Wishing on a Star

People who have difficulty owning failure are bound to fall repeatedly. My mother taught me that many years ago. It's her personal branding statement, if you will. I've attempted to pass this truth down to my players because it's the primary reason most of them struggle through life. Somebody else is usually to blame when they mess up.  

Tiny was the best high school point guard in the area during his senior year. When I watched him play as a sophomore, I felt like he could start for my team. He was that good. I assumed back then that he would be a Division II recruit at the least as a senior, but I was wrong. Only three Division III schools knocked at his door, and none of the programs were elite by any means.

I saw this as a major recruitment opportunity. In general, it's extremely rare for a special point guard to fall into a coach's lap. Tiny definitely fit the bill as a "Prime Time Player." He would have easily been the best point guard in our region. My feeling was that he just needed some more exposure on a winning team to get some Division II offers. With this in mind, I scheduled a meeting with Tiny at his high school to make my pitch. It goes without saying that I was excited about the possibility of bringing him aboard!

My intuition has rarely failed me. It's scary how often I've been right about my assessment of a prospective player's personality long before he has suited up for a game. I try to feel for their energy and I hang on to every word they say. Any time a guy blames somebody else (namely a coach or teacher), for example, I expect major problems to ensue.

Me: You're settling if you go to any of those D3 schools that have spoken to you.
Tiny: I know. I'm looking into prep schools and possibly the JUCO route. People say I should look at playing football too, but I ain't really feelin' football like that.
Me: I didn't realize you played football.
Tiny: Yup. I played for a year and a half. I quit my sophomore year because the coach sucked. I played this year too but I don't get into football like that.
Me: Oh okay. If the prep school options are too expensive, you know you could come to us for free, right?
Tiny: Really?
Me: Yup. You get free lunch here. Your guidance counselor told me. Because of that you'd get a full ride to play for us.
Tiny: That's real good. I didn't know that.
Me: Lemme ask you a question, though. Why do you have a 1.7 GPA?
Tiny: I messed up my sophomore year. Just didn't  take school serious and plus, my Guidance Counselor messed me up.
Me: How?
Tiny: She told me to take College level classes even though those can't really help me get into the type of schools I want. They were cupcake classes.
Me: If they were so easy, why'd you get Ds in all of em?
Tiny: The teachers were horrible.