Why Your Highlight Tape Is Costing You Offers (Truth Coaches Won’t Say)

Most players are putting together highlight tapes that look good… but don’t get them recruited.
In this episode of Baseline Truths, we break down what college coaches are actually looking for:
Why your highlight tape must show your ROLE in 30 seconds
The biggest mistakes players make in open runs, tryouts, and live periods
How to earn more minutes in AAU — even in limited roles
Why “getting buckets” isn’t the same as getting recruited
We also introduce the first drop of “My 10 of the 210” — Class of 2027 (San Antonio) and talk real about who is trending the right way.
If your film confuses a coach… you’re already out.
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https://youtu.be/SjLU5pWokes

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello, hello. Yes. Now it's Thursday night. It might be our new night. Now, Phil, you know, man, I uh spent some time in the gym this weekend and uh watching, and what I what I noticed was, man, everybody wants highlights, you know, everybody's trying to get that highlight. But coaches are looking for something completely different. And uh, you know, and we're gonna go through that a little bit later on tonight because I think, you know, just because we posted on Twitter uh some news you can use, and uh it was interesting, man, because I was getting messages from high school coaches asking for clarification, you know, and uh it was just it was it was it was interesting to say the to say the least.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

You know, uh you could have taken the easy way out, Kev, and said, hey, Bill, Bill said that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Yeah, you know, we could have gone that route, but uh, but no, man, you know, this is right up front, man. We're gonna we're gonna set it right now. This is gonna be about uh about clarity, you know, not about exposure. And uh if film confuses you confuses a coach, you know, they're just gonna turn you off. They're not even gonna watch a film anymore. And uh, you know, I was I was talking with some coaches this past weekend, and they said that uh if if they can't figure it out in the first 20-30 seconds, man, they just closing and going to the next one, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

You know, so yeah, you're talking about like the role or what the position?

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Yeah, if they just if they can't figure out the role, if they can't figure out what you do, uh huh, you know, uh because and and we'll talk about, you know, we talked about a little bit before that that your tape, it it needs to feel feel like a system, like you need to show your defense, you need to show your rebound, you need to show your key skills, and but really feel they need they're recruiting roles right now. And and because a lot of people are putting so much emphasis on the offensive back, yeah, and proving that they're a scorer, right? Your freshman and sophomore year, man, you're not needed to score. They're gonna have a 23-year-old senior or 22-year-old sophomore that's gonna be scoring all points they need. You're gonna go in there. If you're big, you're gonna run up and down the court and you're gonna rebound. Defender in. If you're a guard, you better you better learn how to play defense, or you're gonna be sitting on the bench and next stop the transfer portal, you know. And so that's just a lot of people putting random clips on film, you know, and it needs to be, it needs to have some some puzzle pieces to it.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Uh you know, okay, Kev, I I kind of get where you're going. It's kind of like here's I I guess we're talking in uh layman term for something that pretty much any and all of these high school students hopefully, hopefully they've done before, is yeah, make a sandwich, right? So you gotta start with the some building blocks there with the bread, right? You know, you might slap that meat on, but that's all you got to offer. Uh what? So look, put a little lattice with that. Oh, I'm sorry, on this side. Look, I want some mustard, right? On my bread. Okay, slap some tomato. Look, the more ingredients you can add to your game, guess what? The more valuable you become to a coach. I kind of is that kind of where I'm reading you?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yeah, yeah, you know, because you gotta you gotta show that you can you can play defense, and and part of playing defense, you know, is is being a communicator, you know, and sometimes, man, that's that's hard for for quiet guys to to understand, is that you can't be quiet on the court. And, you know, then uh we look the next thing they're looking for is is is decision making. You know, do you know which person to pick up? Do you know how the rotation is gonna go? And then, you know, we talk about finishing. Finishing doesn't mean just offense or defense because defensively uh a possession isn't finished until the rebound is secured, you know, and so uh that that then we could talk a little bit about your shot selection and and hustle, but coaches are building rosters, you know, they're not just collecting talent, they're filling roles and filling holes, you know. And if if your first three clips don't show that you have something to offer, if they don't show effort, if they don't show IQ, then you're just wasting, you're wasting their time, which meant you don't spend a whole lot of time in the film room trying to make your your highlight or your thing uh look pretty, you know. But you know, Phil, the first thing that I listen to every every highlight reel is the music, you know, and and in this day and age, man, you you don't get away, you don't get a free free pass just because a song sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Yeah, but you know, Kev, it just is you know, something that dawned on me is that when you mention about being a good communicator, right? Well, you have to be a good teammate acceptor of that communication, too, right? Because you know, sometimes we say, hey, look, uh you you know, shoot that gap up, big about man, I know what I'm doing. What are you talking about? You're not telling me you do you do what you need to do, right? So yeah, so uh that that you know, so that kind of goes hand in glove. You gotta be able to not if you communicate and still be that good teammate that's gonna be receptive to what someone else is saying.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Oh, yeah, most definitely. And that, you know, that kind of goes back into some of the other things that we talk about uh religiously here, you know, with uh uh body body language, you know, and uh, you know, because I promise you, you think you might get slick and get away with it, but I promise you, coach is gonna watch. And and that that goes into right before we close this segment, man. Like there's a couple things that have to cut you can't put in there. You know, you can't put five, six jumpers in a row. All that tells you is you can shoot a jumper. And you better put yeah, you know, and and if you don't, and if you don't have any defense on there, you're really telling the coach that you can't play defense. And they may or may not ask you for a full game to look at to prove it, but you you you can best stand right assured that after they watch that highlight film, they're gonna if they want to see more, it's gonna be a full take.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

You know, okay, but you know what? When you talk about show me some defense, we've seen it where buckets can be made, and hustle can be made on offense, yeah. But getting back on defense or even crossing half court, yeah, uh that's not gonna cut it.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

No, it's not.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Coach no coach ain't caring because you can do some offense, you just negated that by not getting back to play any defense.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Yeah, you're right, man. And uh, you know, we're gonna close out the segment right here. The best choice you can make for your videotape music is some instrumental, no words, and and no derogatory, defamatory language. Yes, uh, that's the first thing that'll get you crossed off the list. You know, I I I read this the other day. It can take you months, even years to get on the list, but it can take you about three seconds to get crossed right off that list.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Don't you know it? But Kim, you have to ask yourself, especially in this day and age where media is everything, right? Social media is everything. If you're trying to advance yourself or get someone to see you to further something for you, like basketball, where where are you thinking that you're gonna put on something with all kinds of explicit language in it? As your background, yeah, it may be what you listen to, it may be the the the best thing going, but that's not selling anywhere. I don't care if you know the coach listens to that kind of music, uh, it's not happening.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, yeah, you're right, man. And uh, you know, and it's all about how well you're gonna fit. You know, Phil, but I was telling you the other night, man, that that we've been on Wednesda nights uh going to different gyms to do uh open run in front of and with uh some of the local universities. And uh, you know, man, I there's something we gotta talk about, you know, because whether it be an open run in front of coaches, whether it be tryouts, or whether it be college live period, you know, that one thing that sticks out to me is stop trying to be him, start trying to be that person and just make yourself useful. You know, uh man, because I I put it like this. Like we was we were out Wednesday night last night, and uh, you know, I started barking from the side, you know, because I didn't necessarily like the way the pace was going.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Well, you know, Kev, I gotta say this. You you won't hesitate to bark out, and uh number one thing you're barking out about is pace.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Yeah, yes. Speed it up because you know, nobody wants to watch high school pace in a in a in a college environment because that's not gonna get you anywhere, you know, and uh, but it was interesting, man, because the coach, one of the assistant coaches, stepped out on the floor and demonstrated that you can pass the ball ahead even three, four strides faster than you can dribble it. Always. And I thought, man, these guys are gonna get it, they're gonna stop and they're gonna start pitching ahead. No, they did not, they kept on dribbling the ball, and what you know what that shows is that you're not coachable, you can't take the information and put it to use right away, and coaches don't have time for uncoachable players, you know, and uh that just kind of stuck out to me, man.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Yeah, but you know what, Kev? I I'll tell you, I'm not even gonna say, I'm not even gonna say they're uncoachable, right? I'm gonna say that it's the way they learn, right? Sometimes you just gotta stop the game, take the player, you dribbling all of this time. Look, you see that that man's open, you take him, throw the ball like that. And and I will tell you, one of the greatest lessons I had is that I uh one of the uh type of jobs I used to work, working with you. I I had a rectangular room and I asked the young man to sweep the sweep the uh the the floor, and he took the floor and he just kept going with the push mop with the push broom in a circle. And I was like, Do you see you're missing the corners there? Go back and push it in the corner. He went back and did the same thing. It wasn't until I said, Let me show you what I'm talking about, and I went and pushed it to each corner, and then he, oh, okay. Sometimes what seems so basic, so simple, right? We still have to break that down for the player, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah, you know, uh it's kind of akin to um you you see players that that are trying to win the run, you know, and and like that kid was trying to win the race, yeah. But he was losing the opportunity to do it properly, to do it the most clean. And that's just what those guys are doing when they're trying to to hunt the wins, they're losing the opportunity in front of those coaches. But uh, you know, the quickest way you you just said a while ago, dribbling the ball, hunting shots, you know, playing for the crowd, like you know, trying to uh do stuff that you're not really able to do. Uh-huh. And then on the other side, you know, we're talking about talking on defense, sprinting back in transitions, making quick reads. And what's funny is the guys that do that second group are the ones that win games. And uh, you remember uh Frank from Judson, the inside player? Oh I went and watched Frank.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I I man, I'll go talk about him. Go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

I went and watched him the last two Wednesdays. Frank didn't lose a game either Wednesday night. Like he dug, like he talks to his guys, he gets him in position, makes the right plays, and he just keeps winning. Just keeps winning.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Yeah, Kev, first of all, let's say we are happy that he uh was able to join an institution.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

Uh and but let me say this, Kev, he was look, I've I now do have to caveat this. We saw a guy named CJ that uh that was there playing uh out of uh what is it, Corpus Christi Rio Grande Valley? Yeah, and people I'm telling you that he's a legitimate basketball player, but he's there for football and he wants to play basketball. Uh are you not gonna let this guy play basketball? Because I'll let you know you're shortchanging yourself if you don't, but get him back to Frank. Oh my God, okay. He was he was my player when you look at what he did, and we saw all those runs, and and I I had to go over and ask him afterwards. I was like, so what? Are you are are you putting a lot of extra time in the gym shooting and working on your outside shot? Are you playing uh a lot of pickup games? And he said, Well, you know, it's a combination of both of them. He said, but I could I could shoot outside when I was in high school. It's just that I was the tallest guy on the team, and the coach just needed me to play inside. And I was like, Wow, okay, well, look, well, you know, you're definitely doing it.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Yeah, we say that, you know, he's and and he did play inside, but what what we didn't realize is that he was leading the team and scoring for most of the year. Yeah, and now it's just getting his get using his skills to be the most impactful for the team. And uh, but yeah, man, uh we've seen him in the work that he's put in, but I do think that he's grown since uh we last saw him uh in a rockets uniform. Uh because he does look taller, and uh, you know, but that he he really has been putting in work, and it's it's great to see such a nice person, beautiful person on the inside, and glad to see him excel. But uh, you know, and and I a friend of mine uh was talking about uh guards, point guards, and combo guards, and the differences in between. And you know, he he he just starts calling kids playmakers, you know, and it's interesting because Frank Frank really fits into that mode right now, so it's gonna be interesting to see what he does uh over there at uh AM San Antonio.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yeah, I I see them giving him some run for sure because the the coach seems quite aesthetic about him.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Yeah, yeah. You know, and so as as people are going to to AAU season and uh we start looking around, and not everybody's getting the same amount of run that they want. You know, people everybody wants 25 25 minutes a game, but but a lot of kids only getting you know uh eight to nine minutes. Yeah. So what is it? So what do you do, you know, uh in those eight to nine minutes, you know, because you gotta to put on film to stay in the game, you gotta show it you can make an impact, you know, and that can be you know two deflections in two minutes. That could be sprint back in every possession, you know, one extra pass at leads from a two to a three, you know, and it all looks different in different positions. But uh, you know, a friend of mine kind of put it like this what if you're a rookie playing for the Spurs and or any NBA team, actually any college team, and you only get four minutes. You know, are you gonna bitch and moan that you only got four minutes? Well, if you want to stick around, you're gonna bust your ass for those four minutes and give somebody a reason to keep you to keep you out there, you know. Um so you know that that's that's kind of the way we're looking at it right now.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Um yeah, but you know, Kev, like you said, when you talked about you know people trying to be him and doing that, especially on the short minutes run, you know, you have an eight-minute run instead of getting out there trying to jack up seven, eight shots in that time. Think about it, it's the decision making, right? Man, can you imagine if you would have gotten three assists, locked down and got a steal uh in that in that eight minutes time, and then scored two points. Yeah, that looks mighty good in that eight minutes time instead of jacking up seven, eight shots and getting 50% of it.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

You know, and what else, man? That that's what really builds coaches' trust to go ahead and give you to give you more time, you know, and uh man, but you know what? I do I do want to talk about uh a choice I made this year that's really really benefacted, benefited me a lot. You know, everybody knows that I've done a one-eyed scout for about one and one or two years, and uh my my man asked me, you know, for my framework, and I kind of just put it all together and kind of sent it over and and and you know, it kind of chuckled and laughed, and but then I got then I got serious, man. Um, you know, MPD consulting, uh, they helped me out, they they showed me they they stripped away some of this and kind of helped me reformat. And you know, this is what my framework looks like now, man. And it's easy to read, it's very detailed, it streamlined it, it eliminated duplications. So whenever you see uh on Twitter or on our future shows, and we're talking. About them, if you're trying to grow your business, that's it. It's MPD consulting, and they've done great, great work for me over here at the One Eye Scout, and I'm sure they'll do this the same for you. Uh so Phil. That looks right. Yeah, I was excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

I didn't laugh, I wasn't wanting to chuckle.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

No, you just come out and bust the gut laughing. But you know, man, one of the things that that you and I talk about, and and people don't realize how much we talk about, like, who's really coming up, you know, who's gonna who's gonna set the tone here in uh in San Antonio this coming up season. And so I just, you know, I was thinking, you know, we're gonna have our own little segment. This week will be the class of 27, and next week it'll be the class of 28. But um if if I'm if I'm I don't do rankings, but I'm saying if I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna take on another city, this will be the team that I that I'm taking with me. Um, you know, and it all starts with uh interior presence, you know, and we're just gonna kind of hit these quick, but you know, Monty Francis, he's got interior presence, he's physical, he's playing through contact. Man, his production is really translating here lately. Uh Trey Crump from Reagan, big body, learn how to use it, learn how to down, learn how to run up and down the floor. But we're trying to build a little bit of consistency with him, you know, and then we're talking about two ferocious uh wings for two different reasons, you know. Uh Aiden Oliver is more of a silent assassin. Uh take you to the rim and meet you at the rim of the box shop. And then uh Will Franklin, you know, my man is more of a Tasmanian devil and orthodox. He'll take it to the rim, though. Oh, yes, he will. Yes, he will. You know, and uh Josiah Jones, a familiar name around the city. Uh, he's over at uh Faith Family. Uh, not sure where he's gonna be, but I mean he he his motor will show up, and uh it's it's not just skill, you know, he he continues to to work, but there's a a name that some people are gonna wonder why or where he came from, and that's uh Mookie Henderson. Um you know, Mookie is from France, uh came over, uh, went to Roosevelt, went to East Central, and uh with UIL, he needed to go to uh he's over strength of motion right now. And uh, but I tell you what, man, that dude, strong, run, jumps extremely well, and uh he just you know that's gonna translate, and we're trying to transition him to more of a point guard, you know.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Uh just I did not know he came over from France.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Yeah, yeah. His dad was a uh or is uh has played professionally in France, and uh he came over here for a better, a better situation. Yeah, just a cool guy. Um you know, and Justin McBride from Soda Mayor, uh, man, he's he's long, uh he's a shooter, you know, and as the strength comes in, you know, a ceiling is just gonna continue to rise. And uh he's playing with the uh at San Antonio Future, and you know, they they put those guys in front of people, you know, and then you got uh Justin McKinney over at Steele. There's no one in the world athletic as this guy. Uh, you know, we're still evaluating him because it hadn't all come together yet, but uh athleticism, pure athleticism, that that kid has it.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Yeah, you really liked his athleticism. He uh he scored better than I thought that uh he he would.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Um so that was really good, you know, and then uh uh a name that we caught late in the season, uh Braylon Taylor over at Brandeis. He's about a six-foot, six-one guard, but man, he is uh a silent assassin, man. He can shoot the ball well, uh, gets his team in the right sets. And then uh, you know, old Jack Brewer from Alamo Heights, you know, yeah. He really he really knows how to how to play the game, and that matters more than people think.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

Yeah. Coach's son, I like his I like his all, you know, all around game. Uh probably if anything else, I'd I'd probably just warn him, and I know maybe this has something to do with him being the coach's son, but I'd even like him to be even more aggressive, uh, in his play. I don't know if it's uh you know where that might cause somebody to say, oh, he's the coach's son, he's taking more shots or doing this and that, but Jack's uh Jack's a good player.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Yeah, he is, man. And you know, he uh he he is being more aggressive. Uh I've seen him a couple times, but he's playing with future as well. Oh, really? And so yeah, so you got uh uh Justin McBride on one side and Jack on the other side, and then uh uh what's it uh Gavin Peck, you know, yeah. So I mean that's a lot of yeah, that's a lot of that's a lot of offense, you know. And so uh yeah, so it it was it was a fun watch, you know, and uh I'm sure those guys will will continue, but uh, you know, and I just want to make sure people understand this isn't this isn't a rankings. This is me saying, you know, uh we're talking about winning basketball and uh who I'm trusting uh at least this week. And we'll reassess in a couple of weeks, you know, because you know, in reality, man, we're looking for for who's gonna be the point guards in 27. You know, uh we graduated uh uh a lot of point guard and a and I know we're up to like eight.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Yeah, it was a lot of guard action, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Yeah, and so I think this gonna be more uh this 27 class is more gonna be wing dominated. Um, so that'll be interesting.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

Uh, you know, and to to kind of put a bow on all this, man. You know, just remember that your highlight tape is your introduction.