A SCOUT'S PERSPECTIVE - OBSERVATIONS & RUMINATIONS

Scouted for 11 years in the NBA and have seen a lot of great talent at all levels of basketball in my life.  I'm the son of a legendary college coach who coached basketball for 47 years of his life. I was raised in and around gymnasiums. Great talent/players stand out like a sore thumb. Not hard for anybody to recognize a great talent. The challenge in evaluating great talent for the professional level is evaluating the psychological side of the individual and their ability to lead, grow and evolve as a person and a player. Evaluating a 9th grader is fraught with it's own challenges and land mines. So much can happen in terms of physical, mental and psychological development between the 9th and 12th grades; and obviously, the same holds true in terms of the development of technical and tactical skills in the athlete. In reviewing George Dohrmann's "Play Their Hearts Out, " I expressed a concern with our propensity to expose children to too much too soon...

                     What can be gained by reading "Play Their Hearts Out," George Dohrmann's exceptional book that chronicles the basketball journey of talented youth basketball players from middle school to high school? If you're a parent of a talented basketball player, it's a must read. You'll learn a lot about the pitfalls of youth basketball and the importance of shepherding your child through this maze of deceit, corruption and confusion. Hopefully, readers will understand the folly that is grassroots basketball and how it's not necessary in the middle or early high school years to expose your child to the endless stream of games that are a part of travel team basketball. Sonny Vaccaro's advice to Roberto Nelson's dad about being selective about the camps/tournaments a child attends and making certain that young players are mentally and psychologically ready to handle the stress of these events sounds the stronge...

I wrote this note to a 9th grade basketball player in 1998. Attended one of his practices and then gave it to him.  I've shared it with a few other people and have read parts of the letter at a few basketball clinics. I hope you're enriched by reading this note and will pass it on to a young baller if you think they can gain insight from it. NOTE TO A YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYER I enjoyed watching your gym class (a.k.a. BB Practice) on Friday. Your coach appears to have a sound understanding of the game and the teaching ability to impart his philosophy of the game to his players. I know he is high on you. You have the great moniker called potential attached to your name. My favorite definition for potential is excellence unrealized, and it can stay unrealized if the individual does not have the passion, intelligence, persistence, and determination to exceed the expectations/goals that one sets for his/herself. My sister gave me a poster with the following quote on it when I wa...