.
Student-athletes should follow the standard guidelines when creating a highlight video using Hudl:
- Choose games against your best competition, such as varsity level, high-level AAU games or any nationwide tournaments. College coaches want to see how you stack up against top talent. Typically clips from two or three games is enough, but you can use more if needed.
- Make sure the student-athlete is easily recognizable and the camera view isn’t obstructed by the crowd, other players on the court or people walking by.
- Don’t zoom in and out.
- Make sure the person filming the match isn’t cheering. If there is excessive and distracting background noise, mute the video completely. Don’t add music to the video either.
- Put a title card at the front of your basketball highlight video that includes your name and graduation year, such as “John Doe Basketball Recruiting Video Class of 2021.”
- Stack your best clips first. Typically you’ll start your video by highlighting your shooting ability.
Post players should include: shooting ability, ability to finish around the rim, rebounding, shot blocking, footwork, and defensive abilities (guarding multiple positions). Perimeter players should include: scoring ability, ability to penetrate and finish at the rim, ball handling, court vision, and defensive abilities (guard bigger players and multiple positions). - Focus on your three or four strongest strengths and organize your clips to highlight them. For example, if you’re an excellent three-point shooter, showcasing six straight threes is much more effective than one three-pointer, a pass, then a free throw, and then maybe another three, etc.
- Cap your video at 20 to 30 clips and keep it under four minutes.
- Send college coaches your highlight video, as well as one unedited full game video. If they’re interested in a recruit after watching their highlight film, they will want to evaluate the full game next.
Basketball recruiting video services
While coaches generally prefer simple, no-frills editing, a professional videographer can quickly turn disorganized raw footage into a cohesive sequence of highlights.
Plus, they know exactly which plays to showcase first. That’s why many families choose to call in help when creating their highlight video.
As part of NCSA’s recruiting service for student-athletes, our full-service video editing team offers professionally edited video. In fact, they edit more than 40,000 highlight videos each year. And, depending on the membership level, they’ll produce multiple highlight videos for the athlete and help them identify the best schools to send it to. If you’re interested in learning more about NCSA’s video offerings, call our Video Team at 866-495-5172.
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AND 1 - Kings of Street Basketball
The famous Rucker Park has long served as the battlefield of street players in New York. Future NBA stars lit up on this piece of asphalt in downtown Harlem. This is where the basketball teams of rap stars Jay-Z and Fat Joe met to the death...
What do you think is the best-selling sports DVD today? Champions League Final, NHL All-Star Game, or maybe Tyson's greatest fights? Nothing happened. And 1 mixtapes confidently occupy the leading position: tricks of street basketball stars to the beats of the hottest hip-hop hits of the season.
AND 1 Mixtape Vol.5 has been certified double platinum, AND 1 Mixtape Vol.6 is approaching that mark. The seventh mixtape featuring music from Beastie Boys, Mobb Deep, Masta Killa and Beatnuts went on sale on August 31st.
AND 1 is a world famous team of street players. These are the recognized kings of the asphalt courts, whose tricks, clinging to the TV screen, are carefully studied by millions of beginner basketball players around the world. In Russia, AND 1 cassettes went from hand to hand, copying to a fundamentally unwatchable state. I'm sure something similar happened in the States: the very first mixtape was a household videotape...
The famous Rucker Park has long served as a battlefield for street players in New York. Future NBA stars Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Elton Brand and Ron Artest lit up on this piece of asphalt in downtown Harlem. Here, teams of rap stars Jay-Z and Fat Joe met in basketball battles to the death. And once there was a thin guy Rafer Alston (Rafer Alston), included in the school team of Cardoza High School.
Alston did unimaginable things with the ball. The orange sphere flew between the legs of the opponents, suddenly appeared behind their backs or behind their heads, and after some fantastic blind pass performed by Alston, fell into the ring. The sports result faded into the background - it was important to fool the opponent, to do a trick that he could not repeat under any circumstances. Nicknamed Skip To My Lou, Alston quickly became one of the venue's main attractions. If he came to the site, the park quickly filled with spectators.
To capture these truly circus numbers, Alston's coach began to take a video camera with him. In 1998, a cut of the best moments got into the young company AND 1, which was engaged in the production of sports ammunition and was looking for its niche in an extremely saturated market. Called AND 1 Mix Tape Vol.1, the cassette was given away for free to anyone who decided to try on AND 1 sneakers. In two weeks, 200,000 copies of the cassette were sold, most of which went to children who had never heard of Skip To My Lou before.
All they knew was that this guy was doing crazy things on set.
AND 1 quickly realized that the key to their success was the unrecognized geniuses of street basketball. Not limited to New York, they combed the east coast areas with a fine seine. That's how they found Phillip "Hot Sauce" Champion ( a suggestive last name - approx. Rap.Ru ) from Atlanta and Allen "AO" Owens from Philadelphia, one of the most popular street players in America. What these guys did was just a shock. No one has done such things before them. AND1 immediately signs a contract with them and releases AND1 Mixtape Vol.3, which mainly featured these two players. It was a revolution in the basketball world, it was after this cassette that AND1 was talked about all over the world. All the street players suddenly wanted to have clothes from this company. And from now on, all the time of training was devoted to dribbling.
AND 1 turned streetball from a street game into a multi-million dollar enterprise.
Their business, which began selling tees with idiotic captions like "Your Game is as Ugly as Your Girl" ("Your game is as ugly as your chick" ), was valued at $175 million in 2003. ESPN airs Streetball show covering the massive AND 1 Tour. The breeders of professional clubs are seriously looking at the guys from the street. Rafer "Skip To My Lou" Alston, who started this story, is now on a 6-year contract with the NBA's Toronto Raptors on 29million dollars. The latest mixtapes have featured NBA stars such as NBA top point guard Stephon Marbury, power forward Jason "White Chocolate" Williams and NBA champion center Ben Wallace.
AND 1 performances are not a basketball circus according to the Harlem Globetrotters formula, where the “opponents” know in advance where they need to stand so that the “opponent” can hit the ring without any obstacles. Rivals of AND 1 in their world tour (and these are, as a rule, the stars of local venues gathered in one team) go out of their way to show what they are worth.
The best of them have a chance to get into the AND 1 lineup, as happened with Tony "Go Get It" Jones. In the game against AND 1, he made a lot of dizzying flights to the ring, hammering a dozen of the most beautiful slam dunks to the streetball stars. So, when one of the main contestants of the show, Main Event, known for his throws from above, broke his leg in a car accident, Tony's candidacy - Go Get It was not even discussed. The guy adequately replaced one of the main stars of AND 1 on the tour, and since then he has been in the team. Stories like this make AND 1's rivals even more excited, so their matches are always filled with the spirit of the fight.
Similarly, Oregon native, one of the main stars of the latest mixtape, 20-year-old Grayson "Professor" Boucher, made his way to AND 1. He is the only white player on this team, a short-haired 175 cm guy in long, almost ankle-length shorts and a gothic White Boy tattoo on the knuckles. In less than two years in AND 1, he has become a tidbit for scouts of professional clubs.
When AND 1 comes to town, tens of thousands of street basketball fans gather in the city's main arenas. The last tour was a real expedition to 30 American cities plus European London, Milan, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Paris, where the AND 1 team was waiting for a truly royal welcome. Today, AND 1 management is seriously thinking about visiting Asia and South America.
Both Russian 3x3 basketball teams at the Olympics. We just have to understand how cool it is
Anton Solomin
November 1, 2019 23:51
Photo: © FIBA
We explain why this is truly a historic event.
We explain why this is indeed a historical event.
We are already rejoicing at the simple entrance to the Olympics. Did you live?
In the particular case of 3×3 basketball, it's really worth rejoicing.
See.
In team sports, getting to the Olympics is especially difficult. There are 32 teams in the World Basketball Championship, but only 12 in the Games, and there is a simple explanation for this. There are many disciplines, but places in the Olympic village are limited. One basketball team (without coaching staff) occupies as many beds as five wrestlers of different weight classes, four boxers, two artistic gymnasts and one pole vaulter. Therefore, no team sport in the Olympics has more than 12 teams. And in 3x3 basketball, which has just entered the Olympic program and will be presented for the first time only in Tokyo 2020, there are only 8 teams of each gender. Getting into this eight is super cool. And even more so when both men's and women's teams do it at the same time.
And another important point that I don't really want to talk about out loud. It is not yet a fact that next year we will be at the Olympics in 5×5 basketball. The women's team has already flown past Tokyo: it was eighth at the European Championships, and it was necessary to get into the top six.
The men's team still has a chance, but it will be difficult: in June, the team of Sergei Bazarevich will have to play in the Olympic qualification, where the competition will be 6 teams per place.
Therefore, yes, at least two Russian teams at the Olympics are very cool.
But this is street basketball! What to be proud of?
He stopped being street a long time ago. Once this discipline was called "streetball", but modern 3x3 basketball has little in common with amateur sports. Over the past 10 years, he has gone from the streets to the Olympics, and this path has been gigantic. Today, 3×3 basketball broadcasts are not inferior in picture quality to Euroleague games, and Match TV even shows top tournaments.
The level of the players is also not amateur for a long time. The best 3x3 basketball player in the world, Dusan Bulut, is the best example of how a guy from the street, working on himself, can become the world champion (already) and the Olympic Games (planned).
3×3 helps to develop qualities that will later come in handy in 5×5. A guy named Alfonzo McKinney played for the US team in 2016 at the 3×3 World Championship. He scored a lot from above, won a silver medal, and a year later "surfaced" in the NBA. Last season, he played 72 games for Golden State, 5 of them in the starting five.
But this rule is mostly one-way traffic. The stars of classic basketball are far from always able to prove themselves in the street version, where slightly different talents are needed. There are no stars here who score a lot of points and have the right not to defend themselves for this. Each player must be able to play both with and without the ball. If in the "classic" someone does not have time to return to the defense, in theory the team can rebound and fight back in the "4 on 5" format. It is worth one person to turn off in 3x3 - and your team will have one and a half times fewer players than the opponent. No chance.
For all this, love 3x3 basketball.
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Why was it important to qualify today?
There were three ways to get to Tokyo:
- according to the FIBA rating;
- through qualification in March 2020;
- through additional qualification in April 2020 for countries not represented at the previous two 5x5 Basketball Olympiads.
The third option is right past us. The men's and women's teams of Russia missed Rio 2016, but in London 2012 both were not just there - they reached the semi-finals. There was a choice between qualifying with a fierce competition (competition - 20 teams for 3 places) and passing through the rating. The choice that the RFB thought about for about 0 seconds.
What did you need to get into Tokyo according to the rating?
November 1 is the day when FIBA held a world ranking cutoff to determine the teams that will qualify for the Olympics directly. This was known in advance - as well as the fact that the rating, as in tennis, is counted for the last 365 days.
So from November 1, 2018, the countdown of rating points towards the selection in Tokyo began.
Half of all participants were supposed to go directly to the 2020 Games - 4 men's teams and 4 women's (with no more than two from the continent, but in practice this restriction was not useful). But something else had to be done with the owners.
FIBA decided that an automatic ticket for two Japanese national teams at once is too much (especially with eight participants), but it’s not accepted to play at the Olympics without hosts at all. Therefore, they decided in the style of King Solomon - in half. The one of the two Japanese teams that had a higher place in the rating was to get a direct ticket. So, while all countries competed with each other, the Japanese men's team competed with the women's team ... And won: 9th place for men, 11th for women. Ladies are now going to qualify, and there are not four, but three men's "ranking" places in Tokyo.
But no one knew this in advance, so the task was difficult to formulate: to get into the top three in the men's and women's ratings - and at the same time not to let more than one European country go ahead.
What is a country ranking?
This is the cumulative ranking of her top 100 athletes. And the one who understood this definition better than the others got to the Olympics without selection.
This October, Russian basketball players won the U-23 World Cup for the second time in a row. Formally, this is a youth team, but its composition is close to the main one. And in general, has it been a long time since any Russian team in team sports at any age became the world champion, and also twice in a row? This is cool in itself, and it also gives a good rating.
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We are still the best among young people. But even if you have the best team in the world in general, it is still only 4 people. If the other 96 are not ranked, your country will definitely not be in the top 3.
Russia became the first in the FIBA women's rating, the second in the men's and the first in the aggregate. And the key to this was mass character.
In recent years, the number of players participating in the World Tour (something like a tennis Grand Slam, where the strongest opponents and the most ranking points) and other top tournaments has increased significantly in the country. And if in the 2018 season in Russian men's 3×3 basketball, one team stood out mainly - Gagarin (it even reached the final of the World Tour - it's something like the Final Four of the Euroleague), then in 2019- There were several of them. And this is only a plus. Even two: more national rankings, more candidates for the Tokyo national team.
Another factor is that Russia began to host more tournaments, including high-level ones. More domestic teams got the opportunity to accumulate precious points. All this is the highest mathematics in 3x3 basketball. Whoever understands the rules better, uses every opportunity to gain a rating, goes to the Olympics. But if Serbia, for example, is historically rich in basketball talents, and China has no problems with mass participation, then Russia had to create both.
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Who else will play at the Olympics?
Only Russia and China qualified for Tokyo as two teams at once. Plus Serbia with Japan for men and Mongolia with Romania for women. And then everything is very difficult.
Two more qualifying tournaments remain. Moreover, some countries will have the opportunity, in case of failure in the first, to play in the second. Now we will explain everything.
First, in March next year, the main qualification will be held in New Delhi. 20 men's and 20 women's teams will play there. Three each will receive Olympic licenses.
© FIBA
The Olympic Games are not only about sports, but also about diversity. Therefore, FIBA came up with a separate qualifying tournament for countries whose teams did not play in the last two Olympics in 5x5 basketball. A good example is Hungary. She is unlikely to ever get to the Games, but she is very good at 3x3. So that the same teams do not repeat themselves at the 3x3 and 5x5 tournaments in Olympic Tokyo, Hungary is given an additional chance in the form of a second qualification, also with the advantage of its site.
One last vacancy will be drawn in April. Competition - six teams per place. At the same time, if someone is selected through the March qualification, a team (or teams) from the waiting list will take their place in the April tournament.
© FIBA
We warned you: everything is very complicated. What a blessing that all these selections are no longer for us.
What did Kirilenko say?
The President of the RSE flew to Japan especially for the ceremony of announcing the participants of the Olympiad.
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“I would like to congratulate everyone: a historic evening for Russia happened in Japan today! Andrey Kirilenko said. - Both our teams will play at the Tokyo Olympics - the first where 3×3 basketball will be presented. This is very cool, very significant and historically important. Maybe now the scale of this event is not fully felt. But a few years will pass, and it will be easier to realize. It's great to be at the origins of Olympic basketball 3×3.
Only two countries - Russia and China - qualified for the Tokyo Games directly with two teams, men's and women's. At the same time, we are the first in the combined world ranking - this is really worth a lot.
I congratulate all the players who have participated in various tournaments in recent years, brought us victories and raised the prestige of Russian 3x3 basketball. The entire Russian 3×3 movement took part in the collection of rating points. Basketball players all over Russia, each at their own level - not necessarily at the highest level - earned rating points by their participation in tournaments, which went into the common Russian piggy bank. Everyone gave a little bit and increased our chances of getting to the Olympics. This is their common victory.
Special praise and congratulations also deserves the RBF National Teams Department, 3x3 unit, which has done a tremendous job in the last two years. All selection criteria set by the International Federation have been carefully reviewed and fulfilled.
