Get a Basketball Scholarship
Each year, thousands of high school students compete fiercely for basketball scholarships, honoring their game to attract a scout or coach from a collegiate basketball program. While there is no guaranteed way to win a scholarship, you can take steps to improve your chances.
Steps
- Play basketball every chance you get. Because students decide early what schools they are going to attend, your senior year has almost become irrelevant. Coaches begin identifying potential recruits by their junior year.
- Contact the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to see if there are any basketball teams in your area. Being a good player on your high school team isn't enough anymore, so you need to play on teams outside of school, too.
- The AAU breaks their teams down into age groups. It has 17-and-under and 15-and-under teams. Tournaments that are sponsored by the AAU are sometimes called high-profile recruiting camps, because collegiate basketball programs rely on the tournaments to scout the best players in a central location.
- Visit colleges you are interested in no later than your junior year. You need to be proactive to get a basketball scholarship. Contact the coaches at the college you are visiting and let them know you want to play there.
- Call coaches at colleges where you want to play basketball. Establishing contact can get the notice of college coaches and scouts. When you mail your letter off, include a tape or DVD of yourself in game action.
- Ask your high school basketball coaches to contact college basketball departments. Your coach can help college coaches learn about you as a basketball player and as a person. Ask if your coach can give the college coaches a game schedule, so the college coach can come see you play.
- Qualify academically to attend the college where you want a scholarship. Get good grades while you are in high school. Take the SAT and ACT no later than your junior year. If you don't get the score you were hoping for, take the test again. Check with any schools you would like to play for to determine what they require from student-athletes.
- Hire a recruiting service if you want assistance promoting yourself to college basketball coaches. Recruiting services can ensure that you play in front of college coaches and recruiters on a regular basis. Before paying a recruiting service, ask for references and look the company up with the Better Business Bureau.
Tips
- Don't just focus on NCAA Division I schools. Most NCAA Division II schools have basketball programs and also give athletic scholarships. Competition for Division II basketball scholarships is much less fierce than the competition for Division I basketball scholarships.
Warnings
- Be Careful what you post on social media
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