The TRUTH About Playing College Basketball

We talked about the college level as well. And you know, how essentially I kind of brought up to how all these guys talk about the NBA, but you know, a lot of them haven't played college basketball yet. So, you know, what I'll say is, and kind of what we're talking about is that a lot of times, you know, the best player, like the best players in your area, there's a good chance they're gonna play at the d3 level. So we're kind of discussing, you know, the d3, d2, d1, d2, juco, like these levels, but also trying to understand how, you know, what the differences were. Because here's the thing, we talked about this before too. The top 5% of high school seniors who play basketball are going to play at the college level. 5% of them will play. Okay? So for you, what you need to understand about that is that if you're in that top 5%, like you can hoop, you can play, you're a really, really good player if you're in the top 5%. And again, there's not a huge difference between. Now obviously the top guys there, those high majors, the guys who are going one and done, they're on a different level from everybody else. Everyone else, though, very, very similar in terms of skill. There's going to be some differences in size and athleticism, but skill wise, there's not a big difference between that guy who's at the top of that, you know, maybe in the top 2% and a guy who's in the top 5%. Right. Like there's not a huge difference right there. So, you know, few of those top 5% though are going to, are going to play at the D1 level. Probably. Probably like, I believe it's 0.07 or 0.7 or 0.8 of those guys out of those 5% play at the D1 level. Most of the guys are playing at the D3 or D2 level. And so, you know, the chances are unless you play in a great basketball area, the or great basketball, you go to a great basketball school, the best players in your area, most of them are probably going to the D3 level. Most of them probably are. And here's the thing. I play with a ton of. Not a ton, but I play with, with numerous D1 guys throughout, played with and against numerous D1 guys between actual, like games, between, you know, between tournaments, between camps, stuff like that. I've played against a bunch of different Division 1 players. And you know, I was thinking about this yesterday. I was Kind of making a list of guys I played against. You know, the three best players I've played with or against are all at the D1 level right now. So one of them plays at Delaware, one of them plays at Princeton, one of them plays at St. Francis. And those are the three best players I've ever played with or against, just in terms of their skill, athleticism, like, you know, combination of those things. But the next two players in my top five are both at the D. At the D3 level, right? So one of them I played AAU with, he, you know, he ended up. He was a dude who just could flat out score. Like he could just get buckets on the perimeter. He was just, I mean, I saw him just light teams up when we played aau. He was light teams up and it didn't matter because teams knew what he could do. He would just light, just light dudes up. And you know, we would go like, we'd play against some D1 talent and he'd hold his own and like there were games where he would, he would dominate against guys who were going to the D1 level. And you know, he ended up, I know he had some, some, some low major interests at the D1 level, but he ended up going to a D3 school and you know, he, he ends up, I believe he led his conference in scoring this past year as a sophomore. And you know, he's, he's a guy who, who like you look at, and it's like this guy can just straight up hoop. Like he is a great player and again, you can see it kind of paying off down the line. But a guy who, who I. And here's the thing, I have D1 guys on my list below him in terms of how good I think they are. Like, I think he's better than some of those guys, right? He went to the D3 level the next guy. And honestly, you could probably switch these guys four or five, whatever you want it to be. The next guy Also on the AU team plays at the D3 level now. And he was a guy, another guy who was just, I mean, first team, all state, my state, like, just crazy good. And so he's another guy the D3 level. And he, this past year, at 45 points in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the D3 level, scored 45 points in a college game, right? And as a sophomore, like both of those guys are, I can see them being all American level players at the D3 level over the next couple years. And though, I mean, like, I said there are D1 guys on my. Who I would put below them that I played against. Like, that's how good. Like, people don't understand how good D3 basketball is. Like, depending where you play, it is great. And the thing that I'll tell people is that, like, you know, regardless of the level, if you can hoop, you can hoop. You know, there are plenty of guys who go Pro from the D3 level. I don't know how many of you guys watch Devonte Friga, right? On YouTube. But he. I mean, he's another D3 guy and he's going pro. Like, if you can hoop, you can hoop, okay? And another guy that you can look at, Duncan Robinson, who plays for the Heat now, but he went to Williams College in Massachusetts, the only school that he was giving him a spot out of. He did a postgrad year. He had a D3 offer from Williams College. So goes there, has a great freshman year, then gets recruited by a bunch of different D1 schools, ends up going to Michigan on a full scholarship his next year. First, I believe he was second player ever to go from a D3 school to a full scholarship at a D1 school, goes to Michigan, helps them, helps lead them to a national title game appearance, then goes to the Miami Heat and breaks the record for most three pointers in a game. Now he's playing in the NBA on a $1.4 million guaranteed contract. Like, that guy started off at D3 level. So the. There's a huge misconception when it comes to the levels of basketball where guys think a little D3 basketball is not that good. No, it's, it's, it's great, guys. Like any level college basketball is just. There's a lot of great players there. So in fact, to illustrate this more, there, like, there are D3 rosters, elite D3 rosters that are better than some low major D1 rosters. That, that's just a fact. There are some D3 rosters that are better than D1 rosters. Okay. And we can kind of do a deep dive into that. But like, I can name. I actually did some research on this a while ago on, you know, what, what the worst D1 team is in the country. And I'm thinking about that. That school right now that there are. I can name you 10 D3s right now. Who would beat that school? 10 D3s. Who would beat that D1 school. It's not about the level, guys. It's about the program that you actually are playing at. So that's just kind of you know what I was thinking of? A ton of D3 rosters that are better than D2 rosters. A ton of them. Ton of those elite schools are better than D2 schools in terms of the actual basketball being played there. So forget about the level of college basketball. If you can play in the college level, you can hoop. That's just as simple as it is. And, you know, that's why I always tell players to. I got another dm. You know, I believe it was last week or maybe this week it was. A player was asking me, he was like, hey, coach, like, I want to be a pro one day. Which, here's the thing, guys. I talked about this whole, like, guys say, hey, I want to play in the NBA. Like, I'll help you guys out. I'll answer your questions when you have specific. This is a good question he asked me. He said, coach, like, what can I do to put myself in a position to be a pro one day? Okay, that's a good question. He. So he. I told him, I was like, listen, you need to make sure that you focus on these. I gave him a couple skills he needed to have. And. And then I told him, I was like, listen, you need to make sure that you set yourself up to get to the best position for the college level. Keep your grades up. Like, give yourself the most amount of opportunities you have, because again, if you can play, you'll, you'll, you'll. The right eyes will find you in terms of the pro level. But when it comes to college, make sure you have the most amount of options possible. So a lot of these elite D3 basketball schools are also elite academic schools, right? So a school like Johns Hopkins, for example, that's one of them. A lot of schools in my state are that are elite. D3s are also the best academic schools. And so obviously you want to play there, you've got to have great grades. So what I say to players is, make sure you keep your grades up, because then when it comes time for recruiting, all that stuff, you have the most amount of options. And again, a lot of times you can end up playing at an elite basketball school that's also an elite academic school. And that all stems from you putting in the work in the classroom and not slacking off because, you know, because you feel like, oh, do you want to bust? Don't be that kid. Who's. Do you want to bust? Don't. Don't do that. Take what options you have given to you and figure out what's going to be the best of the best interest for you. But again, put yourself in the best position possible to play at the next level, okay? That kind of what it comes down to. So, you know, again, I don't want to come across as like saying, like, oh, you know, you know, you can't play at D1. Like, that's all I'm saying. I'm saying, understand that the level is just not everything, okay? It's not the whole thing. And also, there are guys who are going to play D2 basketball, who are going to play D3 basketball, who are going to get paid a lot of money to play basketball one day. Simple as that, okay? Whether that's in America, overseas, there are guys who are going to make a living playing at the D2, D3 level, gonna go on, and they're going to get paid for it, okay? That's the goal, right? Get paid. So if that's your goal, make sure again, you set yourself up to have the best chance to do that by obviously working on your skills. Obviously, we'll go back to where we started, making sure that you are working smart, you are taking the right approach to the game, and you have your goals, your vision that you're going after. You set goals that are going to push you. And at the same time, with those skills as you're working on, you develop your ability to impact winning. And you excel in the role that you have. You excel in those skills that you need to excel in that role and combine that with the stuff off the court. So you, you know, you keep your grades up now, you have all these opportunities for yourself, and at the end of the day, that's when you can prove yourself. You can hoop, you can hoop. That's what it comes down to. I want to hook you guys up with my free elite perimeter score workout. This workout is going to help you develop the skills that you need to be an elite scorer on the perimeter. And I'm going to send it to you guys completely free. All you need to do is click the top link in my description below. I'll get that right to you.