“When everyone zigs, zag.” ~ Marty Neumeier, author of Zag
Hey there!
“Sadly just playing hard is a skill now.”
That’s the exact text I got from a Division I coach this week when I asked him his thoughts on a player.
Think about that. Playing hard is now considered a skill because so few players actually do it.
College coaches get hundreds of emails a week. So, they have to quickly narrow down the list of potential recruits by position, height, GPA. If you’re a guard who can’t shoot, you’re clearly out. But even if you are a knockdown shooter, you could still be just one name in a stack of 50 kids who look exactly like you.
So, what can make you different? Stand out?
That same coach told me, “We’re looking for players who can do more than shoot. Players who aren’t one-dimensional.”
I was a career 38% three-point shooter at Colgate, but that’s not why I stayed on the floor. I played because I impacted the game when my shot wasn’t falling. Playing hard was my superpower. I’m talking about fighting for offensive rebounds over bigger players, talking on defense when everyone else is quiet, and shutting down the other team’s best player.
I believe that superpower is the reason I’m playing pro.
One of my teammates here in Spain who plans to be an agent told me something interesting. He said if a player isn’t putting up huge scoring numbers, good agents highlight their “invisible” impact. They show clips of deflections, defensive rotations, screen assists, hard box outs.
Honestly, these skills don’t take a lot of talent. They do require effort and intelligence, and college coaches notice them immediately.
Here’s a simple test: Does your coach put you on the other team’s best player, or hide you on their worst? I always wanted the toughest matchup. I wanted my coach to know he could count on me to make the other team’s best scorer miserable.
Most guys play hard when they’re scoring. Watch a player sprint back on D after making a big shot. Suddenly, they play with more intensity. But do they play hard when they’re missing, the refs are bad, and their teammates keep turning it over? That’s the kind of players coaches want on their team.
A coach can find ten kids who made eight threes in an AAU weekend. It’s much harder to find the guard who blows up a dribble handoff, takes a charge, or gets blocked near the basket and still sprints 90 feet to stop a fast break. Those clips don’t go viral, but they get you minutes. And you need minutes to get stats, and you need stats to play at the next level.
My advice, if you play JV, be the player fans look at and say, “Why isn’t she playing varsity?” If you play varsity, be the kid everyone’s thinking could play in college - even on a night you go 1-for-7.
So yeah. Sadly, playing hard is a skill now. Make it your skill.
Best,
HLA Alicante Spain Pro League
P.S. Serious about standing out? Check out our free resources. I'd start with our 18-page, comprehensive player self-assessment.
