Athletes who only play Basketball

I don't have any facts to back up this claim, but I bet the percentage of guards (and maybe smaller forwards) that DIDN'T play HS FB would be pretty small. For example, I remember watching a video of Allen Iverson on Youtube or some other site like that. He was a HS QB, and was a beast running with the ball.

I believe Allen Iverson was a complete stud on the football field. YouTube him. I think his high school highlights are all over the place.

We fought this a bit. I don't give up on this issue, but I know that I wouldn't want a lot of the bball players at our school on the football team. Too soft.

I believeAllen Iverson was a football player of the year in Virginia as well as Mr Basketball.

Randy Moss was a heckuva HS hoops player.

I also remember reading somewhere/seeing a pic of LeBron James playing TE or something like that in HS.

I have only known one kid who toldme he was not going to play football to concentrate on hoops that actually did anything in the fall to get ready for basketball. He would be in the auxilary gym shooting or conditioning 3-4 times a week after school until we got done with football practice. But for him there are a dozen more who are just blowing smoke.

Dave Winfield was drafted in all three sports.

have had a few we coaxed outta the gym. one had never played football ever. i had to put his pads in his pants the first day of practice. he got a 4 year ride to a small school, after playing 12 games in his whole life.

two things i always tell them when i'm working on them.

#1 - in d1 football alone there are 85x110=9350 schollies; d1 basketball 13x150=1950 schollies. roughly 5x more football schollies than basketball, and thats what every kid thinks he's gonna get.

#2 - to piggy back on #1, there are a million 6' guys out there who think they can play basketball, and they may be right. however at 6', you limit what you can do on the court and most hs kids can't do it well enough for a basketball ride. but if you are 6', you can play any skill position and play it well. thereby increasing your chances at a football ride. or if you are 6'5 230 lbs hs post, you will never play basketball after hs. but your chances of playing de or te in college are really good.

bottom line, you have to work on them starting as freshmen and hammer them all the time with the stats. you will get some and some you won't.

The scholarship is a nice angle, BUT, if the kid is "working for a scholarship"....well, chances are he doesn't have a shot. That is not the mindset of a scholarship athlete. A scholarship athlete is working to IMPROVE and to WIN, not to "get a scholarship".

I have found that baseball is much worse than basketball in the amount of kids who "specialize" to get the scholarship (that doesn't exist)

That said, I do think it is a bit of a disservice to the kids to try and say "HEY LOOK" _______________ (Iverson, Lebron, Winnfield, Ronald Curry etc ) all were multi sport athletes, so you can do it too....because the odds of one of the kids that we are coaching being as athletically gifted (run, jump, throw, anticipate, brain processing speed, kinesthetic sense, hand eye coodination, explosiveness, pride, etc. ) as any of those guys is so minute.

Many kids who I see play only basketball are weak physically and mentally. It just seems as if these kids don't understand how to play on a "team" nor to compete and I mean compete, not just jack up some bad shots. EVERY guard I have ever seen not play football, struggles BIG TIME with weakside boards and the converse is true for those who do play football.

Coach 5085, very well stated.

Football = 11 spots, two platoon system 22 spots
Basketball = 5 spots, maybe 7-8

The above argument MAY work for a kid who you know is #12 on the hoops depth chart.

I had a kid who broke his leg pretty badly as a soph during week 2 of football. His rehab pushed well into basketball. He got gunshy, as he says basketball was his first love (which is fine by me for a kid to say that as long as they still play football). Didn't play as a junior, and we could have really used him. He would have had a starting spot as a LB or OL. Waited for basketball and sat is butt on the bench the entire year. I could have told him that, but of course that wouldn't be nice to squash his dreams. I did tell him he would get playing time in football, but he didn't see the connection I was trying to make (you're never gonna touch the floor in hoops). Maybe he'll wise up next season...........he could be a contributor. And the kicker is that he was really starting to come into his own and make a name for himself in football before he broke his leg. I felt bad for the kid.

Gotta love kids eh........

Ultimately, I have always said that the only reason NOT to play football is because you don't want to play football. Any other reason is pretty much worthless.

Unfortunately, for us footballers, the truth is basketball is more fun. It leads itself to more "fun" situations (scrimmage type situations). Working a trap chute...not that fun.

RUN THE SPREAD AND THE 3-3-5!!

Kidding.

I think "fun" is a relative state-of-mind. What's "fun" for Bobby Zero isn't going to be fun for Jimmy Nil. You want to build your team around guys that think blocking and tackling are fun, and guys that think the physical nature and intensity of football are "fun." Contrary to what some would have you believe, these kids STILL exist.

If I have to change my systems or philosophy simply to get "athletes" out, then I am missing the point I think. Football is special,and it's not necesarily for everyone. I don't want to sell out trying to get every type of athlete in the school to like football. They can go play "scoreless soccer" if they want to feel good about themselves and have fun 100% of the time.

It's very frustrating to get a great athlete who is soft. Everyone says "U GUTTA FIND WAYZ 2 UZE DAT ATHLETE, COACH...DUH!"...but if he ain't a football player, he AIN'T a football player. There are certain elements that make up a football player, and courage and love for contact are essential, in any given situation.

I think you can make things "fun" simply by knowing when to lighten up on occasion, by having good team-building stuff before and during the season, and all of those little things.

It's like someone else here said..."if they don't wanna play, they don't wanna play." I would never change our philosophy or approach to the game just to get a basketball player or two to come out (for example). It just isn't worth it in the end. They'll always be the "basketball guy who plays football" rather than a true football player. If you have guys that TRULY play both and are dedicated to both, then that is great. We've had some of those guys too, and they are typically great leaders, great athletes, ane great in the classroom...but they are a more rare breed.

I would like to nominate lochness for quote of the year! Awesome post!