Flippin’ doesn’t work for college coaches during evals of high school athletes

Flippin’ a bat.  Flippin’ a cap.  Flippin’ a towel.  You name it and flippin’ gets a high school athlete into hot water with college coaches.

We scout alongside college coaches every day at tournaments, matches, meets, showcases, combines and camps.  And the conversation often abruptly turns to an athlete that does something inane like flippin’ a piece of equipment, a uniform item or a nasty look, any of which brings the observing coach to an immediate halt.  “Now,” said one coach to me during a basketball tournament in Greensboro, NC, a few years back, when a player stared down a referee following a questionable call, “that was stupid.  That one act of defiance, temper tantrum or whatever you want to call it, may have cost that athlete a scholarship offer from one or more of the coaches here.  How does that make any sense at all?  But, I really don’t blame the kid.  Know who I blame?  The parents and coaches.  They let have let it happen over and again without cracking down on the kid.  He thinks it’s acceptable because he’s never had to suffer the most dire of all consequences – sitting on the bench as punishment.  When a kid loses playing time, he or she gets the point, and so hopefully do the parents.  It’s sad that we see so much of it.  It should never get to this point.  High school athletes need to learn early on that being a jerk does not work and that there is a price to pay for choosing to be one.”

Athletes gain reputations not just for their skills but for their attitudes.  A prospect with a good demeanor consistently gets more offers than the one who can’t control his emotions.  A display of temper is trouble waiting to happen down the road and coaches know that it could happen during practice, a contest or on campus in social situations.  All one has to do is read the daily sports new to discover yet another instance of an athlete’s encounters which have led to legal entanglements.

When coaches watch athletes, they are examining more than their athletic talents.  They are also scrutinizing how that athlete deals with unsettling scenarios.  The athletes that have enough self-control to shake it off and move on are the ones coaches will recruit.  Coaches can project this behavior in the college athletic, academic and social settings.  And predicting how an athlete will behave on and off the field or court is a big part of the scholarship-offering process.