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How to get noticed by scouts for basketball
How to get noticed by scouts for basketball
How to Get Recruited for College Basketball
Playing college basketball is the dream for thousands of student-athletes across the country. But many families are often unsure of how to go about getting recruited by coaches. To be successful, recruits need to research their best college fit and actively market themselves to these coaches by creating an online profile and highlight video that showcases their athletic ability and leadership qualities. This section will answer the most common questions families have on how to get recruited for college basketball.
Quick Links
How does college basketball recruiting work?
How to get recruited to play college basketball
Men’s basketball recruiting timeline
What do college basketball scouts look for in recruits?
What percentage of high school basketball players play in college?
How important is club basketball?
How to join a AAU basketball team: how does AAU basketball work?
What to know about college basketball walk ons
What is a preferred walk on in college basketball?
Do college basketball teams have tryouts?
How to prepare for basketball tryouts: What coaches look for in basketball tryouts
How tall are men’s college basketball players?
Attend basketball recruiting camps
What does redshirt mean in college basketball?
Learn how to make a college recruiting video for basketball
Research schools and create your target list
Contact coaches on your target list
How your high school coach can help you in your recruiting process
How does college basketball recruiting work?
Basketball recruits who are successful in their recruiting journey do the leg work: they build a list of realistic schools, create an online profile and highlight film, contact college coaches and compete in front of coaches at tournaments and camps.![]()
From a coach’s perspective, here’s a quick overview of how they find student-athletes:
- Identify potential recruits. At any point in high school, coaches can send general materials, such as recruiting questionnaires, to student-athletes, and they usually send them out to a large number of freshmen and sophomores to gauge their interest in the program. Respond promptly to these materials.
- Second, in-depth evaluations. At this point, coaches focus on ranking their prospects and narrowing down their list. This is the stage where most families think the recruiting process begins. However, athletes who’ve made it this far have already passed an initial evaluation and shown some interest in the school. Tournaments, camps and highlight film are the most common ways coaches evaluate basketball prospects.
- Verbal offers and visits. After coaches have their list of ranked prospects, they extend offers and lock down verbal commitments.
Many recruits who are being seriously recruited will partake in unofficial and official visits during their junior and senior years.
How to get recruited to play men’s college basketball
Recruiting isn’t a linear, clear-cut process. You could be nearing the end of your conversations with one coach, while simultaneously just beginning with another. But knowing what steps you can take to create a communication strategy and market yourself will help you secure a scholarship offer.
- Research and build a target list. Student-athletes should visit college rosters and look at the players in their position (are they seniors who are graduating?), athletic stats (how do they measure up?) and backgrounds (does the coach recruit from a particular region or tournament?).
- Compete at the highest level possible: To accurately assess a recruit’s ability to compete in college, coaches want to see them play against high-ranked athletes.
- Compete in the summer during live periods: Scheduling conflicts make it difficult for college coaches to watch recruits play in-person during the regular season. So, they turn to live periods. These stretches in the offseason allow college basketball scouts and coaches to hit the road and scout several players at once. Attend elite or exposure camps as well.
- Excel academically. The NCAA Eligibility Center determines the academic eligibility and amateur status for all NCAA Division 1 and Division 2 athletes. Understand the requirements to stay on track.
- Create a highlight film. The best way to secure an in-depth and in-person evaluation is by sending coaches a highlight video and a full game film. It’s a quick way to show a snapshot of the recruit’s skill set.
- Be proactive. Start by sending an introductory email that includes your online profile, highlight video, academic information, outstanding athletic achievements and personal interest in the program.
Then follow up with a phone call.
Men’s basketball recruiting timeline broken down by year in school
Here is a general guideline you can follow year-by-year to ensure your family is on track.
Freshman year
- Fill out questionnaires online and respond to coach materials. College coaches can send recruits general materials, such as questionnaires, camp information, non-athletic information about the school and materials published by the NCAA at any time.
- Meet with your guidance counselor and set academic goals for the year to keep your academic eligibility on track.
- Research colleges from all division levels.
- Create an online profile and if you have varsity or high-level competitive film, post your highlight video.
- Be proactive and call Division 1 and Division 2 coaches or athletics staff and talk to them on the phone.
Sophomore year
- Post your highlight video to your online profile, if you haven’t already.
- Aug. 1—Recruits can begin taking unofficial visits to Division 1 schools.
- Check that your sophomore year classes meet NCAA academic eligibility standards and register for the NCAA Eligibility Center.
- Send introductory emails to college coaches at your target colleges, if you haven’t already. And follow up with a phone call.
- NCAA Division 1 and Division 2— Student-athletes can receive personal contact and recruiting materials starting June 15 after their sophomore year. Coaches can call athletes, send text messages, direct messages and emails, as well as make verbal offers. Top Division 1 and Division 2 athletes are getting offers from college coaches at this time. Most Division 1 rosters are finalized before the start of junior year.
- NCAA Division 3—Off-campus contact is allowed after sophomore year.
Junior year
- Take the ACT or SAT and submit your scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center. Upload your transcript to the Eligibility Center as well.
- Update your highlight video.
- NCAA Division 1—Off-campus contact is allowed beginning your opening day of classes.
- NCAA Division 1—Official Visits are allowed Aug. 1 of your junior year through completion of junior year (5 total visits).
- NCAA Division 3—Official visits allowed starting Jan. 1 of junior year.
- Offers continue to roll in for Division 2 prospects, as well as Division 3 and NAIA athletes.
- If you’re not getting interest from coaches at the schools you’ve been contacting, take a new look at your college list and find new opportunities.
Senior year
- Update your highlight video.
- NCAA Division 1—Recruits can take an additional five official visits during their senior year. They may re-visit a school from a junior year official visit.
- Nov. 13-20—Early signing period for NCAA Division 1 and Division 2 schools begins.
- Nov. 1—NJCAA Signing Date.
- Apply for the FAFSA on Oct.
1. - Register with the NAIA Eligibility Center.
- Request final amateurism certification beginning April 1 in NCAA Eligibility Center account.
- April 15-May 20—Regular signing period occurs for Division 1 and Division 2.
- Division 3 and NAIA teams are finalizing their rosters during senior year. JUCO programs are also recruiting student-athletes at this time. Consider these schools if you haven’t secured a roster spot yet.
What do college basketball scouts look for in recruits?
College coaches consider a few factors when determining an athlete’s ability.
- Physical characteristics—height and body frame, athleticism and strength. In NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball, the average height of a college basketball player was just under 6’5” and the most common height listed was 6’7”.
- Technical skills. Coaches want to recruit student-athletes who have mastered the fundamentals.
- Basketball IQ.
Can the student-athlete process information in real time during a game and make the right decisions? - Academics. College coaches look for recruits who excel in the classroom. They know that student-athletes with a solid GPA and test scores will more likely be admitted into their university and have an easier college transition. Plus, a good GPA also tells coaches that the recruit is responsible and disciplined—traits they highly value.
Of course, what coaches look for also depends on their program’s specific needs. Connecting with a college coach is the best way to understand what kind of recruit they need. Another quick way is to visit the team’s website and analyze their roster.
What percentage of high school basketball players play in college?
There are 551,373 high school men’s basketball players. Of that number, 18,540 —or 3.4 percent—go on to compete in the NCAA and less than one percent move on to the NAIA. Just less than one percent compete in NCAA Division 1 where there are 353 teams; one percent compete at the NCAA Division 2 level, which has 313 programs; and 1.
4 percent compete at NCAA Division 3 with 109 teams. There are 430 JUCO programs rostering 6,352 basketball players.
How important is club basketball in the college basketball recruiting process?
AAU, which stands for the Amateur Athletic Union, can be a valuable tool in gaining exposure to college coaches. It allows recruits to compete against top tier athletes and offers coaches an extended look into their abilities. Elite Division 1 basketball players are often recognized in middle school through their AAU experience. But even though AAU provides several competitive opportunities, it isn’t a requirement to obtain a college basketball scholarship. Several prospects have foregone the AAU circuit and moved on to successful college and professional careers.
How to join a AAU basketball team. How does AAU basketball work?
AAU is a youth sports organization and stands for the Amateur Athletic Union. Athletes form independent teams and compete in AAU tournaments against other teams.
Teams are assigned based on geography. To find out which district you belong to and which team is best for you, you can visit the AAU website.
Many athletes value AAU as it provides an opportunity to compete against top-level talent that you typically wouldn’t find by solely playing locally. There are various levels of competition within AAU and as players develop and get better, they’ll switch to a higher competitive team. As a result, many AAU tournaments, especially NCAA-certified tournaments, often attract scouts, giving athletes a chance to play in front of college coaches. However, participating in these events can be costly. The AAU membership fee is $14 per year, but families can end up paying $400 to $4,000 dollars per year depending on how many tournaments they travel to. Many programs, however, offer financial assistance to help cut the high price tag associated with AAU.
Do college coaches recruit at AAU or high school games? The answer is, both. But joining an AAU program and competing during the off-season gives recruits the advantage to be seen by college scouts year round.
It can be difficult for college coaches to attend many high school games during the regular season because of their competing schedules. AAU tournaments provide college coaches the opportunity to evaluate many recruits at one time.
To get a membership or start a club, you can visit AAU’s website.
What to know about college basketball walk ons and how to walk onto a college basketball team
The first thing you should know about becoming a college basketball walk-on is that it is rare. Basketball rosters are not that big—there’s an average of 17 players per team across the divisions. Coaches aren’t going to give up spots to walk-ons if they don’t have to. Some student-athletes, though, are recruited as a preferred walk-on. These athletes go through the recruiting process and are offered a roster spot, but they don’t receive any athletic aid as the coach doesn’t have any scholarship opportunities available.
Student-athletes have a better chance of walking on to a college team as a preferred walk-on compared to going to a tryout and making the team.
Preferred walk-ons take all the necessary steps in the recruiting process to capture a coach’s attention: they proactively contact coaches and send their online resume; they attend camps and tournaments to gain exposure; they reach out to schools that are the right academic and athletic fit for them; and they take unofficial visits to the college.
Learn more about becoming a walk-on versus getting a scholarship offer.
What is a preferred walk on in college basketball?
After college coaches have handed out all of their scholarship opportunities, they may still continue to recruit student-athletes. In this scenario, a student-athlete is guaranteed a roster spot without receiving any athletic aid. These are known as preferred walk-ons. The recruit still goes through the recruiting process and joins the team—the coach just doesn’t have an athletic scholarship available for them.
Being a preferred walk-on means something different depending on the division and program, though.
In NCAA Division 1, walk-ons typically don’t see much playing time and are less likely to receive an athletic scholarship in subsequent years. At the NCAA Division 2 and JUCO levels, however, some walk-ons earn playing time and a scholarship going into their second season. It is best to have clear communication with the college coach to understand playing and scholarship opportunities.
Do college basketball teams have tryouts?
While NCAA Division 1 and Division 2 programs are allowed to conduct basketball tryouts, Division 3 cannot do so. Tryouts are limited to prospective student-athletes who are seniors in high school, junior college transfers or four-year transfers who have completed their basketball season. Tryout participants also must be on an official or unofficial visit to the campus.
Typically college coaches only recruit one to two players as walk-ons. In Division 1, walk-on athletes don’t receive athletic aid and usually don’t get any playing time. Division 2 and JUCO programs more commonly give walk-ons a chance at competing for a roster spot and because these divisions offer partial scholarships, there’s also a chance to earn athletic aid after the first year.
How to prepare for basketball tryouts and what coaches look for in basketball tryouts
When making roster decisions, college coaches consider a recruit’s physical characteristics, like height and body frame, athleticism, ability to execute the fundamentals and basketball IQ, which showcases the athlete’s ability to interpret what is happening at game speed, as well as their ability to make the right decision based on instinct and experience. These players can anticipate what will happen next, making their game more automatic.
Securing a roster spot at a tryout is extremely rare. Student-athletes will improve their chances of walking on to a college team by establishing a relationship with the college coach ahead of time. Send them an introductory email with highlight film, game film, academic information, and contact information.
How tall are men’s college basketball players?
The height of men’s college basketball players vary slightly from division to division.
Generally, men’s basketball players are between 5’9” and 6’9”. Keep in mind that this should be used as a helpful guideline and not something set in stone. Players who don’t fall within these ranges are recruited every year by college coaches. The best way to understand a coach’s recruiting needs is to establish a relationship with them early on and analyze their current team roster.
View the average height of men’s basketball players by position across each division level.
Attend basketball recruiting camps to get noticed by college coaches
Here are a few factors to consider when choosing the right camp:
- College basketball camps are run by the college’s basketball program. Student-athletes have an opportunity to sample campus life and compete in front of the coach.
- Basketball exposure camps are designed to evaluate players and obtain a player ranking. Although they are not tied to a specific university, many basketball exposure camps offer players an opportunity to play in front of college coaches, especially at NCAA DIII men’s basketball coaches.
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Many of these camps are invitation-only, so the talent level is high – and excellent for player development. - Lastly, there is a level of “elite camps.” These are typically invitation-only events that bring together the top recruits from each graduate class to compete against each other at a national level. They’re run by college coaches on the school’s campus, so they’re a great way for athletes to get exposure to coaches.
If you want to get recruited at a college basketball camp, remember that most coaches attend events only to see players with whom they’ve already made some kind of connection.
Learn more about basketball camps and search for the best camps.
What does redshirt mean in college basketball?
The term “redshirt” is used to describe a student-athlete who does not participate in outside competition for an academic year. They’re allowed to practice and train with the team, but they don’t see any playing time. By doing this, they gain an additional year of eligibility, so technically they play four seasons in five years.
Some coaches offer redshirt scholarships to freshmen who don’t meet the academic eligibility requirements coming out of high school, or as a chance to physically grow and prepare to compete as a collegiate athlete. In some cases, student-athletes redshirt for a year as they recover from an injury.
Learn how to make a college recruiting video for basketball
Creating a basketball highlight video is essential to garnering coach interest. Follow these straight-forward tips to put together a video that truly stands out:
- Choose games against your best competition, such as varsity level, high-level AAU games or any nationwide tournaments.
- Focus the camera from mid-court while making sure the student-athlete is easily recognizable.
- 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 three or four strengths and organize your clips to highlight them. For example, if you’re an excellent three-point shooter, highlighting six straight threes is much more effective than showcasing one three-pointer, a pass, then a free throw, and then maybe another three, etc.
- Know what coaches are looking for in your position. In short, post players should showcase their shooting ability, quickness, ability to finish at the rim, rebounding, shot blocking, footwork and overall basketball awareness. Perimeter players should focus on scoring ability, quickness, ability to penetrate and finish at the rim, athleticism, basketball awareness and court vision.
- Cap your video with your best 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.
See the full list of tips for creating a basketball highlight video.
Research schools and create your target list
The very first step in the recruiting journey is often the one most overlooked—research. Here are the most important factors to keep in mind:
- Academics: Visit the school’s website to see the average grades and test scores. Plus, consider which majors are offered and remember to ask the coach which majors are popular among athletes on the team.
- Athletics: Student-athletes can use their high school or club coach to help them assess where they can make an impact, or they can visit a team’s roster and analyze the athletes’ key stats.
- Cost: How much can your family afford and how much aid is the student-athlete eligible to receive at each school? NCAA Division 1 schools offer full ride scholarships, while Division 2, NAIA and JUCO programs offer partial scholarships.
Many coaches, including NCAA Division 3, work with the admissions department to create financial packages that include need-based aid, grants, academic scholarships, work study and merit-based scholarships. - Personal Preferences: Think about housing options, school size, social aspects, distance from home and even the weather.
As families start to find programs they’re interested in, we recommend sorting them into three categories: target schools, dream schools and safety schools. Most of the schools on a student-athlete’s list should fall into the target category.
Get a head start on your list by viewing NCSA’s list of Best Colleges for Student-Athletes.
Contact coaches on your target list
Once a recruit has done the research and built a realistic target list of colleges, they’re ready to contact coaches. Remember—never wait for a coach to reach out. Be proactive to get on their radar. Here are a few steps to take:
- Send an introductory email: An introductory email serves two purposes—to get an initial evaluation and establish a relationship with the coach.
Make sure this email includes highlight film, academic information, contact information and key stats. Student-athletes should also personalize their email and explain their interest in that specific program. Never copy and paste—it’s almost guaranteed to get skipped over. - Tailor the subject line: Avoid generic subject lines, such as “Top basketball recruit,” and tailor the subject line to the school instead. For example, a recruit might want to include their GPA and test score in the subject line for high academic colleges, while highlighting key stats or awards to Division 1 schools.
- Call coaches. Basketball coaches are allowed to talk to athletes on the phone when the recruits are the ones initiating contact. In other words, if a recruit calls an NCAA Division 1 coach, the coach is allowed to talk to them. Typically, they’ll want to email them letting them know what time they plan on calling so the coach can be prepared
- Follow up.
Whenever there is a noteworthy update to share, like a new ACT or SAT score or athletic achievement, email the college coach again to touch base. Because if they missed the first email (and coaches tend to be pretty busy), following up can help keep you top of mind.
See the full list of tips on contacting coaches.
How your high school coach can help you in your recruiting process
High school or club coaches are there to support student-athletes along their recruiting journey—and help them connect with college coaches. Here are a few ways:
- Find the right college fit: Use their expertise and insight to create a college list of realistic programs. Plus, they probably have connections in the college network.
- Connect with college coaches: There’s a loophole in the NCAA basketball recruiting rules that allows student-athletes and college coaches to talk on the phone. If a student-athlete initiates the contact and calls the college coach, the coach is allowed to answer the phone and talk to the recruit.
High school coaches can help facilitate this contact by acting as a liaison. - Character reference: Men’s basketball coaches want to learn as much as they can about their top recruits, including their leadership qualities, attitude and talent. So, they call the recruit’s high school or club coach to get a better understanding of the athlete’s mental toughness, work ethic and behavior both on and off the court.
- Video help: Don’t hesitate to ask your coach for help when creating a highlight film. Plus, they probably have full game footage already available.
Insider tip: Despite the impact that coronavirus had on college sports, as of June 1, 2021, the NCAA resumed its regular recruiting rules and activity! Coaches are actively working to fill their rosters, so student-athletes should be proactive in reaching out to coaches. Read up on how the extra year of eligibility granted to athletes who were most affected by the pandemic in 2020 will impact future recruiting classes.
Top 10 ways high school basketball players can get noticed by college coaches
Wednesday’s kickoff to early-signing period came and went for most senior basketball players like any other day. But if you’re part of the majority who won’t sign on the dotted line, fear not – there’s still plenty of time to get noticed and earn your spot on a college team. Here’s how:
10. Take the initiative
Rutgers men’s basketball coach Mike Rice puts it best: “If you aren’t being recruited at a high level, you have to be aggressive.” That’s not an invitation to start banging on the doors of college coaches. It’s a reminder that if you aren’t receiving anything in the mail, it’s up to you to attract attention. College coaches aren’t going to come looking for you. You have to go to them.
9. Get your name out there
That doesn’t mean blowing up Twitter and Facebook with how great you think you are. It means emailing college coaches and explaining why you’re interested in playing for their teams.
You won’t get an immediate response from most coaches – especially top D-I programs – but if you keep emailing different coaches, you’ll increase your odds of getting a look.
8. Send out emails the right way
Every email to a college coach should be a personal message to them, not generic copy that you send to every coach. College coaches scan emails for a few seconds before making their verdict. If it’s sloppy or looks like a copy-paste job, coaches will delete it. But if it’s clean, personalized, concise and contains all the information they’re looking for – academic profile, athletic profile, highlight tape – they’ll read on.
7. Make a high-quality highlight video
Most college coaches get more than 100 highlight tapes per day, so you want yours to stand out. Put athletic, eye-popping highlights at the beginning of your video and follow with game tape. Make sure both the video and your opponent are high quality – coaches only want to see you play against the best, and they’re not going to watch grainy film.
Another tip is to put the video on YouTube and send a link. College coaches prefer video links to DVD’s.
6. Show you’re a team player
Basketball is the ultimate team game, and college coaches are always looking for team-first players. Players who work hard on both sides of the ball never take plays off and are always involved in the success of their teams. It also helps when you can show your versatility because coaches can see you evolve into multiple positions in college.
5. Get your coaches involved
College coaches won’t turn their back on a personal email from you, but they’ll pay more attention if they hear from your high school or AAU coach. “It’s always impressive when a high school or AAU coach contacts us,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. College coaches trust other coaches to give their honest opinion. So make sure you have a good relationship with your coach and ask for their help in the process.
4.
Look for realistic options
Many high school athletes think playing college sports is Division I or bust. In reality, more kids will play for D-II and D-III schools than D-I. Denver University’s Bill Tierney may be a Hall of Fame lacrosse coach, but his words ring true in basketball as well: “If you’re getting interest from a lot of D-III schools and you’re writing a lot of D-I schools but not hearing back, you’re a D-III player,” he said. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you need to be honest with yourself.
3. Don’t be afraid of junior colleges
Junior colleges get a bad rap for some reason, but there’s nothing wrong with playing at a JUCO. In fact, that could be the right move. You can get exposure, get your grades up and earn credits that can transfer to a four-year school. Many JUCO players are there for a year, then sign to a bigger program.
2. Just win, baby
Winning attracts attention – it’s as simple as that.
Or as Scott Davenport, head coach of 2011 Division II men’s basketball champion Bellarmine, said, “When you win, opportunity will chase you down.” That’s because the farther you go in tournaments and the better the competition gets, the more college coaches will be watching. Plus, college coaches like winners.
1. Be persistent
It may seem like getting recruited is a futile process when your emails don’t get returned, your highlight videos don’t get watched and your coaches don’t hear anything. But keeping up your efforts and remaining persistent and positive are traits college coaches like. Your ability to display those might help get you noticed.
How to Become an NBA Scout (With Steps & Tips) • BUOM
Posted by the Indeed Editorial Team
August 26, 2021
A National Basketball Association (NBA) scout is looking for potential members of his basketball team by traveling and analyzing the performances of different players.
There are many roles and responsibilities in this position, such as learning Scouting tactics, communicating with coaches and other Scouts, and providing incentives for new recruits. If you are interested in pursuing this career, you may want to know what steps it can take. In this article, we'll discuss the steps involved in becoming an NBA scout, explain what they do, and give tips on getting started.
Who is an NBA scout?
An NBA scout is an experienced professional who evaluates basketball players to find people to play for their team. They are keen to make sure these potential players are talented, and if they want to hire them, they may have to convince the players to join their team. Basketball scouts also judge whether potential recruits can work well with an existing team. Some basketball scouts may analyze other teams to learn about their strategies.
What does an NBA scout do?
An NBA scout travels to different locations to watch future basketball players during a game.
There are different scouts for different levels of basketball, so NBA scouts usually look for college-level athletes. College basketball scouts typically evaluate high school basketball players for hire. They study different players and watch them play multiple games to gauge their talent and skills. If they want to recruit a player, then the scout prepares an offer for them. Some of their other roles may include:
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Creation of basketball strategies
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Estimation of the strengths and weaknesses
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Preparation of its current command
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Visit of basketball matches
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9000
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Creation
How to become an NBA scout
Here are four steps to become a basketball scout:
1. Learn the rules of basketball
To discover talent, it is important to understand how the game works in order to assess the skills of the players, so you may need to take time to learn the rules of the game.
As a basketball scout, you can also create game strategies and analyze other teams' strategies, which may require you to learn the rules. You can start by learning the basics, but over time you may need to know more advanced rules and strategies to be successful. Besides the rules, you can learn how to coach and the history of basketball. To learn the rules, consider playing basketball on your own and practicing some games.
2. Graduate
Depending on the level you work at, earning a degree to become a Scout is not always a requirement, but having a degree can help you get on the field and advance your career. Many college and NBA level scouts have a four-year bachelor's degree. You can specialize in exercise science, sports science, sports management, marketing and sales, or related areas of study. In these specialties, you can take courses such as nutrition, intelligence tactics, sports marketing, or kinesiology. You can also continue your education by obtaining a master's degree.
3. Gain experience
After completing your degree, you can start gaining work experience. You can do this by taking a job or volunteering as a basketball coach or scout. Consider applying for entry level scouting positions. This can be helpful as you may have little professional experience after college. Another option is to work as a part-time scout. This may allow you to gain professional experience without having to settle for a permanent job. You can even work part-time as a volunteer to gain additional experience. You can start by looking for an amateur level of basketball and work your way up.
4. Networking
As you work and gain experience, you can start making connections. Networking is important to building your career as a basketball scout because it can help you get to know many people such as coaches, players, and other scouts. This can help you find new talent and get information about different players. One aspect of the search is getting to know many people so that you can find resources such as colleagues or mentors.
To network, try attending basketball-related events such as conferences, seminars, or workshops. You can even chat at scouting or recruiting events.
NBA Scouting Skills
Here are some skills that a basketball scout can use:
Communication
Communication refers to conveying a message, which requires clear language either orally or in writing. Basketball scouts often use communication when talking to their team, rookies, other scouts, or coaches. For example, they can talk to their team to strategize and train new hires, negotiate incentives, or offer them a job. Basketball scouts can talk to other scouts to discuss different recruiting tactics. They can communicate with coaches to ask questions about their players in order to inform them of intelligence decisions.
Interpersonal Skills
Basketball scouts use interpersonal skills when communicating with their team, recruits or coaches. Interpersonal skills are the ability to interact with others through body language, communication, and understanding verbal and non-verbal cues.
This can mean active listening, where someone shows that they are listening or paying attention to the speaker. Interpersonal skills help Scouts build respectful relationships with others, which can help them find new players.
Adaptability
This skill refers to being flexible or adapting when something new happens. Adaptability can mean the ability to adapt well to changing or unpredictable events and adapt to new circumstances. Basketball scouts often use adaptability while on the job, as scouting is an industry that changes frequently. For example, if a scout's best choice rejects their offer, they can adapt to this change and choose a different recruit or make a new plan. If their recruiting strategies don't seem to be working, they may need to rethink their tactics.
Leadership
Basketball scouts use leadership to make informed decisions about their team and who to hire. They often help decide which players to pick, which can be an important part of building a successful team.
To do this, they need leadership skills to maintain control and make valuable decisions. A successful leader can also help you communicate with potential recruits. Scouts can show that they are strong and reliable leaders, so recruits can feel confident in their team.
Tips for getting on the field
Here are some tips for getting on the field as a basketball scout:
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Watch videos of games. To help you learn about basketball and learn new strategies, consider watching a lot of videos of basketball games. You can learn from staff by strategizing different teams and even learning from other teams' past mistakes.
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Have contacts. This means that you have contact information for many basketball professionals such as coaches, scouts or players. Having contacts can help you attract team members because they know you have connections to the team they want to play for, which can increase your credibility as a scout.
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Keep learning: Because basketball is an evolving industry, it's important that you keep learning so you stay up to date with new information and resources.
This can help you advance your career as you can learn new resources to build and develop your team, which can improve your scouting skills.
It's all about passion. What is it like to work as a professional basketball scout - Sport and Philosophy - Blogs
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I spent five whole days in Las Vegas all alone. And if you think that this is the idea of the perfect vacation, let me stop you right away. Even if I don't know you, I'm sure that five days in Vegas all alone will make anyone rethink their life. Even with friends and family, five days is four full days too long; five days in Sin City all alone is like finding out during a cool party that you were invited by mistake: everyone around is having fun to the fullest, and you, delighted at first, stand aside and reflect on how you got here. I once completely shaved my body out of pure curiosity and spent a whole summer watching one hundred and fifty Chicago Cubs games - and even for me, five days in Las Vegas was a real torture.
Just ten minutes is all it takes to feel like you're wasting your free time and your savings. You won’t get out too much, especially in summer - the temperature in Nevada is quite capable of melting your skin. Unless you are rich and a gambler, after a while you will just sit and idly watch people. Or find yourself playing one-armed bandit at the Hooters Casino on a Wednesday afternoon with octogenarian retirees smoking cigarette after cigarette and looking like they're going to offer you all their savings any second so you can kill them and end their suffering. Or you end up in a karaoke bar where you spend the whole evening trying to decide what annoys you more - warm beer, for some reason the History Channel is on, or a group of divorced girls singing the same song over and over, most likely “Trashy Women ”performed by Confederate Railroad.
And while the scenes I describe are depressing, I happened to spend a couple of days in Vegas with a few absolute lunatics who sank lower than any other Sin City guest.
You see, I signed up for the Pro Scout School, a two-day seminar organized by TPG Sports Group under the slogan "Educating Future Leaders in the Sports Industry." A seminar like this is perhaps the average person's only chance to learn the job of a professional basketball scout for only $300. Thanks to the popularization of advanced statistics and never-before-seen access to all kinds of NBA-related data, the public has never been more aware of professional basketball, but I decided to try to find out who the best basketball talent assessors are.
Although I have a lot of professional basketball experience, I had no idea what to expect. A group of guys whose lives are much more interesting than mine, who get a lot of money for traveling around the world and watching basketball games? I was sure that at the end of the seminar I would want to quit my current job as a journalist and raise all my connections in order to get a job as a scout.
To my deepest surprise, I learned one thing - there is no worse job.
Moreover, only the most desperate and crazy guys are accepted for it - most of the guys who attended the seminar flew to Las Vegas from all over the country, spent a significant amount of money, found out that their dream job was a real crap, and flew home in full certainty that this is what they want to do for the rest of their lives.
It's important to understand one thing: professional basketball scouts don't get the opportunity to travel the world and watch basketball - they have to travel the world and watch basketball. It would seem, what a fine line - but I never thought about it, because I always imagined scouts flying to the most exotic places on the planet to watch future NBA stars. In reality, working as an international scout means flying from Bulgaria to Estonia terribly early in the morning, where you have to watch a six-foot-nine, fifteen-year-old kid and wonder if he will average 0.5 or 2.5 points per game in the NBA in seven years. Then you write a multi-page report about him on the way to Turkmenistan.
Rinse, spit and repeat the procedure almost every day of the year. If you're lucky, one of the guys you used to watch will get to play for your club, and if you're fabulously lucky, he'll score more than ten points in a couple of matches.
If there are several types of scouts, whose roles are very different, but they all have one thing in common - the torment of constant traveling. It is not surprising that this topic was the main one during the seminar at the Pro Scout School. At the beginning of each day, we were shown a slicing of planes, trains, subways, and rush-hour traffic jams, flavored with telling statistics (for example, the average professional scout winds up one hundred thousand miles a year). Virtually every speaker, from Mavericks director of gaming staff Tony Ranzone to Suns general manager Ryan McDonough, began their speech with variations on the theme, "Either you love the road like you love basketball, or this job will kill you." devour." Each of them talked about how difficult it is to stay in good physical shape with such a schedule.
They joked bitterly about how it was impossible to have a family with such a job, and about how the employees of the hotels in which they most often stay sometimes replace their loved ones. Each of them tried to remember the last time he slept in his own bed. They talked about how they have to plan a complex system of traveling months in advance in order to stay within a limited budget. Depending on your role in the organization, you have very specific responsibilities that you must adhere to.
International Scouts
Basketball executives might dispute this, but I think international scouts have the crappiest job in professional basketball. They have to travel thousands of miles, navigate the bureaucracy of different countries, and constantly struggle with the language barrier. Pete Filo, Indiana's international scout and one of the founding members of TPG, cryptically noted in his speech how he "had to learn visually about how work can affect his personal life.
" We were taken aback when one of the speakers brought up the topic of how a crazy schedule can ruin your privacy, and casually added "as Mr. Philo already knows." By that time, it began to seem to me that something terrible had happened in the life of Mr. Philo and he desperately needed the hugs of those around him.
It's not just about the distances you have to travel, but also about the constant culture shock. The same Pete Philo spoke about his network of hundreds of contacts throughout Europe, who help him navigate the new place and serve as his translators, adding that he moves around Western Europe without problems, but refuses to work in Eastern Europe without the help of local friends for "reasons security."
Ranzone, who has a wealth of experience as an international scout, presented my favorite moment of the seminar by talking about how he looked at the seven-foot-nine-inch North Korean player Michael Rea. He had to personally meet with Kim Jong Il and agree on the terms of the "wheat deal" - the leader of North Korea agreed to let the guy go to the NBA in exchange for a load of wheat.
“I missed my flight several dozen times in my life, but I did my best not to miss the flight from North Korea,” he added to general laughter.
Basketball has long been a global sport and several foreign players have become real stars of the Association, but the league is still in the hands of the Americans. Doesn't this make scouts sometimes wonder if their ruined personal life and constant chaos is worth such a meager result? Are they satisfied with all these torments for the sake of the opportunity to find the next Kirill Fesenko? And after all, even if they manage to find a foreign player with the potential of a star, there is no guarantee that it will be their team that will be able to get it; moreover, there is no guarantee that a player will decide to move overseas if he is drafted.
Alas, the costs of international scouting are rarely paid off. That's why the Spurs example is so amazing.
Collegiate Scouts
Probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of NBA scouts is college scouts.
We are all like that in some way - Google "Wiggins Parker Embid", read the comments on any article you find, and try not to shoot yourself. However, the speakers at the Scout School seminar touched upon aspects of the work of a University Scout that few people think of.
New York Knicks director of gaming staff Mark Hughes admitted that he too often fell victim to the herd instinct that is so common in any sports discussion on the Internet. I've always felt that professional scouts don't lend themselves to what people write online, but Hughes admitted that scanning as many articles as possible about the players he plans to review in order to gather as much public information about them as possible is part of his job. His task is to formulate his own opinion about a certain player, which becomes virtually impossible when you have to digest so many other people's opinions.
Professional scouts' stories about how they do their job was a real highlight of the program. The so-called scouting mechanics - what exactly are they trying to see in the player, where exactly do they sit during matches, do they take notes during the game or put it off for later? Most of the speakers shared the same approach to business - they arrive at the gym as early as possible in order to make sure that the player they are interested in is training before the start of the match; they sit as close as possible to the site in order to see all the details of the guy's behavior; and they write reports after the match, when they put all the details into a single picture.
They also often focus all their attention on one particular player and do not take their eyes off him throughout the evening, even when he leaves the game as a substitute. “Of course, players go out of their way when they have the ball in their hands or when they are defending against an opponent with the ball, but we are interested in the behavior of the players in those moments when they are not the center of everyone's attention,” Hughes explained.
Scouting at the student level has always been complicated by the phenomenon of comet players flashing for one year and then not showing anything outstanding. It doesn't make it any easier to ban NBA scouts from attending high school games, summer camps, and AAU-sponsored events, in place since 2005, and providing the curious with an eight to nine-month window to make decisions that affect millions of dollars and the fate of franchises for several years ahead. Is it any wonder that they try to digest every article about the subject they are interested in and do not take their eyes off them during matches?
Pro Player Scouts
Before the TPG workshop, I had no idea there were scouts whose job it was to evaluate the talents of NBA and D-League players.
Before that, it seemed to me that the general managers decide who to trade or who to sign, after watching the guy who is interfering with them in matches against their team. This is possible, but in such cases, the general manager has a group of scouts at hand, ready to offer their opinion on literally every player in American professional basketball.
Wance Catlin, director of game personnel at Indiana, explained how hard it can be to get the general manager's attention, especially when he already has an established opinion about most NBA players. There's a huge difference between talking about a Lithuanian who hit 15 rebounds in a European Junior Championship final or a Towson University reserve point guard who could be a solid role player and talking about Matt Barnes or JR Smith. What if your opinion of a certain player is radically different from the opinion of the general manager - will he have doubts about your qualifications? Scouts of professional players have to constantly find themselves in the minority when discussing candidates for a trade or signing.
Advanced Scouting
“I have held the vast majority of positions in professional basketball, and being an advanced scout is the hardest job,” says Fran Frascillo, one of the organizers of the event, thus expressing the unanimous opinion of the creators Pro Scout School. The whole complexity of this work lies in the concentration on the game patterns of the opposing team; Comparing basic scouting to advanced scouting is like comparing high school to a PhD in higher mathematics. The job of an advanced scout is to spend endless hours parsing combinations, analyzing trends, and, in fact, discarding everything that we love about basketball so much.
When an ordinary fan sees an alley-oop, he drops his jaw, pops his eyes and frantically tweets without releasing his caps lock. When a regular scout happens to witness a moment like this, he notes the athleticism and energy of the player who completed the combo with a savory dunk. When an advanced scout examines the same moment, he simply pokes his head in his notebook and writes “The screen on the weak side delayed the backing player, which allowed Player A to get out from behind the screen at the top of the three-point line and move towards Player B, who made a just-in-time went into the back wicket, received a pass from above and scored two points.
When I learned about the existence of advanced scouting, I honestly fell into a stupor. The need to study opponents is undeniable, but don't NBA teams know each other by heart? Do the Grizzlies have to trust some outsider on the street who is on the other side of the country learning what their Los Angeles rivals prefer to play? Yes, according to Minnesota advanced scout Pat Zipfel, several teams in the NBA hire one-night scouts. Instead of sending the same person to 150+ matches across the country (a quota that Zipfel met last season), they hire several guys, each in charge of a specific segment on the map and getting paid for each viewed them a game. “So if you already have a full-time teaching job and you are not interested in scouting full-time, but have a desire to earn money, you can moonlight as an advanced scout a couple of nights a week,” summed up Zipfel.
Are you saying Gregg Popovich hires high school teachers to tell him which Heat combinations he used against Boston? Are you seriously?
The workshop culminated in a trip to the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Las Vegas, where we had the opportunity to watch an NBA Summer League game and put into practice what we learned about scouting during the workshop.
During the match, we had a chance to try on the role of an advanced scout and understand that everything is not so bad if you know what to look for. In his presentation, Zipfel noted a number of basic combinations, various variations of which beat all NBA teams, and which we were now trying to determine in the match unfolding in front of us. As Zipfel noted, if you stop fixating your attention on the ball and try to take in the whole picture, it's pretty easy to predict how the action will unfold on the floor.
On the one hand, you can see a lot without focusing on the ball; watching the match from the point of view of a scout turned out to be an interesting experiment. On the other hand, you will not envy them. I like to watch the ball - after all, the most interesting events taking place on the court are connected with it. I like to look around at the cheerleaders. Sometimes I like to watch the reaction of the bench to what is happening. I love watching the arena staff throw free shirts into the stands and I love pushing seven year olds away in an attempt to get one.
There are so many interesting things going on during a basketball game that the constant concentration on the big picture or the isolation of one player is likened to replacing Bloody Mary with a glass of vodka with a piece of celery.
Results
NBA scouts travel up to 250 days a year. They struggle to balance work and family. They have to spend endless hours playing lousy basketball in the hope that one of these idols will become a decent player. Being an advanced scout means you have to study every second of Philadelphia basketball for weeks on end to figure out exactly what angle Nerrens Noel sets the screen at the top of the trapezoid; then write a ten-page report about it between classes because you happen to be a middle school teacher in some remote place and try not to cry when the defense of the team you work for decides to give a damn about your references and loses the match poor Philadelphians. The job of a scout is a thankless job that will significantly shorten your life span, but it will allow you to put on an NBA t-shirt during a class reunion.
“At least they make good money,” you thought, and you have every reason to believe so – ProScoutSchool has a lot more people enrolled than the NBA needs at the moment; talking about a position that is very difficult to get into, in a league that earns billions of dollars; scouts are sure to swim in money.
I deliberately avoided talking about work compensation in order to save the worst for last. According to official figures, the average salary for an NBA scout is $65,000 a year. I know, I know - that's twice the average annual income in the country, and many would kill for the opportunity to earn that much money. However, having learned what tests scouts have to go through year after year, I got the feeling that this amount is missing at least one more zero at the end. Moreover - as Kathleen explained, if you want to break into this business, you need to be willing to work for free for at least the first couple of years. I wonder how he managed to keep his cool while saying this phrase.
