June 1st 📲 day for the 2028 class.
☝️Reminder:
Recognize the difference between recruiting and marketing.
Quality culture & program building recruiting is like a 2-way long form job interview. Proceed patiently and wisely.
In today’s game, the patient & long eval of the player/person/program is what will win.
And I’m STILL of the opinion that early offers don’t mean a thing - in fact, they work against all (important) parties involved. They function as a form of (inflated) attention currency.
ENJOY it, but UNDERSTAND it.
One of the biggest differences between average players and elite players is processing speed. Most elite level offenses are built around the “0.5 rule” ... within half a second of catching the ball, you either shoot, drive, pass, or create another action. The defense is too athletic and too connected to hold the ball and overthink.
The game at high levels is less about who can dribble the most and more about who can recognize advantages the fastest. Slow decisions shrink spacing, kill driving gaps, and allow defenses to reset. Basketball IQ is not just knowledge... it’s speed of recognition under pressure.
Nice read on Veronica Burton, before she had huge game last night, 25 points, 6 boards, and FIVE blocks, as 5'9 PG.
Was sleeper recruit that transformed Northwestern WBB, a team that was traditionally in rebuild mode in B1G.
"Intangible'd up," great development too.
Some players walk into a practice thinking, “How do I shine today?” Me. Me. Me. I. I. I.
The best teams walk in thinking, “How do we win today?” We. We. We. Us. Us. Us.
That we/us mindset changes everything! You celebrate teammates instead of competing with them. You make the extra pass instead of forcing a tough shot. You sprint back on defense instead of complaining to the refs.
You communicate instead of pointing fingers. You set great screens instead of hunting highlights. You cheer from the bench instead of sulking about minutes.
You focus on winning possessions instead of winning attention.
Years ago, I was an assistant coach on a high school team that finished something like 11-13. Not a great record. Nothing flashy.
But that squad genuinely cared about each other! They celebrated each other’s success. They stayed connected through adversity. And they taught me something important. Team chemistry can make basketball a lot more meaningful, even when everything isn’t “perfect.”
Basketball (and life!) gets really powerful when people stop obsessing over “me” and start fighting for “we.”
Pet peeve after offering a kid a scholarship…
Comment from Current Adult in their Life: “Congrats! First of many! Can’t wait to see the many more offers to come!”
Me: “How about I withdraw my offer & leave y’all to go collect 100 more offers to feel validated? 🤣”
Moral of the story — You need the ONE right offer to have a successful college career, not 100 offers to get likes online.
Don’t push kids to collect a million offers just to have them. You want the RIGHT offer to go have a successful, fulfilling career!
I watched AAU basketball all weekend.
I left with bad news for most players:
Too many are building highlight reels before they’re building winning habits.
The game ends. They lose. And before they’ve watched film or owned what needs to change…
The post is already up.
The highlight clip.
The posed photo.
Everyone wants exposure.
But exposure doesn’t fix bad shot selection.
It doesn’t make you defend.
It doesn’t teach you how to impact winning.
The camera should document the work.
It shouldn’t become the reason for the work.
It’s not simple and it’s not quick! It takes a lot of no’s and one person finally saying yes. For me, I started as an NAIA player, worked 12+ camps every summer, met people, followed up, and eventually earned a manager spot. The goal is not the title, it is getting in the room. Email programs, ask to help, work camps, volunteer, do whatever gets you around a staff. Once you are in, stay. Be early, stay late, be useful, and be someone they trust to keep around.
Dominoes offense is the future.
🔑 Zero-second decisions
🔑 1 can’t guard 2
🔑 The floor is lava
Basketball is becoming less about actions…
and more about how quickly you can create and maintain an advantage to hunt a GREAT shot.
The best offenses don’t let the defense reset.
They keep tipping the next domino.
@theportlandfire
One of the biggest misconception about elite players is they do really complex outlier things well - it’s actually the opposite they do the simplest thins at an elite level with high frequency bad for social media but good for winning