Recruiting Tips

Making a University Team

Players often ask me what they should be doing to improve their chances of making a university team. Obviously, with regard to skills, there is no one answer to the question. However, aside from your skills, there are a couple of things that you can do to enhance your opportunity to play after high school.

First, let your own coaches know that you hope to continue your playing career in college or university. They are the best people to help you with the technical aspects of your game.

Secondly, contact the coach at the universities in which you may be interested. It is good to do this when you are in Grade 10 or 11 so that the university coaches have an opportunity to see you over a longer period of time.

Thirdly, take every opportunity you can to play in the presence of those coaches. Whether it be by playing in Club ball, provincial programs, city leagues or open gyms, allow those coaches to see you play as much as possible. Why is this so important? Coaches are looking for signs of capability -- signs that you can do a variety of skills. The more a coach sees you, the more likely they will see the diversity of your capabilities. Even if you do not do a particular skill well all the time, if a coach sees you do it once, s/he is more likely to make the assessment that you are capable of the skill - it just may need some work. Conversely, if the coach does not see you play that often, you may not have the opportunity to display all of your talents.

When it comes to assessment time for the coach, a mark on a page indicating that a player has demonstrated a particular skill (but may need work) is almost always rated higher than a player that does not have a comment at all on a particular skill. I am not saying that is right or wrong, but I believe that to be the perception. Therefore, get out and play - show your stuff!!

Serious about Playing for Queen's

So, you are serious about attending Queen's and would like to play basketball....what to do next? Let's back up a bit and set the stage. I receive, on average, 60 - 70 letters a year requesting information on the women's basketball program. I reply to each one, forwarding an information package and adding their name to a mailing list. This list is used to distribute the periodic Newsletters that I write over the course of the year. Of the 60-70 people requesting information, only 15-20 will actually decide Queen's University and the basketball program is really what they want to do. If you are in this group, there are some important steps you should take.

Once you have done some background research on Queen's and the basketball program, and have now narrowed your university choices down to a few schools: (Timeframe - by November of your final year of high school)

1. Contact me directly and let me know that Queen's is seriously being considered
2. Plan to visit the campus (if possible) - I would like to meet with you while on campus
3. Inform me of any opportunity I may have to see you play (recognize our conflicting schedules may prevent my attendance)
4. Have one of your games videotaped (if possible) and forward it to me (a full game tape is preferable to a highlight tape)

With all this information, my goal is to give you an honest opinion of your chances/opportunities with the women's basketball program. Basically there are three ways I respond:

1. I think there is a great opportunity for you to contribute to the Queen's basketball program
2. Clearly you have the talent to play university basketball, but it is unclear at this time whether a position is available
3. At this particular time in our program, chances are slim that there will be an opening in your position

Coaches and players alike, prefer scenario (a). Most players fall into category (b), which may be the most frustrating for both parties. Category (c), while not desirable, at least it allows people to make adjustments to their plans, if so desired.

What you should recognize from this article, is that recruiting is a "two-way street." Given the number of people that request information about our program, hopefully you can see the need to take some initiative in helping me to become fully aware of your talents and intentions.

One final thought: each year, with the graduation of current varsity players, Queen's may be looking for 1-4 recruits. There are certainly more university calibre first-year players attending Queen's each fall than that. I liken it a little to a sold out movie at the theatre - it is not that we don't want you to the see the movie, we have just run out of seats.

Dave