What To Do When The Coach Quits and Leaves You Hanging

In response to my article, "Prepare Jr. for Adversity! “a parent wrote:

Larry - let me ask you this. My son was recruited to play at a number of D3 colleges, offered spots on three teams, decided on one. We had both verbal, and written correspondence confirming his playing on the team. Coach quits, new coach starts 3 weeks before school starts. We are committed, registered, paid and ready to move in. Son starts school with all the team members like the team already exists.

Does all the conditioning (5am), open gyms, study tables with the team up to season start this past week. Finds out he is not going to be rostered, cut actually. A year of being recruited, multiple offers, a press release confirmed by the prior coach about his being on the 2009-2010 team. New coach brings one kid from prior school, of course he makes it. Add insult to injury, my son and a teammate (6.8kid) both recruited, both came, both room together. He was kept. We are beyond belief, actually crazed at this point. Kid's just destroyed, humiliated. Adversity I get this I can't. This will about kill his chances for anything next. What would you do in this case? Talking to the coach would be total BS at this point - seen enough of other coaches do the "well his or that...."

For point of reference, kid is 6.4, Starter at a 2000 kid high school, Senior Team Captain, good stats, team finished top 5 in the state, only team to beat the team that won State, and two of those kids on that team are going Marquee Level D1. Would love to hear your comments.

Dear Anonymous (and son):

Wow! Believe it or not, I feel your pain! Here are my comments and suggestions:

Run to the roar!

This IS adversity! Let it make you, not break you. This could be a blessing in disguise. Did you know that there are many kids, some even have D1 scholarships, that do not even get a sniff of the court in their freshman year?

I talked with a parent this morning whose son finished HS in 2006 and attended his first college class just a few weeks ago. This young man also played his first collegiate BB games last week. By the way, he scored 20 and 26 points in the two games he played in and is well on his way to receiving a full college scholarship. He did not give up and neither should you!

After you and your son dry the tears, I have some good news tempered with some reality. The good news is that you do NOT have to give up on the dream. The reality is that you have got some work to do if you want to achieve the dream. The only guarantee is that you will get nothing if you do nothing.

If you can PLAY and you want to play, do NOT surrender without a fight! Your resume along with the fact that multiple coaches recruited you indicates that you have some ability and that there is a market for you.

It is difficult, but forget the past!

Coaches move, that is a reality that more athletes need to consider when involved in this process. This has happen before and it will happen again (not necessarily to you). College coaching is like any other job. Coaches get fired or move on to better jobs. This can happen at anytime; there is nothing that you can do about it. New coaches bring new systems and preferences for certain types of players; and as you are now aware, sometimes they bring players with them. It is not fair, but it is a reality in college sports.

Decide to do the WORK necessary to fulfill your dream.

Work hard to get good grades; there will be no success without them). This can also help to get scholarship money later if you need it. Stay in shape and work to improve your skill level. When the next opportunity presents itself, you have to be ready! Take advantage of everything that is available to you (i.e. tutors, athletic facilities, etc.). Get over the pain and attend the BB games. Study the teams, players, and coaches. Learn everything that you can. Perhaps you will discover a team in need of your particular strengths. Who knows? If you get invited to one of these schools next spring, you can impress the coach with your knowledge of his team and his system. Who knows? Look at it this way, whoever gets you for next season will be getting a more mature, stronger, better skilled player who has proven that he can handle college level work and has four years of playing eligibility left. That gives you an advantage over some graduating HS seniors!

Expose yourself.

There is a school out there for you; this just was not the one. Start by contacting the coaches that were interested in you. Find out what you need to do to get back on their lists for next season. Contact the coach who changed jobs and let him know of your situation. You may not fit in his new situation, but he does know other coaches. He thought enough of you to recruit you; perhaps he will recommend you to a colleague. Note that you will still have to prove that you can play. Find and contact other schools similar to the ones that recruited you. Fill out their athletic interest forms.

Locate unsigned senior and Jr. College exposure events to play in during the spring of 2010. Inform interested coaches that you will be playing. If they cannot attend perhaps they will check out reports from the event and invite you for a campus visit.

You are still in the “recruiting process” mode, so, you need to follow the same rules where possible. See my article, “How to Catch a College for Jr.” for more information.

To Anonymous: If you decide to continue to pursue your dream, email me at, TheDad@TheBBConnection.com and I will help.

Others: I invite you to share your comments, suggestions and experiences below.