In this vlog, Elijah Bryant shares the ten pieces of advice he wishes he had known before becoming a Division 1 basketball athlete. The video opens with casual banter among Elijah, Ali, and a pet dog, then shifts to a structured rundown of the tips. 1. Work ethic – relentless effort and consistency are the foundation of any athletic career. 2. Mental strength – work with a mental‑strength coach, ask coaches for honest feedback, and turn weaknesses into strengths. 3. Recruiting process – be proactive: email every coach, send highlight reels yourself, and treat recruiting services (e.g., NCSA) with caution. 4. Academic discipline – maintain solid grades; they signal commitment and are required for eligibility. 5. Respect and character – treat everyone, from teammates to janitors, with respect; avoid social‑media missteps that could be used against you. 6. Friend selection – surround yourself with friends who push you toward your goals; you are the sum of your five closest people. 7. Nutrition and substance avoidance – don’t ingest anything that doesn’t improve performance; stay away from drugs and unnecessary supplements. 8. Lifestyle mindset – view being a D1 athlete as a full‑time lifestyle, embracing tough days and staying consistent over time. 9. Self‑promotion – leverage social media wisely, but keep a clean digital footprint. 10. Consistency over time – success comes from sustained effort, not short bursts. Elijah intersperses these points with personal anecdotes from his own journey (e.g., being a 2‑star recruit, working with a mental‑strength coach, traveling to Berlin for a shoot‑around) and emphasizes that the advice applies to any aspiring athlete, not just basketball players. The video ends with a motivational sign‑off encouraging viewers to adopt these habits.
Chapters
What 10 tips do I wish I would have known to become a Division 1 athlete?
Hi Stretch!
Hi Stretch!
Hi Blue! Say hi! Hi! Are you gonna miss me? Huh?
Are you gonna miss me? You gonna miss me, Nono?
Are you really, Nono?
I love you. I love you. Oh, there is a huge spider on our ceiling right next to that light. Did you get it?
Did I? Come on. Sorry, little buddy. I love you guys.
Kisses.
Give me kisses.
Someone tooted.
I don't know if it was Blue or his mom. What up guys, welcome back to the channel. So today's video— why do they have those in Israel? Like, I've never seen that anywhere else, the lock. It's pretty cool actually, but that's cute. Let me know in the comments why they have those lock things. Obviously to protect someone from stealing the car, but they don't have it anywhere else in America or in the world that I've seen. So today's video is going to be about what 10 tips I wish I would have known to become a Division 1 athlete. That's where they're doing the, um, COVID vaccine. And yeah, if you're asking your question, that's— is that where we play? Yep, that's where we play.
COVID vaccine right there. Almost forgot my mask.
What's this? Backpack. From Santa or you? No, it's for me. Oh, for you, for the holiday. Thank you, Ali.
Appreciate it.
What do you call it?
Kung Pao chicken. What?
I don't know what you're talking about, but I'll say it if I knew. What is he talking about? Sean, ask Elijah Bryant his project in the 8th grade. What was your project in the 8th grade? What was it about?
Which one? Oh, the— yeah, say it. What? Don't say it. The what?
Oh my God, that was scary.
What, what, what was that, bro? We better check the tire pressure. Wait, what? Now this.
Is a bathroom. We have none of the mumbo jumbo going on.
How do I get in here? Am I tweaking? Bathroom.
Today's video is supposed to be about my top 10 tips on how to be a Division 1 athlete, and number 1 is work ethic.
Anything worth Having is going to take blood, sweat, and tears regardless of what industry or what career path you're in. Who could they possibly be talking to?
John, how are you the captain? We have no Wi-Fi in the room.
No one has Wi-Fi in the hotel.
It's not just our team.
I'm revoking your captain card. You don't have the authority to take the phone call.
The second thing is mental strength. As you guys know, you have to have mental strength to be a Division 1 athlete. Personally, I've been working with a mental strength coach for the past 4 to 5 years, and like I said in my last video, it's one of the things you need to be doing, and not just as an athlete but any part of your career. I love it when you I know for sure one thing for me I wish I would have done before I was a Division 1 athlete is ask my coach what I need to work on. Like, they know you the best. Like, don't be prideful. Ask your coach, hey, I need to work on left-hand layups, or what do you— what's my scouting report against me? So you can turn those weaknesses into strengths and give you a better opportunity to get that D1 scholarship. Good morning from Berlin, Germany, because that's where I am. I forgot to tell you guys that. Next thing being a D1 player has to be the recruiting process, and I'll talk about that when I get back from shootaround.
See, let me see my—
he's asleep, but I actually need to tell you what he slept through the night.
Let me see him.
Hi, little buddy. Zus, what'd you do? Where did he come from?
What'd you do? Zeus, come on, Zeus. Yo, yo, leave Jello, leave Jello, leave Jello. No, Jello, uh, went somewhere else.
Zeus, you're better than that, Zeus.
Super close. They let us shoot like extra after and stuff. Blue.
Hi, Blue. Hi, Mizzy J. Hi. Hello.
Hello.
Hey. Hey.
All right, so college recruiting, stroking 18-year-old, 19-year-old, 17-year-old's ego at 18 is just not a good formula for success. When I say that, I mean, hey, this is coach. 'Billie Ann, we love you so much, we love your game.' Like, I feel like at that age we need to be humble, especially those people that are high level or ranked really high from these media outlets. The best players are gonna get the offers regardless. So sometimes it's kind of political, like everything in this world. You might have to go to some camps to be put in front of some of media outlets that say you're better than the number 30th point guard in the state. Like I said before, high school rankings don't mean a thing. Mind you, I was a 2-star coming out of high school. Through work ethic and hard work, I've surpassed many of those people that have been above me. So if you're not ranked as a high school player, don't worry about that. You need to worry about your work ethic and your mental approach and focus on those two things, and trust me, it'll be a lot easier. When it comes to like recruiting services like NCSA and all those other things, be careful. Because I used the recruiting service NCSA and paid a lot of money, and I don't know if it really helped. But what I do know is that I took the initiative to email every single coach that could find their email and send them my highlights. If you really want to be a Division 1 basketball player, Division 1 athlete, you need to take the necessary steps to get your film out there or let people know who you are, because they have so much on their plate from their team they have right now, from people they have to meet with, all their obligations So make sure you're doing everything in your possible hands to give yourself the best opportunity. The last thing you want as a player is to be, oh, you're so good to go to Florida, you're so good to go to Kentucky, or you're so good to go to these certain schools, but you don't have the grade. Grades in high school is discipline. Are you disciplined enough to study? Are you disciplined enough to ask your teachers questions when you don't understand stuff? Don't be that basketball player who has the most talent but can't keep their grades together. Don't be that person. Oh, and it's snowing outside. I haven't seen snow since Utah. I like the snow. In a time of like social media and all that stuff, learn to respect not only the people you're around but yourself. So like, don't put anything out there that could potentially be used against you. And also, treat the janitor as you would treat the President of the United States. These people talk, trust me. So treat everyone with respect. Choose your friends wisely. You're the sum of your 5 closest friends. So as you see, as you continue to get better, either your friends will continue to push you towards the gym or towards whatever your goals are, or pull you away. So make sure you're choosing the right friends if you want to be a D1 athlete. And my last two things for you to become a Division I athlete: don't put things in your body that aren't going to help you diet-wise, drug-wise. If it's not going to make you better than the next person, then don't put it in your body. And the last thing is understand that this D1 athlete thing is a lifestyle. There's going to be tough days, it's going to be hard times. Like, you're going to embrace the challenge and look forward and attack it right in the face. Thanks for watching. Consistency over time.
