Basketball Team Selection Criteria

This document was contributed by Mark Williams, Head Boys Basketball Coach, Fremont High School, Fremont, Nebraska

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FREMONT HIGH SCHOOL
TEAM SELECTION CRITERIA
BOYS BASKETBALL

“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”

We are very proud of our program here at Fremont High School and are also pleased that so many players want to be associated with our teams. However, to maintain the level of success we have enjoyed, squad selection becomes a necessity.

There are many factors that enter into the selection of members for all of our Boys Basketball squads. This process is probably one of, if not the toughest part of coaching. As coaches we try very hard to be fair in our judgments, as we fully realize the athlete’s desire to be a member of our teams and the disappointments associated with not making the squad.

It is impossible to make a purely objective evaluation, based entirely on the mastery of basketball skills, or any other criteria. Too many other things have to be considered in order to maintain a successful program. Consequently, subjective evaluations are basically opinions and are open to many arguments both for and against these evaluations. Please keep in mind that the coaches have been hired as professionals to make these types of decisions. Also realize that the coaches want to make the teams and the program the best they can possibly be and will not exclude players they believe will accomplish this in the end.

Coaches will make selections based on the following general guidelines:

1. Players that will make our teams better.
2. Players we believe have a realistic chance to play varsity basketball at some point in their career.
3. Players that fit the available positions for the greatest benefit of the team.

More specifically, coaches will consider:

1. TALENT/ PHYSICAL ABILITIES/ MASTERY OF FUNDAMENTALS

• How well has he mastered the offensive skills or shooting, passing, dribbling, and screening?
• How strong is he and does he like to rebound?
• Does he look like he will grow or has he reached growth potential?
• How quick are his feet and his reaction time?
• Does he have the ability to think and react quickly?
• Does he like to play defense?
• If he has any size, can he play the forward position as well as a post position?
• If he is a forward, can he handle the ball well enough to play guard or is he big enough to play post?
• If he is a guard, can he go inside and post up his defensive man?
• Is this guard a leader?

2. EFFORT/ WILLINGNESS TO WORK

• Must not be afraid of hard work, both in season and out of season.

3. WILLINGNESS TO LISTEN, LEARN, AND THE ABILITY TO APPLY WHAT IS LEARNED.

• Can he be coached or does he seem to know it all?

4. SELF DISCIPLINE

• Is he on time?
• Can he work hard on his own without having someone looking over his shoulder to push him?
• Is he a troublemaker on the court? At games? In class? At lunch? Etc…

***   PLAYERS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO DO ALL THE THINGS THEIR FRIENDS DO!

5. CONDUCT

• What behavior does he display towards the school, administration, teachers and other students?
• What is his attendance record, past and present? Tardies? Detentions?
• What kind of grades does he have, past and present? Will he have trouble with eligibility?

6. ATTITUDE

• Has he quit the Reserve or JV team after he had been selected?
• What will his attitude be if he is not likely to be a starter?
• Does he dislike losing or does losing not seem to bother him?
• Is he a team player, or is he all for himself?
• Will he be willing to accept any role in order to benefit the team?

(Example: Starter, 6^th man, practice player, etc.)

• Does he have great desire on and off the floor to be the best that he can possibly be?

In addition the following things are also considered:

• How many returning starters do we have?
• How many lettermen are returning?
• Has the player played on the 10^th grade or JV team?
• Have there been any transfers into the district and what level of proficiency do they display?
• What kind of offense/ defense do we want to run this year?

By no means is this an all-inclusive list we use to evaluate players but it does cover many of the things we look for in the selection of our teams. We strive to use our best possible professional judgment, and if we error, we try to do so by keeping more players on squads, rather than less.

As always, we appreciate and value each student as an individual, but will base all decisions on what is best for the TEAM.