The high school basketball season can be the shortest 4 months of a player’s life or the longest 4 months of a player’s life; it all depends on how the team is doing, how they're getting along with teammates, how they are performing, and their prospects for a post season run. For players with a dream of playing basketball at the collegiate level, it is important to remember to FINISH STRONG.
Regardless of whether your team is 19-2 or 7-14 going into February, the last month of the season can be an important one for both your development as a player and your future opportunities. Consider this…college coaches have to get out and recruit when they have time, around their game schedules. What if the coach from the school you really want to go to hasn’t been able to see you until this week? Does he really care if your team is leading the league and looking at a deep run in the play-offs or just trying to get to the end of the season and have it over? Not really; what he is interested in is seeing if you continue to play hard, are still a great teammate, and receive coaching even though things aren’t going the way you want them to go.
So don’t quit on the season, no matter how good or bad your team is doing. Try to learn something in the last few weeks of practice that will help you get better in the off-season. Treat every game as if it is the one that gets you to the next level, because it might be! Don’t go into a “me first” attitude on the court because you don’t think it matters if you win or lose because college coaches notice that sort of thing and at this stage of the recruiting process, they are making decisions on the little things because if they’re still watching you, they already know you can play.
Show them, and your teammates, that you will be the kind of player that everyone wants to play with no matter what the circumstance! Good luck the rest of the way.