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Post by hsrose on May 9, 2013 18:18:03 GMT -6
At the new school where I am now coaching there is an 8th grader coming in, 6'4", 200, size 16 shoes. Dr's say he should be 6'8" when he's done, there are 7-footers in his family. I'd think that there's every chance he could be 260-280 his Sr. year. The HC has ref'ed some of his basketball games and says that he moves well, works hard, great attitude, and is aggressive. He's been playing youth ball for 4 years and loves the game. The school is small, 750 students, and the team has not been very successful - new HC and 7 new staff this season. The player will almost certainly play basketball as well, don't get many 6'4"s much less 6'8"s in a small school. I know theres a lot more than just size, but I can't coach a kid to 6'5-6-7-8". I know the kid and think that he can do great things here. I think he could do great things at the size he is now, much less when he's done growing.
There is time with this kid, but my concern is that the coaches (and me) will not be up to the challenge of making this player reach his potential, we don't see kids like this very often. If at all.
What things would you be looking at doing to ensure that he can make it to a DI program? I know that this kid could be special and really help the program, but if he does what I think he can, he can help some major college somewhere. What would you do to keep his head in the books and in the game? Where do you play such a kid (we're a 4-3/pro I/split...for now at least)? What kind of weights program? How would you manage this kid so that he has a legitimate shot at going much farther than chopping wood in the forest for a living? What do you do to ensure that the village raises this kid right?
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Post by Coach Huey on May 9, 2013 19:22:08 GMT -6
you do the same things you do with all your players ... you coach him up, you love him, you guide him, you train him. There's nothing out of the ordinary to do - I would like to think you try to maximize all your players, because, imo, that is what a coach does.
Now, this kid may be holding a golden ticket...
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Post by Chris Clement on May 9, 2013 20:18:19 GMT -6
I think you're way overthinking this. Just do your thing like always. If you make him a special case it will probably just cause problems. He's just a kid. A gigantic kid.
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Post by hsrose on May 9, 2013 20:41:06 GMT -6
The problem is that what has been done as 'normal' here has produced 36 wins the past 12 seasons, 1-9 last year, best year is 5-5. Change is very hard here so far. I don't think anyone here has seen a bronze ticket, much less a golden one.
My first 2 seasons at the HS level we had a kid who is an NFL RB and we just basically got the heck out of his way, we were not able to coach him, the school had never had a kid like that. Weights and conditioning and the program were based on Johnny Average, Superman comes along and we were pretty much baffled. They used him well, won a lot of games, but coaching him, I'm not so sure. I remember the coaches talking about how they hoped they didn't do anything to harm the kid.
Treat him normally works when your program has kids that go on and play at DI/DII fairly often and the program thinks that way. But when the program has a hard time with everything I fear that the staff and basketball and school won't prepare him properly for what his future could be.
I don't know, I'm not really going worry about it, I won't have him until he's a sophomore, maybe, and will have him for just that one year.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2013 23:01:01 GMT -6
Coach him the best you can. Stress fundamentals. Get him into camps and things to show him off to college coaches--that stuff will do more to get him noticed than any games you win or film you send out. Make sure every Division 1 school in the nation hears about him by the end of his sophomore year. As far as positions go, he sounds like a probable freshman starter at TE/DE for you if he's got some speed. Maybe a flanker/h-back if he's really fast. When I was growing up, I played against 2 different TEs who are now starters in the NFL (including one who will probably be a HOFer) and they were about that size in the 8th grade: one played TE/DE in HS and was recruited as a DE, while the other was a Tebow-like QB in HS.
Don't put too much pressure on the kid too soon, though. Yes, he's already big, but doctors can be wrong about projecting his growth for later. They told my parents I'd eventually be 6'4"-6'6" when I hit 6'1" in the 7th grade. When I graduated HS, I was only 6'1.5" Remember that he's just a freshman and don't beat him up too early or put too much on his shoulders. I guarantee that when you get him in the weightroom, even though he might already be your strongest player, he won't be putting up truly elite numbers right away. Be patient and let him grow like any other freshman.
I was reading an article the other day on developing young Centers in basketball. One of the biggest problems facing young athletes who are so big at such an early age is that youth and HS coaches run them into the ground, pushing them physically in ways their bodies aren't prepared for, which often causes chronic foot and back problems that limit and shorten their careers later (look at Greg Oden, Sam Bowie, and Bill Walton in the NBA). One of the things the trainers and coaches profiled in the article stressed was closely monitoring the kids' feet: if their big, fragile feet start hurting at all in practices or workouts, they rest the kids in order to save them for later. If he starts complaining about sore ankles, knees, or back issues, I'd maybe even treat those issues similarly--unless you get the sense the kid's being a pu$$y about it.
Sounds like a heck of a player to have coming down the pipe, though.
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