How to find your path to post secondary basketball?
It was great to see so many players (and parents) out yesterday at the Post Secondary Prep Session to learn the INS and OUTS of what it takes to play at the next level. It was a special opportunity for young athletes to hear the stories of how each of the panelists navigated their own path…and how different each of these journeys really were. The stories ranged from Walk-On to Full Ride Scholarship offer and from Prep School, CCAA to Division 1 recruit.
Novell Thomas, the head of our Girls Cobra Program, provided some of the most interesting perspective in talking about his own personal journey from CCAA, to NAIA, to the Canadian National Team as a players…and then what it was like to be on the other side of the equation as a Usport coach for 9 years. Coach Hidde Vos talked about what it was like to go to Prep school before playing at both the NCAA Div 1 and Div 2 levels.
A lot of valuable information was shared but we’ll summarize with these Main takeaways:
Every player’s path is different
Very, very few Canadian athletes coming out of high school at 17/18 years old will be noticed by a coach and heavily recruited. It is essential that players create their own plan to reach out to schools and initiate the recruiting process
Age is a playing a major factor in the recruiting landscape. While the US has strict age rules around eligibility, Canada has none. Every coach speaking last night talked about how much better a player they were at 25 than at 18. Coaches are looking far more at 20 year olds coming out of Prep School and CEGEP, or 22 year old transfer students… than they are 17 year olds coming out of BC High School.
There are more opportunities for younger athletes at the college (CCAA) level than the university. However, for really strong academically minded students, this often doesn’t line up with their academic goals
Canadian universities used to have Junior Varsity programs which provided younger players the opportunities to go to top academic institutions and play basketball right out of high school. The new CJBL may is providing this again for some young Canadians.
Players need to take personal responsibility for developing their own recruitment plan. Coaches (and parents) can provide context and some assistance…but the energy and perseverance needs to come from the athlete him/herself.
Display your knowledge and enthusiasm for the school and basketball team.
Spend the time to make a good video. It’s an important part of the process so we spent time going over what to make sure you put in and what to leave out.
Seek out in person opportunities to play in front of coaches. That might be at a university camp, a coach coming to your practice/game or with open runs that many of our players have done at SFU, UBC, Cap and Douglas.
Learn from others who have been through the journey themselves. Almost every Cobra coach already navigated the post secondary pathway themselves and have lots of experience to share. Talk to them.
12 of 20 Cobras players who graduated in June 2022 are playing post secondary this year. Talk to them about their experience, what worked, what didn’t.
