FROSH PERSPECTIVE
More and more freshmen are being counted on to play leading roles in both the college and high school ranks. Here, several top coaches talk about how to help them grow up quickly.
By Dennis Read
Dennis Read is an Associate Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: dr@MomentumMedia.com
New draft rules closed off an immediate NBA career for elite members of the high school class of 2006, forcing them to spend at least one year on a college campus. And what a year they had, with freshmen Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and Daequan Cook leading Ohio State University to the national title game and University of Texas freshman Kevin Durant taking collegiate player of the year honors.
Since regaining NCAA varsity eligibility in 1973, freshmen have been a significant, if erratic, part of college basketball. After all, Carmelo Anthony helped Syracuse to a national title in 2003, and there was the Fab Five at Michigan in the early 1990s. On high school courts, every season brings numerous 14 year-old phenoms to a varsity squad of upperclassmen.
But succeeding as a freshman at any level requires more than raw talent. Even the best players can have trouble adjusting to a higher level of play and new teammates and coaches. In this article, college and high school coaches explain how they've helped their outstanding freshmen by evaluating each player's strengths, enlisting the aid of returning players, and preparing them for the wall that all freshmen eventually hit.
Off On The Right Foot
The process of getting a freshman ready for a big role often begins well before they set foot on campus. Whether it's analyzing whether a 14 year-old is ready to compete at the high school varsity level (see "Are They Ready?"), or getting an 18 year-old college freshman ready to play right away, coaches agree it's never too early to start preparing.
Last season, for the first time in his 20-plus years as a high school head coach, Rich Boyce of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., had two freshman starters—one of whom, guard Kyle Boswell, lead the team in scoring. To prepare his two young players for what lay ahead, Boyce spent a lot of time over the summer talking with both about the importance of fitting in.
"I told them, 'Your teammates have been in the program for two or three years, and you're getting to play in your first year,'" Boyce says. "'So there will be times when you should defer to the older guys—even if you don’t quite see things their way.'"
"Kyle, in particular, had played a lot of high quality basketball, but I told him, 'You still need to listen to what these guys say,'" Boyce continues. "They know our system and what we do. If you have questions, you don't always have to come to me, you can go to them, too. By doing so, they’ll see that you want to learn and be part of the team."
Larry Hunter, Head Men's Coach at Western Carolina University, says one of the keys to assimilating freshman Nick Aldridge (who ended up leading the team in scoring and earned All-Southern Conference honors) and his classmates was having them on campus during the summer. "We had a senior who was kind of like a big brother to our freshmen," Hunter says. "He spent a lot of time with them, showing them how to work hard in the weightroom, and studying and socializing with them. He was always there for them, which was very helpful."
At Edison, Boyce used summer league games to introduce his freshmen both to their new teammates and a new style of play. "Our returning players could see these freshmen were pretty good and that we were going to need them to win games," he says. "And when the seniors would take the freshmen out for pizza or to a movie, they saw that they were good kids, too. After a while the freshmen started joking around and having fun, and in about three weeks it didn't matter if someone was a senior or a freshman-they were all just Edison basketball players."
At Texas, Head Coach Rick Barnes knew there would be little time for a feeling out process last season since he knew early on that at least five of his freshmen would likely be in the Longhorns’ regular rotation. "The first thing I told my coaches was that we're never going to mention to these guys that they're freshmen," Barnes says. "We decided we weren't going to allow anyone to use their age or lack of experience as an excuse. They came here to play right away and we were giving them that opportunity. It was our job to get them ready."
On The Court
Once practice starts, the intensity turns up several notches for both the freshmen and the coaches who are trying to get them ready. With so many freshmen and no experienced junior or senior leaders on last year's team, Barnes and his assistants spent more time than usual teaching the ins and outs of the Texas program. Barnes talked with his freshmen about everything from big picture concepts like leadership and being a good teammate, to how to get ready for a game—what to do at the pregame meal, the procedure for pregame warm-ups, and how to read scouting reports.
Many coaches believe the first step is getting freshmen used to much more demanding practices. "In a lot of ways, just learning how to practice is a big thing for young players because they’ve never before had to play at a high level on a consistent basis," says Ron Niekamp, Head Men's Coach at the University of Findlay. "Initially, they don't realize their definition of playing hard is much different than a senior's. So when they’re not playing hard, you have to point that out to them."
After often being the go-to guy in high school, it can be tough for a college freshman to get used to being just another player. Hunter addresses this by telling his freshmen to worry about what they're doing on the floor—not where they stack up when competing for playing time.
"I tell younger players, 'Don't panic if you're not first in every drill or running with the first unit immediately,'" Hunter says. "'You have to earn those things. Just have confidence that if you work hard, good things are going to happen.'"
A common trait among successful players, regardless of age, is that they don't shrink away from challenges. Most, in fact, want to do more than they should, and it’s up to the coach to make sure they’re not asked to do too much.
For Boyce, this meant playing Boswell at two-guard instead of putting him at the point. "He certainly could have run the point, and he probably will a lot more next season," Boyce says, "but we didn't want to put the responsibility of running the offense on his shoulders right away."
Niekamp, meanwhile, did start a rookie at point guard. However, he also worked a sophomore point guard into his regular rotation so freshman Marcus Parker wouldn't have to carry the load by himself.
"It was important that we weren't asking Marcus to play 38 minutes a game," Niekamp says. "When he struggled, I could pull him out and let him watch from the sidelines. That way he could get a better perspective on what was happening on the floor and I could talk with him about it. Plus, having someone challenging him for playing time kept him focused."
Even though he had the freshman calling the plays, Niekamp made it clear that he didn't expect Parker to be the team leader. "We don't expect a freshman to have the same leadership qualities our juniors and seniors have, because a lot of those things extend off the floor-in the locker room, classroom, and in social settings," he says. "That really comes with maturity, and a lot of times 18 year-olds just aren’t equipped to lead like that yet."
Able To Adjust
For Barnes, much of October and November was spent addressing players' roles. "We made sure the guys understood where they fit into our team, but we also had to make them understand that roles sometimes change," he says. That even held true for Durant.
"Kevin started the season not really having a back-to-the-basket game, but by the end of the season he had it all," Barnes says. "Early on, we fed into what he did well, letting him trail the break and face the basket. Then, through individual work, we saw there was much more he could do. For instance, he knew how to pivot and he passed well, so we decided to put him in other areas of the floor where he could succeed. We also knew that if opponents double teamed him, he’d find the open man, and he did."
Barnes also says the Longhorns went with a much smaller lineup than he initially expected after another freshman-guard Justin Mason-played so well in practice that the coaches felt obligated to give him more time on the floor. "Just like players have to know their roles can change, as coaches we have to be able to adapt our thinking, too," Barnes says. "I don’t believe it's smart to ask people to do things they're not capable of, so every year we adjust our system to our players."
With five freshmen in his rotation, Barnes went into the season expecting the young Longhorns to experience some growing pains, and he was right. "We knew we were going to make mistakes early and that we had to be patient," he says. "For instance, although it's a skill we stress heavily during practice, we lost one game early in the year simply because we didn't block out after a free throw. Then we lost a game at Tennessee because of poor clock management. We were up by six or eight points, but our guys got caught up in the crowd noise and the way Tennessee was playing, and we lost the game."
Still, Barnes refused to let his team use youth as an excuse for their mental errors. "Afterward, I never told them I'd give them the benefit of the doubt because they're young. When I went into the film room the next day, I simply said, "This can't happen again," he says. "And the great thing about that group is they didn’t make the same mistake twice."
The Longhorns coaches also kept the playbook limited-especially early in the year—to avoid overloading their freshmen with too many different offensive and defensive sets. "I don't think we’ve ever been really complicated, but last year we definitely pared it down even more," Barnes says. "As the season went on, we added a wrinkle here or there, but overall we kept it very simple."
Bill Harris, Head Men's Coach at Wheaton College (Ill.), on the other hand, doesn't change much even if a freshman is playing a big role. "We don't shorten our playbook a lot," he says. "Most of the time, we'll say, 'This is what we do, and as soon as you’re ready to do it, you’ll find yourself on the floor. But until then, you’ll be watching.' This usually helps them learn quickly."
Someone To Look Up To
No man is an island, and even the best players will only go as far as their teammates let them. The actions and attitudes of teammates can often determine a freshman’s success or failure.
"We teach our guys that there's a difference between a collection of talented players and a good team," Niekamp says. "If your veteran players have a lot of character and can accept young players as equals, things tend to fall in place quickly. Having supportive older teammates permits a younger player to develop more rapidly and be have more success at a younger age."
Upperclassmen can also be an invaluable resource in helping freshmen deal with adversity. "When things don’t go well, it's one thing to hear about it from the coaches, but when you have players reinforcing those same things it means a lot more," Hunter says. "After a young player is chastised a bit, it can mean a lot to that player if an upperclassman puts his arm around him and says, 'Hey, I went through that. Coach is just trying to help you understand what you need to do to get better. You just have to listen, and hang in there and good things will happen."
Boyce believes having two freshmen on the varsity team made it easier for both players. "The seniors took them a lot of places, but there are things seniors are allowed to do that freshmen aren't," he says. "Having each other to hang out with helped a lot. There was always somebody there who understood how hard it was to be a freshman on the varsity team."
Against The Wall
If there's one universal factor in the freshman experience, it's hitting the proverbial wall. Playing a longer season with longer games against much tougher opponents eventually takes its toll on freshmen, but good luck convincing them of that beforehand.
"You can tell them it's a much more physical game than they're used to and that it's going to have an effect on them," says Janet Berry, Head Women's Coach at Buena Vista University. "They'll smile and nod their head, but they don’t really believe you. Then, sometime around the first week of February, you see some of them begin to drop off."
In addition to stressing the importance of proper nutrition, sleep, and hydration, Barnes took several other steps to keep his five freshmen from hitting the wall. First, he changed his practice schedule so the team typically had three days on followed by one day off, a major departure from previous years. Occasionally, he even gave them two days off after a game.
Days off usually meant little, if any, basketball work, although players did receive massage therapy treatments. They were expected to use the time to rejuvenate their minds and bodies and catch up on school work if needed. Some heeded the message better than others.
"Guys like Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin were really hard workers who wanted to stay in the gym late, and on days off they always wanted to come in and shoot or do something," Barnes says. "We eventually had to tell them, ‘We don’t want you guys coming over here. Just get off your feet."
The physical and mental demands on freshmen also seem to increase right at the time those players begin to wear down. For example, conference opponents who overlooked a new freshman during the first meeting may key on him the second time around.
"I think Kyle learned that although he was a big part of the team, he would have to fight through some rough patches along the way," Boyce says. "I told him, 'Kobe Bryant scores 30-plus night after night, but he still has games when he gets 14.' To help Kyle work through those rough patches, we watched a lot of film and tried not to be too hard on him. It wasn’t easy, but I think he’s going to be better for it. By the time he's a senior, he will have already seen everything there is to see."
And perhaps the best part of having a freshman starter is the years that follow. "It's always a difficult transition, but when we find a kid who is good enough to come in and play as a freshman it's worth the extra effort," Harris says. "We know we're going to have a great player at that position for three more years, and that’s a great feeling for a coach to have."
