LBoogie's The Real 411

Recently I was at a tournament sitting on the baseline, notepad in hand doing what I do and a parent walked up to me and asked me “How do you evaluate players”? Hmmmm…good question if you really think about. Of course I answered the with first thing that came into my head and said, “With my eyes”.  Yeah, I know I could have come up with something a little more substantial but I honestly never really thought about like that.

Let’s be honest there is no formal training or licensing program to be come a basketball scout and honestly in this day of  social networking and internet media anyone sitting in the bleachers with a Twitter app on their phone can become a basketball scout in their own cyber-realm.

For me becoming a scout was the natural progression of a true gym rat..from player, to coach, to event operator, to scout.  I have always been fascinated with the technical side of all sports, I was extremely fortunate to have grown in the family that I did..my grandfather Dr. Roscoe C. Brown was a prominent educator and has a little girl I would spend time in his office at NYU reading books about sports history, philosophy and physiology. Even as a little kid, I would head back to Queens to try out my new technical knowledge on the playground against because even then I hated to lose.

Over the course of my coaching career I have been able to get to know and work with many of the top scouts in girls basketball, I am always open to hear  opinions of people that a respect on professional level.  We all have unique perspectives and I enjoy exchanging information with them on a regular basis.I know I have a preference for athletic wing/post players that defend(actually any player that plays real defense) they catch my eye immediately when I hit the gym.

I do not evaluate high school players, I evaluate college prospects, meaning that I looking for how a player’s  skill set can fit into the college game, at whatever level. With this in mind it is easier to evaluate players in the club season than it is in high school…in high school most players are not playing their college position i.e. a 5-11 post player is a wing guard in major DI.

High school stats mean nothing to me, all though I can appreciate a great performance, it must be kept in perspective when evaluating a player. Recently, I received a phone call about a kid that needed to see since it came from someone I respect I decided to check it out.  I did some research and saw that she had a been putting up numbers, high double-doubles. After evaluating the player it was very evident that her double-doubles were a result of standing under the basket and making layups or getting put backs from her teammates missed jumpers. In the open court, she could not dribble or display any speed or athleticism..her overall game lacked fundamentals, triple threat, passing, shooting and basic position defense.  So when I called and cussed my contact out for sending me to see this player, I was shocked to hear that her parents thought they would be waiting for calls from Debbie Ryan or Pat Summit…WHOAAAAA!!! I told him that if they were interested I would speak to them and give them a detailed scouting report, because I am all about keeping it real and trying to help players find the right fit.

As the high school season comes to a close,  I am really looking forward to following players in to the club season this spring and summer.  I have talked to a ton of players and their parents during the season, I hoping some have taken my advice to heart about what they need to work on for the club season, you know I’ll be watching.

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