DON’T SETTLE 💪🏀

Right now there are kids getting ready to settle. They have watched many of there peers, celebrating making there dreams come true. While their dreams have stalled for now. They now have those around them, trying to convince them that it’s ok to settle. Right now many kids are at the crossroads of there athletic dreams. Right now kids are going to have to make some hard choices. Continue to chase there dreams or settle for what they believe is the next best option. There dreams have not arrived on the time table that they or others predicted. Now kids are going to find out if there dream was real or just a fantasy. A fantasy is something you use to make yourself feel good temporary. You pull it down off the shelf when you want to feel good about yourself and put it away when your done with it. But when your dream is real, you simply cannot bear to give up on it until all doors are closed. You fight until there are no other options. When Your dreams are real, they are staring you in the face everyday. Many kids are going to learn the truth about there dreams over the next few months.

The rationalization has already started for some right now. You will hear how only the educational part matters to some. You will hear how not playing at a certain school or level of play is not that important. You will hear how others whose dreams came true, did not do what was best for their long term future. You will hear about the priorities that were never a issue until the dream starting slipping away. You see there is nothing Rational about chasing a dream. There called dreams because there almost to good to be true. .. especially when they become a reality. Now many kids are going to have to get down and gritty to make there dreams come true. They are going to have dig down into the depts of there souls and ask… DO I REALLY WANT THIS! Can I fight a little longer, train a little harder knowing NO PROMISES AWAIT? It’s a question every kid who has not chosen a school has to ask themself these days. Some kids are approaching the end game and some kids are just beginning. Some kids are putting there Fantasy back on the shelf and getting on with life. While others kids refuse to pack their DREAMS away. They plan to play it out to the bitter end and see there dreams though.

Jen Louro and Ellyn Stoll were told on the last day of the recruiting period of there senior year to move on. There dreams were over. They didn’t listen and today they are captains at D1 schools. Emma Bruen, had the perfect excuse to give up on her dreams last year. She was told D1 was not everything. She got full aid to one of the best D3 schools and educations in the country. She could have easily went to that D3 school and said “I wanted a great education” but she would have been lying to herself. That’s because D1 has been a dream for her since she could dribble a ball. She made her dream come true 3 months AFTER her senior year. She is one of the 1.8% of players in D1 basketball these days. She had to wait a long time, longer than most can or will. She heard all the doubters and those telling her her to give up. You see a dream is worth fighting for sometimes. But it takes a burning desire and a willingness to never settle until all doors are closed. There are always kids willing to run the race to the end and let the dice roll. With this comes great pressure but kids are so much stronger than any of us really understand👍

We are in the Covid recruiting era. We are in the era of the transfer portal. It’s easy for a kid to give up and pack it in these days. You have people around kids telling them to be realistic about their dreams and hopes. There are kids who have been convinced time has run out. That’s because they are not seeing clearly and most importantly forgetting to surround themselves with dreamers like themselves. Nobody has ever said making a dream come true is easy. If it was easy everyone’s dreams would come true. But staying the course is easy when you truly believe and are surrounded by others dreaming with you; even when things look bleak. It’s during these times that kids and those around them must refuse to settle. It during these times a kid has to go a little further down the road to see the light. I believe every kid should go a little down the road before we tell them to stop dreaming. So to all those kids waiting for their moment in the sun… work harder… think positive thoughts… stay focused and believe ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE…. because I have seen it over and over and you too can be the next big story of your willing NOT TO SETTLE 👏👏🏀💪