helping your kid deal with the politics of school sports

[kunk75]

my son was cut from jv this week as a 9th grader. he's been starting for a high level aau program for years and has been like a 21/8 point guard with good defense for years. we live in a very political district on long island and the feedback i got from the coach doesn't jive and doesn't even jive with what other coaches at the school haver told me. said aau is different my son doesn't shoot mid range, too many 3s, slashes and FTs not enough mid range shots. he is devastated and many of the parents were surprised that others made it over him. he's not sure he wants to stay here, if anything will change or if he should go play at one of the catholic schools that wanted him. here, it seems the best kids rarely make the teams.

any advice? i played baseball and coach basketball but never played competitively.

[west_tip]

here, it seems the best kids rarely make the teams.

I sympathize with you but to give you a coaches perspective as a high school varsity soccer coach I deal with a lot of delusional parents who think little Timmy is all world, a future pro.

If kids are as good as parents think they are then why are they cut? Are you telling me that coaches cut good players in favor of lesser talents to undermine their chances of winning? Doesn't make sense.

[kunk75]

I sympathize with you but to give you a coaches perspective as a high school varsity soccer coach I deal with a lot of delusional parents who think little Timmy is all world, a future pro.

If kids are as good as parents think they are then why are they cut? Are you telling me that coaches cut good players in favor of lesser talents to undermine their chances of winning? Doesn't make sense.

i would not say that ordinarily, he's on varsity hurdles and high jump since 8th grade and believe me, he's not the next jordan but if d1 catholics showed interest why wouldn't a d3 public? also, this is apparently a well know issue in the district. a girl who was cut from jv transferred in season to a catholic school and went on to play d1 and in europe. the team hasn't won anything in about 10 years seems predicated on booster club participation sometimes here.

[west_tip]

i would not say that ordinarily, he's on varsity hurdles and high jump since 8th grade and believe me, he's not the next jordan but if d1 catholics showed interest why wouldn't a d3 public? also, this is apparently a well know issue in the district. a girl who was cut from jv transferred in season to a catholic school and went on to play d1 and in europe. the team hasn't won anything in about 10 years seems predicated on booster club participation sometimes here.

Fair enough kunk.

This could prove to be an interesting topic for debate and discussion, would you mind answering a few questions I have so I can better gauge the situation you and your son are in?

1. Did you get a chance to watch the kids on the JV squad so you could rate and gauge your sons abilities relative to theirs?
2. Was it that your son was not playing within the boundaries of what the coach wants from his PG's, ie was he selfish, does he shoot too much?
3. Is he undersized? I know sometimes coaches (in all sports) are leery of kids who look like they are too small for the competition.
4. What are the demographics of the school your son attends and the neighborhood where you live? Income, race, etc.
5. How feasible would it be for your son to attend the D1 Catholic schools that have in interest in your son?
6. How well connected are you and your family with the school, administration, coaching staff etc. Ie do you have an older son that went to the school?

[kunk75]

thanks good to hear from a coach please see below


Fair enough kunk.

This could prove to be an interesting topic for debate and discussion, would you mind answering a few questions I have so I can better gauge the situation you and your son are in?

1. Did you get a chance to watch the kids on the JV squad so you could rate and gauge your sons abilities relative to theirs? yes, the 10th graders are solid but they took 4 9th graders and even the girls varsity coach saw me on the street and said he could not imagine he wasn't 1 or 2 pick among 9th graders. at open gym and tryouts many of the varsity players asked him to run point for their scrimmages

2. Was it that your son was not playing within the boundaries of what the coach wants from his PG's, ie was he selfish, does he shoot too much? coach told me he was a very good passer with solid court vision. in all honesty he probably looks to drive first but creates and passes as well

3. Is he undersized? I know sometimes coaches (in all sports) are leery of kids who look like they are too small for the competition. he's 5'7, the 9th grader they took is 4'11.

4. What are the demographics of the school your son attends and the neighborhood where you live? Income, race, etc. it's one of the richest districts in the country, probably 5 latinos and 3 african americans in the high school. he plays aau out of brooklyn/queens for this reason

5. How feasible would it be for your son to attend the D1 Catholic schools that have in interest in your son? 2 of the better programs know him through aau and expressed interest he just wasn't sure he wanted to go with a catholic school and leave his friends.

6. How well connected are you and your family with the school, administration, coaching staff etc. Ie do you have an older son that went to the school? no all the kids selected had brothers who played and we aren't heavily involved in the school or school politics. there lies the rub. i am running for the school board this year.

[kunk75]

sorry and to clarify, we are white but he has mostly played with african american kids historically. someone made a comment his game is very "urban"

[west_tip]

1. Yes, the 10th graders are solid but they took 4 9th graders and even the girls varsity coach saw me on the street and said he could not imagine he wasn't 1 or 2 pick among 9th graders. at open gym and tryouts many of the varsity players asked him to run point for their scrimmages

3. Is he undersized? I know sometimes coaches (in all sports) are leery of kids who look like they are too small for the competition. he's 5'7, the 9th grader they took is 4'11.

6. How well connected are you and your family with the school, administration, coaching staff etc. Ie do you have an older son that went to the school? no all the kids selected had brothers who played and we aren't heavily involved in the school or school politics. there lies the rub. i am running for the school board this year.

As I kinda suspected it's the old "its not what you know, its who you know" bs.

I've never coached basketball but having only 4 freshman (ie. less than a starting 5) on the JV squad seems inappropriate. As a rule of thumb I would think you would want about 50% of the JV squad to be freshman so they get plenty of minutes before they are sophomores and the transition from one year to the next is seamless.

What I would suggest you do (I think you may have done already) is approach the coach and tell him your son is disappointed not to have made the squad but wants to know what specifically he needs to work on to make the team next year. Ask him straight up if his son is in his plans for next year, is he likely to get playing time, does he rate him etc? If he seems enthusiastic about your kid and wants to keep him in the fold then it will be reflected in your conversation with him. If he is lukewarm at best then you know its time to look into those Catholic schools you talked about because there's no sense in hanging around to go through the same crap in a years time.

[kunk75]

thanks, i think that's excellent advice. i spoke to the coach. it's interesting he told my son he needs to go to his left more and plays strong d while the coach told me that he is good with both hands but had trouble getting his own shot (he is not a catch and shoot player so i was confused by this) and he didn't play sound defense. he also spoke to my son without having any notes or anything prepared.
doesn't bode well for the future IMO.

[kunk75]

i also failed to mention one spot is reserved for an injured kid who will have made the team with no tryout.

[DeuceWallaces]

I'd probably be more concerned about the education my son is getting at these schools; not playing time.

[kunk75]

academically it is excellent, one of the 50 best in the US.

[west_tip]

I'd probably be more concerned about the education my son is getting at these schools; not playing time.

Well, yeah, goes without saying really and its not as if the two are mutually exclusive.

[DeuceWallaces]

Well, yeah, goes without saying really and its not as if the two are mutually exclusive.

Considering it wasn't brought up once, I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume it's going without being said.

[west_tip]

Considering it wasn't brought up once, I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume it's going without being said.

The conversation pertained specifically to kunk's kid being cut from his JV team. I'm sure if there were any specific academic concerns he would have raised them and asked for feedback.

[unbreakable]

i would say fukk the coach and transfer ASAP to a rival school so your son can kick their ass

[HurricaneKid]

I coached AAU for 3 years when my once proud Alma Mater had fallen on hard times. After 3 years I really only had a few kids that I thought would contribute at the next level. But one I had no question about. I got a frantic call from his mom out of the blue at the start of the following season. He had not only been cut from a team that didn't have 3 players better than him but the coach sat him down to explain that for some of the other kids basketball meant more and that for that reason he was going to take them. Kid took it really well. Said "how can you want to play for a coach that doesnt even care to have the best players on the TEAM. What else would he be compromising on? He handled it better than I am 5+ years later. I volunteered for years years to develop the kids and they were cut because a poor kid might not drop out of school if he makes the team?

It's insane to me how many ridiculous things happen to the kids because of the coaches and parents

[Burgz V2]

let him play at another school. I wouldn't want your son to lose a year of HS ball because some coach has a different basketball philosophy than what he is used to. Not your son's fault. I also coach basketball and have played at various levels including professionally, and I'll say this in defense of the coach. If the coach said your son is not the player he's looking for, then that means your son did a poor job showing the coach that he has the skill set necessary for the team he is putting together. Your son has to do a better job adapting to the needs of the coach, regardless of how prolific a player he is elsewhere. You will always encounter coaches with differing philosophies about basketball, but as a player you have to be able to adapt.

That being said, the coach's excuse is pretty weak. If your son is as good as you say, I'm not sure why he's not even on the bench, or doesn't feel your son is good enough to work with and develop into the player he likes.

If I were you i wouldn't waste your time. When I was in the ninth grade I went to a school I knew for sure I would make the team, because the team all my friends played for liked tall and super athletic guys and had yet to hit my growth spurt. By grade 11 I had grown about 8 inches and was dunking with ease, and we would mop the floor with that team everytime we played. Don't be afraid to send your son to another school, as long as the academics are good at that school

[Rake2204]

Interesting topic. Mostly good stuff so far.
my son was cut from jv this week as a 9th grader. he's been starting for a high level aau program for years and has been like a 21/8 point guard with good defense for years. we live in a very political district on long island and the feedback i got from the coach doesn't jive and doesn't even jive with what other coaches at the school haver told me. said aau is different my son doesn't shoot mid range, too many 3s, slashes and FTs not enough mid range shots. he is devastated and many of the parents were surprised that others made it over him. he's not sure he wants to stay here, if anything will change or if he should go play at one of the catholic schools that wanted him. here, it seems the best kids rarely make the teams.

any advice? i played baseball and coach basketball but never played competitively.It's very, very tough to come to a certain conclusion without knowing the situation first hand. Still, I will say, AAU has often not served as a good reference piece for how good a player may be in our area. I've coached a number of players who dominated the up-and-down freewheeling AAU circuit but struggled a little with all that was necessary and required during the real season (more complicated schemes, more grinding).

From the information provided, it seems your son may be a solid ballplayer but again, it's tough to tell for sure. 21/8 are darn solid numbers if they're really at that level though, particularly in middle school games which tend to run at slightly slower paces with a lower amount of points scored.

In fact, if he's dropping 21/8 and still finding himself to be a borderline-making-the-team player, it kind of makes me wonder about the defensive structure within his AAU program. Namely, and I ask respectfully, was there any D? If not, that could point to one of the potential issues facing those players as they make the move to high school systems.
thanks, i think that's excellent advice. i spoke to the coach. it's interesting he told my son he needs to go to his left more and plays strong d while the coach told me that he is good with both hands but had trouble getting his own shot (he is not a catch and shoot player so i was confused by this) and he didn't play sound defense. he also spoke to my son without having any notes or anything prepared.
doesn't bode well for the future IMO.If I can chime in again from a coach's perspective, sometimes I cut players because I just don't think they have it - at least in comparison to who else may be trying out alongside them.

I do not always necessarily have a written response at the ready for the kids I must let go. Usually, on the day of cuts, I tried to meet with each player (those who made it and those who didn't) and at that point I'd be prepared to offer some information to the ones I let go. But if I was asked by the player or the parent randomly, I'm not sure I'd always be ready to have a solid response. It might kind of put me on the spot, particularly with a parent.

In short, it might be worth taking his words with a grain of salt, particularly if he was one of many cut.

Sidenote: there is no Freshman team at your school, correct? In my area, we have three high school teams: Freshman, JV, then Varsity. The benefit of having all three is it doesn't promote such a tight squeeze amongst the newcomers and those who already have a year of high school experience. Usually the only 9th graders we bring up to JV are those with some legit talent, as opposed to JV being a catch-all for everyone. That's a bummer.

[kunk75]

thanks for taking the time. no frosh team unfortunately. he is staying put this year and exploring schools for next year. One game is not everything but it was funny, he played a rec league charity game against the jv starting point last week and dropped 41 on him and held the kid to 6 points and 2 assists. :)

his aau coach is big on defense and said my son is an above-average defender. not the best but he plays him in crunch time in tight games all the time.

the high school coach gave inconsistent feedback to my son and I which was somewhat troubling. the play very slow and both his aau coach and the high school coach said my son plays really fast (his old team was really run and gun, no plays just ran motion with one in the post). the varsity coach likes him a lot as a player and said he needs to slow it down a bit as he is really effective but 90 mph all the time on both ends and therefore sometimes over plays on d. FWIW, there's a kid in 8th grade playing on a 10th/11th grade aau team who didn't make the team but they took 2 other 8th graders who are far weaker. I notice some of the kids who made it and their parents are always up the coaches ass and my son can be tough to coach as he is very intense and treats every possession like it's do or die and has no interest in off-the-court socialization but is a really good general running the point.


Interesting topic. Mostly good stuff so far. It's very, very tough to come to a certain conclusion without knowing the situation first hand. Still, I will say, AAU has often not served as a good reference piece for how good a player may be in our area. I've coached a number of players who dominated the up-and-down freewheeling AAU circuit but struggled a little with all that was necessary and required during the real season (more complicated schemes, more grinding).

From the information provided, it seems your son may be a solid ballplayer but again, it's tough to tell for sure. 21/8 are darn solid numbers if they're really at that level though, particularly in middle school games which tend to run at slightly slower paces with a lower amount of points scored.

In fact, if he's dropping 21/8 and still finding himself to be a borderline-making-the-team player, it kind of makes me wonder about the defensive structure within his AAU program. Namely, and I ask respectfully, was there any D? If not, that could point to one of the potential issues facing those players as they make the move to high school systems.If I can chime in again from a coach's perspective, sometimes I cut players because I just don't think they have it - at least in comparison to who else may be trying out alongside them.

I do not always necessarily have a written response at the ready for the kids I must let go. Usually, on the day of cuts, I tried to meet with each player (those who made it and those who didn't) and at that point I'd be prepared to offer some information to the ones I let go. But if I was asked by the player or the parent randomly, I'm not sure I'd always be ready to have a solid response. It might kind of put me on the spot, particularly with a parent.

In short, it might be worth taking his words with a grain of salt, particularly if he was one of many cut.

Sidenote: there is no Freshman team at your school, correct? In my area, we have three high school teams: Freshman, JV, then Varsity. The benefit of having all three is it doesn't promote such a tight squeeze amongst the newcomers and those who already have a year of high school experience. Usually the only 9th graders we bring up to JV are those with some legit talent, as opposed to JV being a catch-all for everyone. That's a bummer.

[kunk75]

^sorry to clarify he is very social, i mean he's not looking to be coach's pet

[Rake2204]

thanks for taking the time. no frosh team unfortunately. he is staying put this year and exploring schools for next year. One game is not everything but it was funny, he played a rec league charity game against the jv starting point last week and dropped 41 on him and held the kid to 6 points and 2 assists. :)

his aau coach is big on defense and said my son is an above-average defender. not the best but he plays him in crunch time in tight games all the time.

the high school coach gave inconsistent feedback to my son and I which was somewhat troubling. the play very slow and both his aau coach and the high school coach said my son plays really fast (his old team was really run and gun, no plays just ran motion with one in the post). the varsity coach likes him a lot as a player and said he needs to slow it down a bit as he is really effective but 90 mph all the time on both ends and therefore sometimes over plays on d. FWIW, there's a kid in 8th grade playing on a 10th/11th grade aau team who didn't make the team but they took 2 other 8th graders who are far weaker. I notice some of the kids who made it and their parents are always up the coaches ass and my son can be tough to coach as he is very intense and treats every possession like it's do or die and has no interest in off-the-court socialization but is a really good general running the point.If your son is truly getting the raw end of the deal here, that's a huge bummer and I'm sorry you guys have to deal with stuff like this.

On the other side, I mean this with absolutely zero intention toward you directly - as I do not know you and from what I've seen so far, you've seemed very polite - but I think my years of coaching and teaching have turned me into a skeptic. For every case where I hear a parent talk about their child and his skills in the manner you do, it seems there's an 85% chance the parent is heavily blinded by bias and unwilling to see what could be legitimate reasons behind the decisions made.

Again, to be clear, your case sounds pretty good (in terms of your kid likely getting a raw deal) but then, most parents who've disagreed with their sons getting cut (or not getting enough shots) tend to be able to create web of reasoning to get others to support their disdain.

In fact, my own father, who I consider very reasonable, logical, and generally able to set aside bias, is going through this right now. My youngest brother, a junior, did not make his varsity team. My dad is convinced it was silly for the varsity to keep two seniors who were inferior to my brother skill-wise.

However, he has a tough time accepting the notion that the only reason those two seniors made the team is because they opened a 13th and 14th slot on the roster just to reward their years of commitment (hitting every open gym, every camp, every workout). Meanwhile, my brother chose to play football this season and missed the majority of team basketball workouts. He likely would not have made the squad regardless of what happened to those two seniors, but it's tough for family to come to terms with that.

Regardless, you could be very right in this case and if it is so, I'm sorry to hear about how the system has wronged your family (and I hate that awful systems exist in the first place). I'd personally have a tough time reasoning a move to another school just so my kid could possibly play basketball - but that's just me.

Sidenote, are there team functions throughout the year (open gym, summer ball, fall league) that he can try to associate with, to gain familiarity with everyone within the program? I will say, call it bias or whatever you want, but if I have a kid who's at my open gyms all year - I have a much, much greater grasp on who he is and what he can do compared to someone not as associated with our program who's just trying to prove himself in the small window of a tryout.

Maybe you already mentioned that stuff. If so, I apologize.

[kunk75]

no need to apologize and i greatly appreciate the thoughtful responses. I absolutely agree with a lot of what you said. he participate in open gym and the varsity coach used to ask his name every day. This is not the first I heard of the JV team having some very strange cuts/makes. I am acutely aware of things he must work on but many of the kids chosen have serious deficiencies as well. If this was a district where there were even 10-12 talented JV level players I could see it. I went to archbishop molly which was d1; our school is d3 and his aau team is all d1 jv kids. Something just doesn't jive. We live in a very wealthy and political district where money talks and well, you you know how it goes.

That said he will play for the varsity coaches tourney team and attend all the open gyms; if this is the worst thing that happens to him, god bless. I hope it just drives him to leave no doubt in anyone's mind. I had about 10 parents tell me their kids were more upset about my son being cut because it means their kids have no shot in hell. I think I mentioned this but even the varsity coach asked why he wasn't at practice; when he told him he was cut he was incredulous.

I see it in inverse too; coaches faun over my youngest because he's tall, long and extremely skilled but his game drives me nuts, he is near uncoachable and cannot play well off the ball yet he makes every travel team and gets more minutes than any of the other kids. There were 5 aau kids fighting over him and I don't even want to coach him on CYO.

[Rake2204]

no need to apologize and i greatly appreciate the thoughtful responses. I absolutely agree with a lot of what you said. he participate in open gym and the varsity coach used to ask his name every day. This is not the first I heard of the JV team having some very strange cuts/makes. I am acutely aware of things he must work on but many of the kids chosen have serious deficiencies as well. If this was a district where there were even 10-12 talented JV level players I could see it. I went to archbishop molly which was d1; our school is d3 and his aau team is all d1 jv kids. Something just doesn't jive. We live in a very wealthy and political district where money talks and well, you you know how it goes.

That said he will play for the varsity coaches tourney team and attend all the open gyms; if this is the worst thing that happens to him, god bless. I hope it just drives him to leave no doubt in anyone's mind. I had about 10 parents tell me their kids were more upset about my son being cut because it means their kids have no shot in hell. I think I mentioned this but even the varsity coach asked why he wasn't at practice; when he told him he was cut he was incredulous.

I see it in inverse too; coaches faun over my youngest because he's tall, long and extremely skilled but his game drives me nuts, he is near uncoachable and cannot play well off the ball yet he makes every travel team and gets more minutes than any of the other kids. There were 5 aau kids fighting over him and I don't even want to coach him on CYO.Sounds like a tough situation, man. I know every team, region, and state tends to operate differently when it comes to high school ball, but I was pretty surprised to read that the varsity coach didn't know he was cut.

Amongst the programs with which I've been associated, all coaches (Freshmen, JV, Varsity) gathered and decided who was staying and going as a group. That seemed to help prevent the situations you seem to be facing here. If a Freshmen or JV coach hadn't been around to see a particular player play, that's where another member of the staff could step up and say, "Yeah, he's been with me all year. He belongs on this team." Bummer that the decisions seemed to be independent of one another.

[kunk75]

yes, indeed, and this years jv starting 5 features 3 that were cut last year :/

[kunk75]

quick update here.

in a game the other day, my son went for 38/10/10 on 14-18 with 8 threes, 2 blocks and 2 steals. opposing coach comes up after game, says one of best performances he's seen at any level/grade, yada yada. turns out he is coach of one of the biggest catholic schools here and wants my son to come work out with the team and look into transferring, said local coach must be insane to have not scooped him up. i guess we will get a happy ending, maybe everything happens for a reason.

[Rake2204]

quick update here.

in a game the other day, my son went for 38/10/10 on 14-18 with 8 threes, 2 blocks and 2 steals. opposing coach comes up after game, says one of best performances he's seen at any level/grade, yada yada. turns out he is coach of one of the biggest catholic schools here and wants my son to come work out with the team and look into transferring, said local coach must be insane to have not scooped him up. i guess we will get a happy ending, maybe everything happens for a reason.Wait, what? Pardon me if I sound skeptical, but 1) Who was this game against? 2) Who kept the stats? and 3) Any player who can pretty much drop a 40 point triple double on legitimate competition while missing just four shots (and hitting 8 threes) should never, ever, ever, have a chance of ever not making a team.

Even with the most talented players I ever coached playing against the most over-matched competition, I've never seen an 8th or 9th grade small guard drop a 40 point triple double while making nearly every shot... only to get cut from his team. Heck, average scores for entire freshman teams often don't reach much higher than 40.

Something is amiss here...

[kunk75]

there's an official scorekeeper (two books, one for each team) and it was against a relatively competitive team, he has a workout at archbishop molly too this week. he was being asked about catholic school in 7th and 8th grade but we decided against it, should have gone that route in the first place. better late than never. the ref does catholic high school and low level college games and said it was one of the best performances he'd seen at any level he has ref'd. he pretty regularly goes for 20-25 and 7-10 assists, the rebounds were unusual

[kunk75]

yes and i tried to explain in the OP what was amiss. one of the others who got cut a few years ago is playing for LuHI now who are nationally ranked. this school district is f'd up, all political. someone explained to me that since they aren't good anyway, they just take who they know and whose parents they know.


Wait, what? Pardon me if I sound skeptical, but 1) Who was this game against? 2) Who kept the stats? and 3) Any player who can pretty much drop a 40 point triple double on legitimate competition while missing just four shots (and hitting 8 threes) should never, ever, ever, have a chance of ever not making a team.

Even with the most talented players I ever coached playing against the most over-matched competition, I've never seen an 8th or 9th grade small guard drop a 40 point triple double while making nearly every shot... only to get cut from his team. Heck, average scores for entire freshman teams often don't reach much higher than 40.

Something is amiss here...

[kunk75]

he was the best on the floor but it was against 2 freshman team players from another school. my son's team isn't very good; he scored 38 of their 53 total points. the coach thought he also showed good leadership as he directed his teammates around and told them where and when to cut. regardless, i agree, there aren't a lot of people who can score near 40 on 5th graders, let alone other 9th graders.

[sundizz]

Do you have any youtube video you could post of your kid playing? The level he is at sounds suspect - you know as internet frenz we are all disbelievers.

I coached hoops etc and it is pretty rare for a kid to be THAT good and ever get cut from a team. I would assume he's got great handles, poise and shooting to be able to drop that sort of a gem of a statline.

[ThickassGlasses]

Judging by what you're saying, and I mean this in no disrespectful way, I just don't see how it can be true and the kid still got cut from a JV team. It makes no sense from a number of sides...

1) Even playing against just other freshmen, dropping an average of 28 points should be enough to get you a bench spot on the varsity team, let alone a spot on the JV team

2) A 38 point triple double with that kind of efficiency is rarely had by a guard at this age, just being able to do that against any competition.

3) The Varsity coach didn't know a player that he liked and is on his AAU team got cut from the JV team?


Originally I was going to suggest that the coach thinks your kid was too set in his ways/style of play and wouldn't be a good fit for his team. But the kind of talent that he seems to have? You make exceptions for that.

[FreezingTsmoove]

Instead of complaining like a little bitch why dont you wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning and train with him at the gym or the park. No excuses

[kunk75]

he's going to catholic school on a scholarship next year. thanks for the advice genius but he's in the gym every day at 6. hard to take any advice for someone who roots for the jets

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Doesn't really apply to what you are dealing with, but I was listening to a podcast interview of a father of top 10 kid in this 2015 class and he spoke about making sure he had the academic stuff straight foremost when preparing his kid for what was to come (recruitments, aau, etc). That and how on court and off the court behavior is a big deal. Not just the kid not being an asshole during the game, but the parents as well. In the stands and in social media, it's all being stalked by college programs.

I am reminded of Marvin Williams' recruitment at UNC. The story goes Roy was at one of his high school games to scout him. Marvin had a big game, like 40+, but he fouls out and what Marvin does as he walks to the bench is grab 5 cups of water and he brought the cups to his teammates going back into the game. That's what sold Roy to go all-in for him.

Kind of obvious things but food for thought, ya know.

[FreezingTsmoove]

he's going to catholic school on a scholarship next year. thanks for the advice genius but he's in the gym every day at 6. hard to take any advice for someone who roots for the jets

Boi you the father whos son cant even make the squad when he's at the gym everyday at 6 :lol :lol and you wanna take shots at me :roll:

I made my ball team all 4 years of HS and all I did was play games afterschool :facepalm

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Long Island ball is tough... Good amount of NBA talent has come from there too, I know certain teams on Long Island has some legitimate powerhouse teams compared to all of NY. Nearly every high school has a good team to be honest. So I wouldn't say your son should be too discouraged. I knew of great basketball players in high school in LI who couldn't start on their teams all 4 years but were very talented players nonetheless.

Two names come to mind for LI basketball.
Old school: Julius Erving (went to high school to arguably the only considered "ghetto" neighborhood in all of LI, lol... Busta Rhymes went here and couple other famous people).
New school: Tobias Harris

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of other pros currently and in the past who are from LI.

[HurricaneKid]

So many non-believers. I have no idea how much is true and I never would have thought stuff like this actually happens but after coaching for 3 years I swear to you all it happens all the time. And when it happens to your kid it is crushing.

GL OP. I hate to see athletics cloud academic issues. But he might be better off in a new situation.

[kunk75]

thanks man. he will be on varsity as a sophomore next year and i think he will be much happier in the catholic school. it's also a very good academic school like our current school.

his aau coach is a public school varsity coach and confirmed this stuff indeed happens all the time.

[kunk75]

judging by the way you type i am going to guess your academic career didn't extend beyond high school.


Boi you the father whos son cant even make the squad when he's at the gym everyday at 6 :lol :lol and you wanna take shots at me :roll:

I made my ball team all 4 years of HS and all I did was play games afterschool :facepalm

[kunk75]

correction, he was not on the varsity coach's aau team; he is on another coach's aau team.

also, i saw the jv coach at a tournament and he said he indeed thinks he made a big mistake not taking him but said he thought my son was pretty salty and seems to take the game too seriously :/ said he'd be happy to have him next year but too late for that now.


Judging by what you're saying, and I mean this in no disrespectful way, I just don't see how it can be true and the kid still got cut from a JV team. It makes no sense from a number of sides...

1) Even playing against just other freshmen, dropping an average of 28 points should be enough to get you a bench spot on the varsity team, let alone a spot on the JV team

2) A 38 point triple double with that kind of efficiency is rarely had by a guard at this age, just being able to do that against any competition.

3) The Varsity coach didn't know a player that he liked and is on his AAU team got cut from the JV team?


Originally I was going to suggest that the coach thinks your kid was too set in his ways/style of play and wouldn't be a good fit for his team. But the kind of talent that he seems to have? You make exceptions for that.

[HurricaneKid]

My nephew is dealing with some of this now. He was by far the best player within a grade level in either direction. Spends his entire summer travelling for AAU and starts for a top 10 national team but the varsity coach has been alarmingly obtuse in several shocking areas. Everyone else on his AAU team plays varsity for their schools and is starting to get scholarship offers and the varsity coach at his school has said in no uncertain terms he isn't interested in bringing up Frosh and Sophs and has made some laughably judgmental/criminal comments about him.

The program is such a joke. Went to State 3 of my 4 years there and the only time since (and its been a few moons) was the Sr year of an NBA player and they lost the 1st game by 30+ points. Anyone that wants to play ball goes elsewhere. A bunch of politicians on high dictating their weird morality over anything basketball related.

It means so much to so many people and yet the people running it know nothing about basketball and only include their circles and have weird justifications for all their BS.

[FreezingTsmoove]

judging by the way you type i am going to guess your academic career didn't extend beyond high school.

your on insidehoops retard the fck you expect :oldlol:

[Lensanity]

I had a similar issue in my first 2 years of high school. Got completely ****ed over because of politics. Transferred to the other school in town and got 1st team all league in my junior and senior years and went 4-0 against my old school. Felt amazing and made up for all the bullshit I went through.

[kunk75]

update no one asked for but he wound up getting picked up by a very good aau team that plays on a national level and avg. 27/5/7 for the spring/summer season. he's settled in nicely at the catholic school and is playing for varsity as a soph this year/ getting cut from that bullshit team was one of the best things to happen to him.

[Hawker]

update no one asked for but he wound up getting picked up by a very good aau team that plays on a national level and avg. 27/5/7 for the spring/summer season. he's settled in nicely at the catholic school and is playing for varsity as a soph this year/ getting cut from that bullshit team was one of the best things to happen to him.

If this is the truth then damn...how are people like this?

[Jailblazers7]

Happy for your son. Lots of advice to have him focus on his studies and to not take basketball to seriously but at the same time you don't want it to be one of those things that he holds a grudge over for a long time. Stuff like that can really eat away at a kid.