Confused about Height

[hoopfan24]

2007 USA Red Team....

April Sykes, 6-1, 2008, Oktibbeha H.S. / Crawford, MS


HoopGurlz Player Profile for April Sykes

Height: 5'11"
High School: E. Oktibbeha Co. (Crawford, MS)
State: Mississippi
Position: G
Position Rank: 1
Nat'l Rank: 3
Rating:
Class: 2008

Now I know that Hoopgurlz did not write the article on the USA YDF Roster...But maybe you can help me understand. Is it common practice for people to list kids taller than what they are?

And if it is common practice, what is the purpose?

Is it the kids reporting these numbers or is it places like the USA YDF people doing it?

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[scoutnwhoops]

Is it common practice for people to list kids taller than what they are?

And if it is common practice, what is the purpose?

Is it the kids reporting these numbers or is it places like the USA YDF people doing it?

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Yes it is common. Often people list the player's height in there shoes since they'll be playing in them where our doctors would always measure us in our bare feet growing up. I saw April in Ohio don't recall looking up to her when we talked but I'm about six-feet (barefoot) so an inch under or over wouldn't be noticable.

The reason? Would you rather have a 6-1 wing or a 6-3 wing? Maybe it's a paper version of shock and awe. There are unwritten minimums people associate with different positions and just maybe streching an inch or two will get someone noticed. Any college recruiting based on height only can expect a coaching change soon.

[hoopfan24]

Yes it is common. Often people list the player's height in there shoes since they'll be playing in them where our doctors would always measure us in our bare feet growing up. I saw April in Ohio don't recall looking up to her when we talked but I'm about six-feet (barefoot) so an inch under or over wouldn't be noticable.

The reason? Would you rather have a 6-1 wing or a 6-3 wing? Maybe it's a paper version of shock and awe. There are unwritten minimums people associate with different positions and just maybe streching an inch or two will get someone noticed. Any college recruiting based on height only can expect a coaching change soon.

I would rather have a 6-3 wing if she is actually a 6-3 wing, anthing else is just misleading.

I do understand the height in shoes, that makes sense but really anything else is just a flat out lie.
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[scoutnwhoops]

The whole thing is meant to mislead. Its the honor system not really.

This is an interesting topic for me because when I see a new player and take notes I usually make note if I think they are stretching on height.

[hoopfan24]

The whole thing is meant to mislead. Its the honor system not really.

This is an interesting topic for me because when I see a new player and take notes I usually make note if I think they are stretching on height.

When you say the whole thing is meant to mislead, you mean for the purpose of attempting to draw attention that may not otherwise come from college coaches? If that is the case one would have to assume that the college coaches are not very intelligent.

I wonder how much misleading is for the purpose of attempting to intimidate or confuse opponents.

I know as a parent, when I look at the roster of an opposing team, I might think oh man they have three 6'+ girls on the team, this is going to be tough. Or maybe even as a Coach, I might look at a roster and think if they have some bigs, I might need to play more of an outside game, etc...

I dont know if any of that comes into play, but I guess that could be used as a strategy, maybe?
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[NYTraveller]

Misleading a college coach on height can backfire. I was a D2 coach with a local recruiting base and a rigorous academic standard. A very new HS coach called and told me he had a 6'3" girl (a post) from out of the country, unknown on the recruiting scene, with an A average and good athleticism and decent skills. In my world, that was a definite must-see. I went to their next game (cut a practice short, got a flat on the way - not a good start) and arrived at halftime with both teams in the locker room. When the squads came out to warm up, I was mystified by the lack of anyone over 5'10" at best - the way my day was going I thought the kid must've gotten hurt and left the gym. I stuck around anyway, even though there were no prospects in sight. At the end of the game, I introduced myself to the coach and asked what happened to the kid he had called about (you know what's coming), he turned and pointed out a young lady who was 5'9" in elevator shoes. I asked him where he got the bright idea to lie to me and he said, "I thought that was the best way to get her looked at" (her talent and skills in NO WAY justified that kind of hope). That story circulated in my region pretty quickly and that particular coach's credibility was shot - he was out of the game within 2 seasons.

[asiancoach]

Something similar happened to me I had misrepresented a kids height and the coachs (2) saw the kid and left without even seeing him play. It took a while for me to gain back credibility.

[intelligenthoodlum]

Basketball is a game of height--in theory, the closer a player is to the rim, which is 10 feet above the floor, the easier it is for that player to score.
To the IH, this is the root of anyone in the game exaggerating height. Now, of course, as a rule most basketball players are listed as the height they are when they wear shoes. Quite simply, it SOUNDS more exotic to say that, for example, a 6'2" player is really 6'3".
(As a comparison, the holy grail for the game of football is the 40-yard-dash time. The IH has heard 40-yard-dash times of, say, 4.3 seconds; but when that same player ran the 40 ELECTRONICALLY timed, under the watch of trained NFL scouts, that same 40 was timed at 4.43 seconds, for example. And that's a HUGE difference when you're talking about top-notch wide receivers being matched up against top-notch cornerbacks, 40 yards downfield under a long pass--about 2-3 yards of a difference...)
For the IH, the TRUE notation of height is a player's WINGSPAN. Length horizontally and vertically is most important, as opposed to just height from head-to-toe.
In other words, a 6'2" player with a 6'2" player's wingspan is not as valuable to the IH as is a 6'2" player with a 6'6" player's wingspan, all other things being equal. The 6'2" with the 6'6" is CLOSER TO THE RIM!

[glenn]

At the last YDF, USA Basketball measured up the kids, so at least with them this will be a self-correcting problem.

[teammom4]

I know another factor that come into play, especially in the pros is how long is the neck. If a guy is 6'6" but about 2-3" is all neck he's definitely not as valuable to the scouts.

[fhire]

Wingspan is very important when looking at players. Wingspan makes alittle easier to make big plays on defense and offense. I believe that height, wingspan and most importantly ability!
________
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[scoutnwhoops]

Wingspan is very important when looking at players. Wingspan makes alittle easier to make big plays on defense and offense. I believe that height, wingspan and most importantly ability!

You are right which is exactly why coaches/players or whoever is responisble for rosters will round up, fib, or whatever you want to call it. So she's 6-feet but has a long wing span and plays the '4'. Is Ohio State, Stanford, Maryland or whoever even going to give the kid a look as a 4 or notice she has a 6-foot-6 wing span if she's listed at 6-0 as opposed to a 6-1 or 6-2 in the book?

[ClayKallam]

Bernice Mosby was listed at 6-1 at Baylor -- she's actually closer to 5-11, and those two inches will have a major impact on her ability to have a good pro career. And it didn't make her a lot more money either.

If she had acknowledged her actual height, she would have realized that a professional career would require her to be on the wing, and perhaps she would have developed more perimeter skills.

That said, for most kids, it's harmless. I ask my high school girls how tall they want to be in the program ... we've had a lot of girls listed at 5-7 who aren't even close to the same size, and one year we had five 'six-footers.'

As long as no one takes them too seriously, it's not a problem.

[At-The-Buzzer]

I attend games at two nearby top programs.
When I have taken my daughter down to get autographs after the game, it is amazing at the difference in height you will see between three six-foot tall girls. It seems to me that anybody who is within a couple of inches short of six feet is listed as a six-footer.

My personal experience is that my daughter measured in her bare feet is a height plus three-fourths of an inch. Her basketball coach and volleyball coach lists her rounded up to the next inch plus one inch as a "shoes on" height. That seems to be pretty common.

[hbodu1]

My daughter was 6'4 1/4" in her bare feet her senior year in High School. She called herself 6'4". Her school wanted to list her at 6'6", but she wouldn't let them, as she was a little self-conscious about the "number". She had a teammate who was 5'11" in her bare feet; she was listed at 6'2".

Some schools never really measure. Some doctors offices have trouble getting a good heght to anyone over 6'1". Most college coaches I know will measure in basketball shoes, which can add up to 1 1/2" to ones height.