Wide reading log 5

The truth of playing division 1 basketball

Brendan

Article

21/8/2020

In this article Brendon, who was a former division 1 (D1) basketball player goes over what it actually takes to become a  D1 basketball player. Brendon explains how everyone sees it as being “bright lights, masses of fans, sweet uniforms and shoes, all the publicity, and everything else that goes along with big time D1 college basketball, and think they want that.” When in reality getting there is very unlikely and if you do get there you’re not likely to be there very long. He explains four main truths about D1 basketball. The first point Is that College basketball teaches the true meaning of hard work because “Most high school players think they play or work hard.” But actually hard work at the college level is more challenging than what everyone thinks it is. The second point is that college basketball is a full time job which means that it is full year round with a maximum of 5 days break if you’re lucky for christmas. The third point talks about how much pressure there is in the league because the coaches get paid for doing their job and if the team doesn’t win then they fire the coach, so that’s why the coaches work their players so hard and need them to perform during the game as well. The fourth and final point is that playing time is not guaranteed so that means you coils work harder than everyone else and think you’re better than them but the coach still doesn’t want to play you.

Something that I found very interesting was that there is barely any break time. I knew D1 basketball was full on but I never knew it was that full on. Brendon relates college basketball to a “full time job” which I think would be very tough because, the stereotype of a full time job is sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen and that’s why I think it would be so hard, because unlike the desk job you are always working out and relying a lot on your body. Having no break must make the strain on your body even harder to handle. I can relate to this a little bit because I have started going to play basketball in the mornings before school and then going to the gym after school only twice a week and by the end of the day I am very worn out, I can’t imagine what doing that every day would be like.

A message I took from this text is that hard work will pay off. Brenden had said how much harder you have to work in D1 rather than in high school, because if you want to get to the next level you need lots of effort and as he said “Coaches require 100% effort all the time.” I think this message should go out to everyone in anything that they are doing because if you put enough hard work into it then you will become great at it.

Bredon said that his biggest challenge was how pressure packed the competition is. The coaches rely on their players to perform during the games so that they can keep their job, so that means they put a lot of pressure on the players. Another thing that makes D1 basketball have lots of pressure is all the students and fans supporting you and your team, this creates a lot of attention on you and the pressure starts to rise. I can’t really relate to this type of pressure other than the coaches wanting me to perform in games. I don’t have too much pressure on me.

“The truth about playing Division 1 college basketball.” I believe this title suits the article because that is what it is talking about. I think an alternative title would be “Why college basketball is more challenging than people think.” I thought this is a good alternative because this is similar to what the article is about. It is true that people think it is a lot easier.

I would recommend this article to a high school student because it would give them a good idea of what they have to do or if they even want to pursue it in the future.