(The thoughts and views below are those of the author and the author alone…They do not represent those of any other individual or entity.)
One of few things that can make the insanity and rhetoric of American Politics actually look tame is the overblown and misguided emphasis grassroots basketball annually places on player rankings. Hard to imagine such shallow thinking…right? Yet, once again, the debates, discussions and somewhat less than rational conversations have begun. Following each spring and summer of non-scholastic basketball all of the “experts” release their latest updates and….with tremendous fanfare…pronounce the anointment of the chosen few. Sadly, it’s an annual issue that distracts responsible parents, coaches and athletes from maintaining their big picture focus…sort of like a congressional hearing.
Common knowledge dictates that the initial step to addressing any problem is actually understanding what that problem is in the first place. Inherently, rankings are not evil nor are they an incurable disease. The problem lies in the reaction, response and imaginary value given such empty accolades. Rankings, because of the frailty and massive insecurity of the human ego, are afforded an absurd, inflated embrace among families, club/high school coaches and to a lesser degree, the players themselves. These lists lead normal people to lose their grip on reality and abandon most of the values that set us apart from the animal kingdom.
In the most literal sense, rankings serve absolutely no practical purpose. They don’t make an athlete a better prospect nor do they elevate her game. They won’t change the mind of any remotely qualified recruiter who has already chosen to go a different direction. They certainly won’t make a player taller…quicker…faster…stronger or more skilled than they actually are in the first place. Rankings won’t bring offers that weren’t physically earned on the floor and, in reality, could actually hurt if said player is perceived as failing to live up to the expectations of an assigned number on a meaningless list.
Rankings are opinion and entertainment…nothing more. Contrary to popular belief, rankings are not a recruitment tool for college coaches…at least not for any legitimately earning their paychecks. Given what’s on the line with today’s extensive budgets, salaries and program expectations in women’s college basketball, few competent coaches are going to place their job security in the hands of somebody else who, in turn, has their own capacity to pay the bills tied to the width and breadth of a subscriber list.
If Baylor, Connecticut, Notre Dame, or Oregon (2019’s Final Four) aren’t in love with the player ranked number one on any given list, they’re not going to be getting down on one knee and proposing marriage by scholarship. Conversely, should they develop a crush on a little known, unranked athlete and are convinced she can improve their team and represent the program, they’ll pull the trigger quicker than President Trump can tweet some of his foolishness.
Before we go any further, a word to the wise. Be careful not to confuse rankings with recruiting services and their evaluations. That’s a completely different conversation altogether. The liposuction the NCAA has conducted on the women’s basketball recruiting calendar has left very slim windows of opportunity to actually evaluate players in the most competitive settings. In utilizing these services, coaches are looking for reinforcement of their own constrained observations or additional insight on prospects from events outside their own off campus efforts both scholastic and non-scholastic. Further down the food chain, programs that may be budgetarily challenged look to services to assist in narrowing their scope and refining their own priority lists before committing limited time and money in pursuit of an individual or a specific position. Ultimately, on both ends of the spectrum, nobody is going to sign an athlete solely on the advice of a service. Not even the best of marriages possess that kind of blind trust. However, many utilize them to back themselves up after multiple rejections and disappointing echoes of the word “no” time and again from players pursued earlier in the process. Sort of like an “eHarmony safety net” for college coaches.
With both rankings and recruiting services, it’s also critical you look at the source of the message and the experience it’s author can call upon in their evaluation process. I promise you, some of the best fiction in basketball can be found in the creative claims of professional history among those producing information so many unknowing people wrap their arms around as basketball gospel. It’s nothing short of amazing to see the value that families and Club/HS Coaches often place on the opinion of individuals who never once recruited or evaluated prospects with their own coaching job on the line. Just “being in the gym” is hardly a highlighted bullet point on the résuméof a knowledgeable evaluator.
That’s not to say the thoughts of someone who has sat on that bench are all that much more valid. Remember, with rankings we’re still talking about opinion…there’s actually no such thing as “fact”. However, if you’re going to vest (waste) your energy and focus on rankings, at least do so with a grain (shaker) of salt given the minimal background that serves as the genesis of many of these ranking lists. Just this year we had an incident of theft and plagiarism among recruiting services with one evaluator (a former college coach) utilizing a subscribing Division – I school’s log in credentials to access another service’s information. That’s information and integrity at its very finest. It’s also a crime. Choose your sources and your opportunities wisely. Know the actual (and legitimate) qualifications of those wading in this cesspool before you give any credence to them. The audacity of some would make even Robert Mueller call for an impeachment of their credentials.
Unfortunately, rankings have a good friend and a partner in crime…social media. Sadly, having a platform (regardless of the network) that comes with no accreditation, boundaries or accountability is essentially the equivalent of providing an incubator for ignorance. The current epidemic emerging from Pennsylvania Avenue and various stops on the Democratic campaign trail should reinforce for you just how quickly and how wide a naïve narrative can spread. Add in the passion parents, coaches, friends or relatives have for an athlete and the posts focused on rankings begin to take on a life of their own. It might actually be entertaining if it weren’t for the tragic fact that many people rely on these unsubstantiated illusions as their personal version of the truth. Bet you didn’t know that the truth had multiple interpretations…did you? If the rankings themselves come with a disclaimer of any actual value or degree of validity, social media posts should arrive with a tsunami warning for an approaching tidal wave of stupidity.
Social media also fuels that ugly thing I mentioned earlier…ego. We all have it, it’s human nature. However, social media is to ego what scratching is to poison ivy. It doesn’t remotely help and only spreads the rash even further. People constantly hide their ego in social media under the guise of thanking someone. Nice try. If you want to thank someone for something you do so in person. But to post on any app “I’d like to thank…” is not actually being grateful. It’s making sure the rest of the world knows about it…and that’s ego in its purest form. High school and club coaches do it all the time when a recruiter, evaluator or media member comes to a practice. Are you telling me you didn’t thank them before they left the gym? You didn’t see fit to thank them again by way of an e-mail or text while wishing them safe travels? But you did find time to thank them by way of an “oh so personal” medium where anyone relevant would know that they were at your workout or game. Sorry, no matter how you paint it, that’s self-promotion rather than an appreciative acknowledgement. At least be up front and honest. Put up an emoji of a kid sticking their tongue out and saying “Guess who we had our the gym tonight? It’s the same on the scholarship side of things. Thanking college coaches publically for scholarship offers falls into the same thinly veiled category of spin…grandstanding through gratitude. Nothing wrong with bragging a bit, just don’t try to soften up your boasting by portraying it as something else.
Though I’ve drifted from the topic of rankings, I know someone is going to throw out the post season recognition argument. Simply making the argument itself devalues the legitimacy of the honors. If being on a ranking list is a key to your nomination, you better get back in the gym and get to work on your game. Athletes who are legitimate candidates for recognition, such as McDonald’s All American, don’t need a number by their name. Not every committee member (for any award) is going to have seen every player in the conversation come selection time. That’s why the size of those selection committees has grown over the years. Additionally, with the advent and growth of media in girls basketball, they’re also made up by many more individuals who actually have “eyes on”. Is there still some deadwood involved with various groups who aren’t in the gym? Absolutely, but not enough to water down the process.
The bigger issue are those committee members utilizing their position to promote their own events by selling the illusion that just participating will increase an athlete’s odds. Yeah, and flying into Los Angeles increases the odds of Jennifer Aniston checking me out…isn’t going to happen…but my odds are geographically much better. When someone is selling an event by the presence of a committee member(s), they’re telling you just how thin the event is in the first place. Then there’s also the committee members who seem compelled to remind the social media public of their lofty voting status in various posts as if it endorses or enhances their thoughts. How is that possibly relevant in observations about an athlete’s performance? Could it be insecurity or maybe our old friend ego…again? Seems to be contagious and everywhere. Genuine and secure people in the sport are focused on the basketball itself and the educational opportunities it can provide…that’s the cake. Awards, recognition and rankings are the frosting that, in many cases, can’t cover up for something lacking underneath. Plaques and trophies collect dust while the ink fades on certificates. Bona fide validation comes by way of a scholarship and a degree.
I owe you an apology for the detours taken on social media and selection committee behavior. Obviously they’re both considerable pet peeves of mine and could be entire commentaries on their own. And they will be at some point down the road but for now they do, occasionally, intersect the lost highway of annual class rankings. Let’s face it, the recruiting process is hard enough without meaningless diversions that can manipulate the thinking, perspective and decisions of a prospect and her family.
In the end, nothing is more important than getting that final choice correct. The outrageous and ever-growing transfer rate is glaring evidence that too many individuals are distracted by inconsequential peripheral criteria that ultimately has no value in finding that right “fit” and a place to call home. Sure, I appreciate the “compliment” a national ranking seems to be if someone feels you’re among the best at anything. Enjoy the moment, then immediately put it behind you and refocus…it means nothing. This isn’t basketball advice, it’s real world. Throughout your life resting on laurels can and will cost you in many, many ways, particularly if they are as empty as player rankings.
As always, I realize many out there will disagree with me and others will likely find my characterizations offensive. I certainly hope so. General George S. Patton once said “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” We need more thought and discussion, especially when it might ultimately benefit our youth. Notice I said discussion, not argument. It really is OK to disagree without thinking less of the genetic make-up and family tree of the other side.
Every word I’ve written here is absolutely correct. Not because it is “in and of itself”, but because it’s my opinion. We’re all entitled to that. This forum may not afford you the chance to voice your opinion to me in turn but one evening soon, buy a coach or a parent a beer and discuss it further. A player close to you may just end up benefitting by way of some constructive conversation and debate. Just be sure to leave my mother out of it, she already finds me offensive enough!
