Parents And Players

[scoutnwhoops]

Research of schools is often one of the most difficult parts of deciding what school to commit to. There isn't a single place where you can go to get basic information about the hundreds of options out there. If there was what would you like to know? If HG had a fact sheet from each program what would be helpful to have on it?

Number of Students?
Population of City?
Closest major city?
Number of scholarships?
Previous year's record?
NCAA Tourney appearances?
Attendance figures?

So I ask the parents and players on this board to reply with information they'd like to know about the schools they are considering. Obviously some information would be subjective and would probably not be collectable but what factual information would you like to know?

[young julez]

How many of the players that you recruit actually stay for the full four years?
It is important to me that the players that are in the program are given a realistic vision of what their role will be. I would not want to send my daughter off to play for a coach that has players leaving every year. Also the diversity of the area and school itself is important.

[arbitraryj]

I am always looking at the roster to see what the players are studying. It's not just are the players staying and are they graduating but what are their majors/minors and degrees earned?

What are the alumni doing now?

I want to see some future doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects and entreprenuers if ya got em. That would tell me that the program takes education seriously.

There are some major DI top of the pile programs that I would never allow my children to attend even if they begged me.

Free education is great but a quality education is the goal.

[pvballer]

Graduation rate of athletes?? What is the rate of team graduating 4-5 yrs?? 5-6yrs?? Asst. coach; are they persuing head coach job??Since most asst. do recruit the kids.

[dinospumoni]

It would be nice to see the coaching staff's experience as well as the head coach's. Is there any particular coaching philosophy, NCAA tournament appearances, and win/loss records would be nice. What are the team needs...are they rebuilding after a loss of some key seniors to graduation? Number of scholarships. Campus diversity (ie: what percentage of the student population is African-American, Latino, Asian, etc.). What percentage of the athletes graduate? What is the team GPA?

[scoutnwhoops]

Great stuff. Keep it coming.

[pgmom]

Look beyond graduation rates because what you graduate in matters. How many of the players are able to successfully stick with their preferred major all the way through, and graduate with high grades? College today is like high school yesterday. The real goal for many of the girls is GRADUATE school and you are not going to get in without the proper undergraduate courses and some really great grades. I have heard of 3 cases recently (including my niece and my friend's niece) where the players were either asked to downgrade to a different major to make it easier to fulfill their obligations to the basketball team, or had big scheduling troubles taking the right courses in their majors while playing ball. In one case the player graduated with a degree that wasn't of interest, and is now, post college, taking courses in the field of real interest. In another, the player gave up the scholarship senior year in order to catch up on course requirements. Unfortunately, one of the schools where it was an issue was a highly acclaimed academic institution!! SO, can anyone name the colleges which have dedicated the resources and made it a priority for the athletes to successfully complete degree programs, even if the program is difficult????? (I noticed the video during the NCAA tournament about Alison Bales and one of the Waner girls being premed at Duke -- what about the various Ivy League, Patriot League, and other academic D-I schools like Stanford, William and Mary, Richmond, etc?)

[ifyousayso]

Have you ever gone in to buy a big ticket item(car, house, etc.)if so you need to know that the salesperson is MORE than prepared to answer, twist and turn your most difficult questions to reflect as positively on the product as possible..Why? Because they are in the business to get you to buy their product. Some are better than others.

Please know that many of these questions should be researched outside of asking the coaching staff as they are in business to motivate your daughter to attend at their school.If anyone knows of ANY coach that they have asked...are you staying here and they said...well, I am entertaining offers I like it here but just dont love it or even "ya just never know" You will never hear this...It just doesnt happen...

But, for any public university they list the wages/contract terms of their coaches...is this the last year on their contract? Also, look at their record since being there that will give you a little clue as well. Go on the College message boards see what is being said. Even with that you may not be able to definitely just know. Asking ANY of the coaches if they are planning on being there is a wasted question from what I have seen.

As for the players and transfers etc, Rosters, Film, Google, Message Boards would best serve you in getting the most objective answer as possible.

They are all great questions...just some might be best answered by doing some legwork.

[YourCrimsonNightmare]

It wouldn't be right to use this forum as a drum for sounding out the praises of individual coaches and programs, but some of them really stand out in the crowd, not just from the point of view of producing great players - of which few can earn a great living and fewer for long enough to expect to build a decent retirement base - but when you look at the whole package of the kind of people they produce, people who you'd want to be in your daughter or son's life, or be your lawyer, you architect, your spokesman, your doctor...

Then if you do enough research you shouldn't have a problem finding out who some of those people are. It's not at all about who wins the most championships, even if the people who do are often the ones that are most successful in building souls into citizens.

Do your homework.

[arbitraryj]

Funny you should mention Duke pgmom. That's also the only school I've seen that had an engineer on the basketball team. She was a point guard who won a robotics award and graduated with Beard. She was the inspiration for me to check into other’s majors.

This also brings up another question: What is the relationship between the academic departments and the basketball program? Is it cooperative and respectful, or strained and contentious?

When I was in school, (back in the day) I remember several professors that resented athletes for various reasons. Others had a pass'em through agreement with the coach. I would ask what arrangements are made to help keep athletes up on their course work during road trips and March Madness.

A day in the life of the student athlete is very revealing.

[BoilerUp]

Purdue and I am sure other schools have Engineering students and on their teams and as alumnae. It is harder when you have a major with labs, like Engineering or Chemistry or Pharmacy, but time management skills are something most athletes have perfected! One of my favorite players was a mechanical engineer on the Purdue national championship team. (Ukari Figgs!)