I read a terrific quote this morning on Twitter: “The combination of high but attainable expectations & high standards are a twosome that is tough to beat!” Kevin Eastman, a coach and speaker, said those words and nothing could ring truer on today’s athletic scene.

Expectations and standards are [...]]]> Coupled together they are a powerful

Players setting expectations is a key to team success.

I read a terrific quote this morning on Twitter: “The combination of high but attainable expectations & high standards are a twosome that is tough to beat!” Kevin Eastman, a coach and speaker, said those words and nothing could ring truer on today’s athletic scene.

Expectations and standards are too seldom identified for teams and athletes. Former UCLA men’s basketball coach, John Wooden, famously had every member of his team write down their expectations for the upcoming season each fall. He would not look at the expectations which may take some by surprise, but he wanted each player to have their own, personal high expectations and to work toward achieving them. Only at the conclusion of the season, in a team meeting, would he unfold the pieces of paper and share the individual’s expectations. Coach Wooden saw his role as coach to set the standards, which he obviously did with great effectiveness. Ten NCAA titles are clear evidence of that.

The lesson we all can take from the Eastman quote and the Wooden Method is that setting high expectations is a crucial ingredient to establishing the course of a team. And a coach that allows athletes to strive for greatness within themselves has the ability, if not obligation, to create the standards by which the team will pursue those expectations.

Yet, in reality, how many coaches embrace this type of environment? Not enough, I expect. The ones who do, though, have the opportunity to develop a team around those high expectations even without peaking inside the notes to learn where the players see themselves and the team several months down the road. It is the owning of those expectations which matters. And it is the consistent embodiment of high standards by a coach which permits a team to form and rally behind one another.

Wooden never talked about winning games. He talked about the team’s high standards and the execution of fundamentals. Even when games were down to the wire and the Bruins were in jeopardy of losing, he spoke of standards and of the need for the team to focus on their effort and adhering to the skills he had taught them. That left the players to concentrate on their responsibilities, not on the need to make a big play for the win. That would come naturally, in Wooden’s philosophy, when everyone committed fully to their standards.

What do you hang your hat on? If you could boil down all your athletic skills, what rises to the top and makes you special? Those are important questions every high school prospect wanting to attract college coaches in the recruiting process should ask and [...]]]> National Scouting Report can turn your recruiting fortunes from bleak to bright

Like Lilly Ryan, you can grab coaches' attention through NSR.

What do you hang your hat on? If you could boil down all your athletic skills, what rises to the top and makes you special? Those are important questions every high school prospect wanting to attract college coaches in the recruiting process should ask and answer.

When college coaches get reams of paper, emails and posts, it all can run together creating an overwhelming glob of data. So, what will make you stand out in a coach’s perusal of all the info in front of them? What do you bring to the dance that makes you unique and will make a coach want to stop, take notice and read your profile? Identifying that can make the difference between being recruited or overlooked.

College coaches have it tougher than you might imagine. They are charged with filtering the good from the not-so good. And it can all run together making their ID process a tough task. But, some things pop out at them. What those some things are is unpredictable, of course, because each coach is in search of his or her own magic bullet. You could be the answer to their specific recruiting need, but without giving them the info in a manner which will encourage them to give you the attention you so richly deserve, all your efforts could be for naught.

That is one of the many reasons why we at National Scouting Report are so effective in getting our prospects noticed, evaluated and recruited. We know what coaches want in a profile. We’ve been putting high school athletes’ info in the hands of coaches for 32 years after all. And, we’re no dummies. We have learned that coaches like certain things and pay attention to them. We have also learned what does not work and what will make a college coach skip over an athlete’s credentials and quickly move on to another one.

Recruiting is a science and we are recruiting scientists. NSR has studied this unique process for over three decades. Have you? No. Do you really have a clue what coaches are looking for or better yet what will catch their eye? No. You are not an expert. We are, though, and we can put that knowledge and experience to bear for you every day, 24/7.

Don’t get left behind because you assume that all coaches are waiting breathlessly to see your package arrive. They are not. Don’t be confused into thinking that throwing together a resume wrapped in fancy do-dads will do the job. It will not. You need experts in recruiting just like you need specialists to help you increase your speed, strength or academic performance. We are the experts in recruiting that you can rely on day after day. We are the best, bar none. Call us today or fill out our athlete profile form at www.nsr-inc.com. Change your life. Change your future.

We seldom read about the trouble that high school or college athletes get themselves into without learning that they were in the company of ne’er do wells at the time. Athletes are not loners, for the most part.  There’s [...]]]> Watch who you hang with, they could help to make you or prove to break you 

The lesson which is Allen Iverson is a sad tale of bad choices.

We seldom read about the trouble that high school or college athletes get themselves into without learning that they were in the company of ne’er do wells at the time. Athletes are not loners, for the most part.  There’s a serious lesson to be learned from this and high school athletes should sit up and pay close attention.

High school prospects are often the center of attention in their schools and communities. They draw friends from every sect of society wanting to be associated with “the star” athlete with a future. But, if you dig deeper, it’s apparent that what attracts many hangers-on is the need to find in you what they have been unable to generate in themselves which is a vehicle to access easy street.  And that vehicle is you.

We read last week about the sorry state which former NBA All-Star Allen Iverson now finds himself. After having made millions in professional basketball, he now can’t pay his way. Critics are looking at his entourage as the culprit, but in truth, it is Iverson himself that is to blame if he has indeed run through all those paychecks and has nothing left to live on.

Iverson had choices along the way, just as you as a high school athlete has choices. Iverson elected to take care of his homeboys thinking that he needed them survive and that the money train was never going to stop. Well, it has stopped and he is left to face life without anything to show for all his hard work on the hardwood. His friends came along for the ride because he allowed it to happen. He apparently did not have the fortitude or forethought to understand that in the end he would be responsible for his own well being, not to mention the well being of his family.

Iverson’s situation is a lesson which is an open-face sandwich for everyone to see. It exposes Iverson’s world, a world in which he carried minions along whose purpose was to reach into the money bag and take what was readily available. Today’s high school athletes can learn from this, if they choose to take it to heart. Hopefully some will, but regretfully some will not. Those that do will carefully scrutinize what is going on around them, who they are associated with and where they want to be in five, ten or twenty years down the road, if not longer. It is a tough process and sometimes heart wrenching to ignore or cast out people who seem to have your best interest at heart but who in stark reality do not.

Here’s the tell:  if all the adulation went away tomorrow, who would still be there to help you pick up the pieces and start all over again?  If you are injured, who will pick you up and help to bring you back to good health? If you lose your scholarship, who will still be alongside you when all the applause has faded? If you decide to pursue other goals, who will support your decision and still want to be an integral part of your new life?

There are no easy answers nor is there a fail-safe formula. But there is this: common sense. If you want a future which is filled with happiness and the joys that a life well led can bring, then get down to the basics. Decide what is really important for you, not for others who may want to ride your coattail to places they cannot conceivably reach on their own. When all the fluff which comes with stardom has dissipated, there will be you and those that genuinely love you for who you are not what you could have been, what you were back in high school, or how much money you have in the bank. They are people of good character whose lives do not depend on you for validation. Look for these people. Search them out. Permit yourself to explore friendships which are healthy, not harmful.  When you find those friends, those high quality friends, the ones who will be there no matter what happens, then you will be free of the sycophants and be in the position to get on with your life.   

Sports fans across the country, or at least outside SEC-land, may not be aware of what’s happening today at the University of Alabama, but it is noteworthy to be sure. The Crimson Tide’s head men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant, himself a former Alabama star [...]]]> We want our college athletes to be responsible role models

Anthony Grant

Sports fans across the country, or at least outside SEC-land, may not be aware of what’s happening today at the University of Alabama, but it is noteworthy to be sure. The Crimson Tide’s head men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant, himself a former Alabama star player, has had enough. Last week, following the indefinite suspension of his best perimeter player, performance-wise that is, he all but cleared the bench by suspending three other Tide starters.

The move has drawn its share of catcalls from the peanut gallery, but in what has emerged as a more interesting response the Bama faithful have stepped up to the megaphone and voiced their strong support for the embattled coach. Rarely do we see fans rally so positively around a coach that has more or less chosen to toss his team’s season over the edge of a cliff for the sake of principal. But perhaps more importantly, it is even rarer that we see a coach doing the right thing in terms of disciplining a group of young men when the consequences could lead to his own demise.

So, why are fans lifting Coach Grant on their shoulders as their hopes for a great season evaporate? The overriding sentiment seems to be that fans are tired of boorish behavior in athletes who think that their you-know-what doesn’t stink. Fans have had enough, too. They’ve had to endure the ongoing saga of athletes that skate so nonchalantly through society as if they are not subject to the same rules to which every other person is held accountable. They, the fans, want athletes that represent their university in a good light instead of casting a shadow over the integrity of their school which too often is the case. Having the chance, then, to see in such a public fashion a coach who puts the college and the program above a win-at-all-cost mentality makes them proud, if not happy.

Discipline in college and high school athletics should not be tied to the potential for W’s or L’s. It should be, as Coach Grant is so bravely demonstrating, tied to responsibility. What is happening in Tuscaloosa is a microcosm of real American life. People are weary of watching young people and their overblown sense of entitlement being pampered. The public wants their leaders, like Coach Grant, to mold young people, not coddle them. Learning the essence of responsibility is an enormous part of that process.  Otherwise, we will continue to read each day about the former athlete who jilted someone out of their life savings, battered a spouse, failed to pay child support, was brought up on weapons charges, or lost all their earnings to gambling or incomprehensible bad judgment. Deep inside we want our college athletes to be future stars, yes, but we want them to be life’s stars not necessarily professional sports stars. We want our children to emulate their good character, not their dark side which gone unchecked eventually raises its ugly head.

But it has to start somewhere. We know that to be true.  Perhaps what we are seeing is a trend finally turning in the right direction. Maybe Coach Grant is sending an invaluable message to coaches across the intercollegiate landscape that there really is a higher purpose which coaches serve than winning games and championships. Then, we can only hope, that college athletes will become what we want them to be and live up to our loftiest of expectations.

You cannot do what we do, the way we do it, at National Scouting Report and not care about our high school prospect.  It’s impossible.

From the moment we first hear about a prospect, we are locked in on that individual’s life and how she [...]]]> We love our work because there’s nothing else like it

We care because we know what is possible for our prospects.

You cannot do what we do, the way we do it, at National Scouting Report and not care about our high school prospect.  It’s impossible.

From the moment we first hear about a prospect, we are locked in on that individual’s life and how she or he has managed to somehow arrive at that point of being a potential college prospect. Our OTG (on-the-ground) scouts have been there to some degree and we fully appreciate what a student-athlete has had to do through hard work and sacrifice to rise up and deserve the recognition of college coaches. We know because we were that athlete or we coached that athlete or we were the father or mother of that athlete. We have traveled the same road, toiled through the same demanding practices and workouts, made the exhausting road trips, experienced the injuries, wins and losses all while balancing sports with life’s other obligations.

A legitimate college prospect, we know, is a special person with the unique opportunity to do something which most of his or her peers can only dream about — win a college scholarship offer. They crossed a threshold in commitment early on when the game was an elective to everyone else. They pounded the pavement, pushed the weights, practiced alone until the wee hours of the night and they pushed aside the distractions their classmates and friends found irresistible.

At NSR we care because we know. Our hearts are in it with these prospects. We know that this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity which, if reached, will be a life changing event. And, yes, through it all, we benefit, too. We get to live vicariously through them as they endure the heartache and revel in the joy which come with going through the recruiting process. And, we know, too, that if we go at it hard enough, that is if we do it hand in hand with the prospect in a focused, no-quit effort, that there really is a pot of gold at the end of their rainbow.

And then, we get to do it all over again with the next prospect. What’s not to love about a job like that?