THE DISEASE OF CHASING STATUS!
It’s as clear as day as we approach the start of the high school season and grammar school basketball season. That there is a growing disease spreading thought out the country. It’s the disease o chasing status. This disease is about and has killed many a future. The is no real cure for the disease of chasing status. Once it sets into a family or kid. There is usually no going back.
These days I’m seeing more status chasing by kids and being encouraged by parents in all my years watching high school basketball. Status chasing use to be for the few players with special talents. It was reserved for those with big ego’s and players being hyped up. While the average talented, even D1 player was in the gym trying to get better. Well these days it seems most of the so called great players are not so great. They brag about P5 offers and end at Mid majors. Kids who once had dreams of playing D1 are watching the dreams slip away and don’t realize it. Why is all this going on? The ego is a dangerous thing. It can lead a player down the road of disappointment. Chasing hype usually comes from a lack of discipline and understanding the recruiting process.
These days it’s all about keeping up with jones. One kid gets a tweet and another kids parents are upset. One kid decides to to play EBYL and they wear it like a badge of honor while other kids are jealous and what the same thing, even if not what is best for them. These days chasing status is way more important than developing one’s talent. This is where so many kids are getting it wrong. That’s because most kids, trainers and parents have not figured it out yet. College Coaches are no longer recruiting potential. Being ready now, not later is most important. Unfortunately too many high school kids are getting ready to learn hype means nothing if the game has not developed. A player must have both.
You take the Shore 2027 class. Right now there is one player with sure fire real D1 offers( Kylee Beam) . Tatum Sharpe has D1 offers but they are far from D1 lock offers. Then after that. Not a single player in the 2027 class in the Shore has real offers. Now people don’t question me regarding this because everyone knows my track record in such matters. But what do you notice about this group as a whole? They want to visit colleges, they don’t train consistently. They are injured way too often. They worry about the things that don’t matter most. But that’s not what is doing them in. There are two big reasons. First they don’t realize the recruiting season for them is OVER until the spring. Nobody is picking up an offer until teams see what the Transfer portal is offering. Juniors will find the recruiting is going to be very hard and will test their nerves. It very important they understand if they find a program they like who offers. They’d wise to take that offers. Because in 3 months that offer may not be there, in fact I say in most cases it won’t be there.. These are the reasons I tell players you better focus on developing. Your game better be right come DECEMBER, it’s the only way to keep hope alive at this point… your parents and coaches can make all the excuses. It’s not going to help you solve your recruiting problems. You game must be on point NOW.
What is there to say when 7th and 8th graders. Not future stars but talented kids. Talk about the McDonald All American Game. Talk about NIL money, player rankings. This is the disease of status at its best. These players have god awful inner circles. They never tell the kids or their parents that truth. They talk about how a kid will get attention, free shoes and gear. They don’t talk about developing and learning to over come adversity. You have 9th graders playing on great HS teams and complaining about playing time. Why? Status chasing, they want the clicks and hype and the parents live for it. You have talented kids choosing schools so they can be the man. You have AAU coaches telling kids they are going to be the face of their program. I wonder what they told the other 9 players. Average players jumping from team to team. These are botvD1 lock players or even close to that yet. But here we are, everyone chasing status. Becoming a better player is secondary.
When you talk to parents. They all talk about how they want their child to develop. But I have been around you see. I know truth comes by ones actions. The disease of chasing status is ruining lots of careers. I’m not sure if we can put this problem back in the bottle. Right now I know a lot of good and yes talented kids are going to pay the price and THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW IT
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