He Took His Awful Game to the Pros

“He is NEVER going to be any good, don’t even waste your time.”

Anyone who has ever played high school basketball knows that unless you are 6’10”, can dribble like Chris Paul and can shoot like Larry Bird, it can be hard to get noticed, especially the higher level of play.

You were the star on your high school team? Welcome to Division III, where you might not even see the floor.

However, even though many players go from high school stars with dreams of the NBA to bench warmers on small schools, sometimes unknown players can make good and get paid.

Consider the story of Zach Freeman, a player from Bloomington Normal High School’s class of 2003, who tells how he managed to take a Division III roster spot right into a pro spot playing in Germany, despite being described at 14 as “NEVER going to be any good”. Freeman managed to get signed using the same means that high school players should use to get recruiting to a high school:

After sending game tapes and highlight clips out to several agents from all over the world, I signed with an agent in Duesseldorf, Germany, giving him exclusive rights to me as a player. On July 26th, 2007, I departed for Germany, with a one-year contract to play for Phoenix Hagen of the 2.Bundesliga Basketball League.

In the case of high school players, they should be sending game tapes to coaches and assistant coaches, but the real take aways from Freeman’s story is that you have to be willing to shop yourself and you can make money playing ball, even if you never sniff the NBA and you played DIII ball.

How to Get Recruited To Play College Basketball 101

Consider these points when you are trying to get recruited to play college basketball, and players (and parents) should consider picking up the excellent book, The Sports Scholarships Insiders Guide (Getting Money For College At Any Division) from Amazon or your preferred bookstore on the corner.