Stop Blocking Your Blessings - Offers Equal Opportunities

Are you standing in the way of your own blessings? This is really something you should take the time to think about as you go through your recruiting process. 

Take a moment and think about all the shoulda, coulda, woulda athletes you might know. People that came before you, people you might see around the way. Where are they now? What is their story? A lot of times they will tell you about things they wish they would have done differently growing up throughout their journey. They will tell you a bit about the mistakes they made along the way, the lessons they learned a bit too late, the advice they threw away, and all the things that you probably shouldn’t do. But will you listen? Will you make those same mistakes?

As a professional basketball player who has also had the opportunity to coach and train young people at the high school and college level, I see a certain cycle that takes place all too often. Athletes who can be quite prideful and entitled. You know, the ones that say how much they would REALLY love an opportunity to play at the next level, but don’t actually put the real work and effort into it. The ones who are willing to pass up opportunities because it doesn’t come in the package of “red carpet wooing” they wanted. 

So I ask, did you want your real opportunity? Or something made for somebody else?  

Too many times athletes get stuck on either 1.) just going to one school 2.) thinking that they are a failure unless they can show the outside world that they have reached a certain level or 3.) that there is only one way to reach their goal of playing on a certain level.

And I’m not saying that an athlete shouldn’t be confident in their abilities and believe in themselves. But I am calling attention to those that think they are entitled to something that they may not have truly earned just yet.

To the athlete who has not really been recruited much at all, and when a school finally comes knocking you tell them that they aren’t good enough for you. You try and let them know that some how they are “beneath” you, all while you are continuously praying for an opportunity. Isn’t that a bit of a conundrum??

 An opportunity is knocking but yet, you choose not to answer it, or to not even give it a chance. Why is that? Especially if there is nothing else coming your way at this given moment. 

Your perfect opportunity might just be on the other side of that door you have labelled PRIDE.

If I could give any bit of advice it would be to keep all of your options open and to realize that 2+2 is not the only equation that will lead you to 4.  Continue to keep your end goal in mind. If you want to go to a big school, play D1, or just have a dream school you are trying to get to, for whatever reason, always keep that in mind. 

Realize that if, by the time you reached your senior year of high school, and you didn’t receive any offers, or any looks at all, then maybe those schools that you were hoping to contact you, won’t be at this point. Does that mean you give up? Not at all. Also, maybe you didn’t get the offers you had originally hoped for, but you did get a few. What about those schools? 

Do yourself a favor and stay in contact with those that have made it a point to stay in contact with you. 

Although these schools may not have been your first choice in the beginning, they are probably worth a shot because when you look around, they are the only ones currently looking at you. They expressed a level of interest and belief in you.

Be open and upfront with these coaches about where you would like to try and take your career, see if what they have to say is something of value to you and is in line with where you would like to take your career. Learn how to express your goals when figuring out the best route for you on the college sports scene. Communication can help you in the long run, keeps everyone on the same page about what it is you are trying to accomplish.  

Don’t pass up an opportunity waiting on something that may never come. Take advantage of the opportunities presented to you and make them work to your benefit. 

*Take the time to speak with coaches 

*Research their school, no matter what level they might be.

*Talk about the goals you hope to reach through athletics and/or academics from the very beginning. 

Use this information to figure out if this is a school that can help you accomplish your end goal. This might be a school that may only be meant for you to attend for 1 or 2 seasons. And that is perfectly ok. If you go to a JUCO there is already an expectation of you transferring to a higher division after 1 or 2 seasons. If you go to an NAIA, D3, or D2 with the intentions of transferring to a higher division, state this in the beginning. 

You may find just the right coach and program that is looking for a player like yourself. If you remain ambitious enough and be confident about the goals you’ve set for yourself, there is a program out there for you and may only be looking to have you for 1 or 2 seasons anyways. 

For players that have thoughts of transferring to a different D1 university after already attending one, there may be a slightly different approach to take with that. (I will have a blog about that in the near future.) However, you could still be open and honest about what it is you want out of your career and your athletic journey. By communicating such things you may end up finding exactly what you never knew you needed. 

  “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” - Colin Wilson