College Student-Athletes Should Know This!
Here are a couple things each incoming freshman student-athlete should know or practice when heading into college athletics.
College athletics can be a humbling experience for most. Typically, the “recruited” high school athlete comes with an elevated self perception of knowledge and IQ, or in simpler terms, they will often claim to “know it all” or have the mindset that they do not need particular advice. They will often think its just about basketball when in reality, basketball is just a fraction of it. Now, not all of these topics will suit your exact situation as a student athlete because different programs have different levels and resources available. Duke’s program compared to a local Division III or II school can be the exact opposite, so apply these traits as they fit.
Here are a couple things that you need to master in order to have a successful college athletic career. First, lets break down what we mean by successful college career. It’s not all about the W’s and L’s that determine success. Players from the worst team in the country have gone pro. Its not all about that. In my experience, here is what determines a “successful” college athletic career :
Graduating/Academics First- First and foremost, unless you are primed for the league and without a doubt have a lock for the NBA or an overseas club, your goal should be to graduate. Even if your plan is to get right into coaching after, a degree is required for 99% of colleges and universities. Playing college sports AND graduating is a perfect combination to set you up for a job after your playing days are over. Fewer than 2% of college basketball players go pro, so there has to be an emphasis on your education and graduating. Going to school strictly for basketball, without a probability for a professional career in hoops after school, is an extremely risky decision from a financial standpoint. I’ve seen many players on scholarship and not on scholarship give up the school aspect once basketball was over, or once they were faced with a hardship and all that does for you is set you up with years of loan debt. Some schools rescind scholarships for lack of academic performance or commitment.
And on the bright side, employers love people that are competitive by nature, and companies like Enterprise, car dealerships, construction, and many more fields love to hire former athletes. Graduating should be a byproduct of every successful athletes traits and personality. You see it every year, a new polished NBA player that left early for a draft is coming back to finish their academic career. Academics and Sports play hand in hand. If your goal isn’t to graduate, your goal isn’t to win. You also are presented with more perks and opportunities with good grades. For example, in the college programs I’ve been involved with whether it was playing or coaching, the honor roll students were presented with more opportunities, more freedom, and financial relief in the form of scholarships. In one program, our honor roll students would be rewarded with less mandatory study hall hours. You don’t know the value of an extra two hours of free time until you experience the life of a college athlete. This plays in to our next topic.
Time Management - Managing your time in college is going to be a huge challenge for most incoming student athletes. Nobody can really prepare you for life on your own, or life with minimal supervision outside of practices, workouts, and classes. Usually, its filled with excitement for most. But once you see that family car leaving the dorm parking lot and you realize you don’t have laundry detergent, or Tylenol for your cold, the humble moments will start to set in. Now, all of a sudden, you have to learn how to balance doing laundry, cleaning, keeping up with your nutrition, study and homework time, having a social life, budgeting, maybe a part time job during school, and everything else you can think of, but on your own.
Managing your time will become extremely difficult that first week of preseason conditioning. When things die down in the evening after your first practice, then your weights, then your second practice, and by this time your legs are absolutely fatigued and you feel like all you want to do is go sleep, then you go back to your dorm and realize you have a 5 page paper due in the morning. It happens to every student-athlete at some point. To make it worse, you stay up late to finish your assignment only to wake up for an 8am that you struggle to stay awake for due to your late night of catching up on work while trying to recover your body. It becomes a skill and an art to be able to efficiently manage your time while keeping your physical and mental up to par.
Work Ethic - You need to do more than what’s required simply just to maintain your position or role in the program. Every program has different roles, standards, and expectations, but I can guarantee every program is also out on the road trying to recruit the best players they can find, even if that means in your position. Across multiple programs, and my networking across the country, I’ve heard of programs going to the extreme to ensure players are doing more than the *mandatory.
I’ve heard direct stories of coaches monitoring gym security footage to back up claims of getting shots up, or work outs in outside of practice hours, etc. Some programs require players to sign in to a log sheet to record shots up, sprints ran, stairs ran, etc. If those weren’t up to standards, you’d be replaced by a better recruit in your position. At the end of the day, the hard work, or lack thereof, will show on the court. Coaches do not want to see athletes maintaining year by year, unless your a 25-7-5 type of player. They want to see steady improvement year after year, and if they do not sense that from you, then you will most likely end up transferring or sitting on the bench wasting eligibility.
When you are on a scholarship level, the sense of entitlement or “security” can sometimes be inflated. Not to heighten your sense of scarcity, but you absolutely need to work harder than the guy next to you. The classic “Four Year Scholarship” paper is signed every year. Meaning that even if a Coach tries to sell you on a secure four year scholarship, you are still being evaluated year by year, and each year before you leave for the summer, your signing that piece of paper again renewing your scholarship. If you fail to uphold your end of the expectations, you cannot expect to be behold that same position the following year.
But not to worry! Do your part, be diligent in the dark! Put the extra work in and trust in your reps and your handwork. COMPLACENY IS A KILLER. Take these points into account if your looking to compete in college athletics. Time management, work ethic, and academics will guide you to a successful college career.