LIVE PERIOD TRUTHS THEY WON’T TELL YOU | Baseline Truths

LIVE PERIOD basketball exposes everything.

Tonight on Baseline Truths, we break down:

* what college coaches actually watch during live period
* why some players helped themselves and others disappeared
* how to handle limited minutes
* the REAL purpose behind Recruiting Clarity Calls
* our new MPD Player of the Week partnership
* upcoming OES Regional Evaluation Days

We also talk:
✔️ role acceptance
✔️ body language
✔️ defensive habits
✔️ recruiting fit
✔️ what actually translates

This show is built for players, parents, and coaches who want REAL recruiting education.

No hype. Just basketball.

Follow OES:
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOneEyedScout
🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/KevinOneEye

Don’t guess the process — grab The Parent Recruiting Roadmap: https://a.co/d/0chCXmyQ

https://youtu.be/SjLU5pWokes

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Tonight, it's Wednesday night. Hey man, we're in here at the right time. We didn't have any of those gym runs tonight, man. It's been a great time out there in the community. You know, we'll get up into the young 20s uh with players, college guys, overseas guys, high school guys. But tonight, man, tonight, Phil, we're gonna talk live period basketball. Not that fake social media one, not everybody had a great weekend version, but we're talking about the real version. What coaches were watching, why some players helped themselves, others disappeared, why some families left the weekend confused. And that's why clarity matters. Matters now more than ever. It's a baseline truth, not hype, just basketball. And we'll get right back on it, you know. But uh no man, it was it was it was it was really good to see. Uh, you know, I I started out in uh Realm Rock at the Adidas Adidas Go. Uh I wanted to find something close to the house, you know, and uh, but it was it was the same, you know, uh level of level of caliber changes between um different platforms, you know. So we was we were live Friday, Saturday, we streamed, we streamed all day in the evening, and then uh Sunday, my my baby girl is moving into uh her apartment in Houston, and she's gonna be a University of Houston cougar dog, man. All right, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

You know, but that's the dance troupe there in Houston.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Yes, yes, yeah. Yeah, so she's leaving McClennon with uh four national championships, and uh she's excited because U of H isn't gonna compete this year.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Well, that seems like she knows the coach then if she's doing that.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Oh yeah, she's she's in a good spot. She's in a good spot.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Bro, I'm talking about the coach to win the four national championships.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Oh yeah. No, I mean that it's the first time that they won. So they danced in two categories, and they won both of them, uh both categories, and that was the first time they had won they double double one, or however they call it, and then they did it the second year. So that's the the most winningest dance team group that's ever.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Well, that's crazy, Cab. Who's the coach?

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Um Coach Emma. Uh I man, I stay out of it, bro. I just watch.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

I just watch. I'm just teasing. But no, but congratulations, congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Yeah. Hey man, let's let's jump right into it right away, man. Because, you know, some of the things that that we saw, uh we we implored the guys that we met with uh before live peer weekend to do what you do and do it 100%, you know. Right. Don't go outside yourself, don't don't do any of those things. And man, you saw it time and time again in games where players are trying too hard to get theirs, man. Forcing offense, over-dribbling, you know, and and terrible habits. Yeah, you hit the word though, Kev, habits. Yeah, yes, yes, and it's like, you know, if you just people fail to realize, man, that that points get attention, yeah, the habits are what's gonna get you recruited, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Because regardless, really, of the emotion involved, if you have the habits at play, uh you know, that kind of does its own self-calming um thing and kind of keeps you structured, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Yeah. You know, and and that's something that we I would talk with shooters about, because a lot of times if your role is primarily a shooter or primarily a scorer, and and you're not scoring or you're not shooting the ball very well, you tend to have bad body language or get inside your you quote unquote get in your own head. And what guys and and and girls have to understand that you can have makes or misses, you know, but it's it's it's the coach knowing that when the ball rotates around and it's in the Florida offense that you're gonna take that shot. Because if you don't take that shot, now you don't mess the offense up, you know, and it's liable to be a turnover uh right after that, you know. But the other thing, man, I think I think we're gonna talk about a couple times throughout the night tonight, but parents aren't really understanding exposure. You know, uh they're not understanding that when coaches come and you got all these different circuits, right? And everybody's clamoring about the live period and all these coaches in the building. But man, if you if you've got say in Duncanville at the the ride center, that's probably there's six, twelve, fifteen courts, you know, and those coaches can't beat everyone. So if you're not a winning program, you're not on the one or two most important courts. So they're again wasted money, and people aren't really wanting to talk about that. Would you say that one more time, Kev? If you're driving all over the world and your team is not winning or doesn't have a reputation, and you're not on the one to two main courts, the lot the ability for you to be seen by college coaches diminishes greatly. Yeah, so I think that's the shift. If you talk to, and I and you can take this for this word, but when you start talking to college coaches who are are having their own kids go through the process, you know, you'll quite often find coaches that were they didn't play AAU. So what they did was they went to all these different camps, and they went to camps that were at their their players' level, right? So, you know, if if if you're gonna go to Duke's camp, but you really a division three player, then you just donate it to the athletic fund. You know, and and and in doing that, you know, that's fine, but know what you're doing. And so um, you know, I think that's a misunderstanding that we really got to get parents to understand. You know, one of the first things that that we do uh when we start talking with parents is understand you have to find your basement, your basement level. And uh, you know, what that means is you gotta go find the lowest level that you can really play at. And that would be your basement. And it's not a bad thing, you know. But if if your basement is division three, then there's no sense in going to start out at division one, exactly, camps, you know. Um, but you don't know that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Because that does uh that does uh uh a few things, Kev. But again, it costs you to waste a lot of money, but also it can be uh disheartening for that player, right? You know, sometimes look, sometimes parents uh see more than what's there, right? And you know, the player may know, the player may even let the play let the parent know. But the parent is like, we're behind you, we're supporting you, we can afford to do it, you know, we don't mind spending the money, and it just becomes uh uh a waste, it just becomes a waste. You know, wouldn't you rather be taking the baby steps to like you say, your basement level, shooting the layup, shooting layup if you can get that going, and then the next thing you know, you're like, holy, I can I can get this mid-range working. Uh and you go from there, and then maybe you hit that Duke level three point shots. You never know.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

You know, and I just I wish parents could get that that that feeling of understanding that you know it is it is a journey, you know, and and it is a process. And really what's more important than playing 60 AU games in the summer is the development, the skill development. Um the the and not con drills, right? Not con drills. Condrills is part of it, you know. But but yeah, you're right, man. And and I think that's like the next piece. Like you have your your skill work, like when we go to the doghouse, uh, and over at the other other place, we go in, it's 40 development, skill development. So, and then it's 60 competition, whether it be one one on one, two on two, three on three, four on four, whatever. But it's and that the Wednesday nights are supposed to be the structured runs. That's where you take what you've learned Monday and Tuesday, utilize it in a competitive environment, so that whenever you go to your live period, you're not doing things for the first time. And I think uh that's the that's one thing that families miss and uh misunderstand about live period basketball is you don't go in there trying something new. You know, uh all hell breaks loose if you don't have a left hand and then all of a sudden you're trying to dribble left-handed, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Shoot the you're shooting the hook shot, the layout, the left hand, everything. Kev, again, would you like for maybe a viewing audience member that doesn't know again, live period?

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Oh yeah, you know, live period is the time, uh, the the weekends that the NCAA has set aside as evaluation times where coaches can come in and view uh division one coaches come in and view um games as they happen. You'll find them during the AAU season here in Texas, you'll find them during TBC. I know there's a there's a big tough program down in Houston right now that man, they're they're on fire. Uh Second Baptist, they're actually gonna go to a live period in Philadelphia. Uh wow, yeah. So um, so yeah, man, we're gonna yeah, yeah, and we're gonna cover um, you know, we're gonna start talking about some regional things and we're gonna we're gonna talk about uh Second Baptist here soon in the upcoming weeks. Uh, you know, they're back to back state champions, uh little skip right for Austin, Kuzalit, they're back to back. Um they won it twice during the AAU season, you know, uh in the in that Puma circuit. So it's a tough group, man. But uh, you know, I think we saw some some all right, so in watching, um, some like some people didn't get the minutes that they were expecting expecting again. You know, and I think that's something that needs to be addressed with both parents and player. You know, um if if you're not getting the minutes that you expected, there's a couple of reasons. One, the coach doesn't trust you. Why doesn't the coach trust you? The coach doesn't trust you because you didn't do it in practice, and and then because you didn't do a practice, you're not gonna really get a chance to do it on court. Now, if some coaches will slide you in two to three minutes and see what you're gonna do, you know, and so say you only get two to three minutes in the first half, you better make that the best damn two to three minutes you ever got, and hopefully you get another opportunity, you know. But coaches are still evaluating in those three-minute segments, you know. Coaches don't miss things, they might miss it, but they're gonna, but because it's so in what they're looking for, you know, it's like Nick Saban said, and I know it's just football, but Nick Saban said that when they were at the University of Alabama, he had a specific skill set that he looked for in cornerbacks, because he was a cornerback guru. And if that kid did not have one of those character traits, he never spent any more time on. So whenever we're talking about habits and we're talking about things that coaches are looking for, you know, they're looking for body language, they're looking for communication, they're looking for for for readiness. Like, are you coming off the bench needing two to three minutes to get going? Shit. They what guys don't understand is they're evaluating you from the time that you take the floor. Like, how hard did you go in warm-ups? You know, and and and did you did you break a sweat, you know? Because if you didn't, then you're gonna need that one to two minutes when you come off the come off the bench, you know. But uh I I would say some examples like right off the bat, you know, to show that you locked in is you know, sprinting back on defense. Yeah, do you know how in the flow of the game, if everybody else is is is going three-quarter speed and you going full speed, how much you stick out doing that, you know, uh deflections, talking on defense. You know, uh someone gave me a crazy stat, man, and uh it was the Almuda twins, uh uh up in Dallas Parish Pittsburgh, and they would average uh 10, 8, and 7, like seven steals, eight rebounds apiece. So I'm not great at math, but seven plus eight is 15, and then 15 plus 15 is 30. So that meant between the twins, they eliminated 30 possessions for the other team. You know, you start thinking about and and that, and then you start seeing why possessions don't end until the rebound, defensive rebound is secured. Possessions don't end until the steel is headed the other way, and why the extra pass is so prevalent and needed, because that a lot of times will get your shooter with the appropriate extra pass hitting right in rotation, high right in the in the in the in the shooter's pocket to go up and shoot the ball, man. And that's such a beautiful thing. And uh, you know, if you can accept your role, that's gonna travel faster than you're trying to overproduce. And I'll give you an example. Um, you know, there's um and I'm I'm there's uh Justin McBride, uh sort of my own, he's playing with uh at San Antonio Future, and Justin McBride has had a terrific uh April and May. I told you off air, you wouldn't recognize him, you know, and so uh sometimes uh you'll see him guarding uh the point guard, he'll guard the the post players, you know, and he really with his length, you know, he's got a long wingspan and he's 6'4, 6'5, strong, getting stronger by the day, but he is way more valuable than someone that can only play shooting guard or can only play point guard because he can play all those different positions, and that's where you can't get locked into a position of oh, I'm a shooting guard. You got to get into that that that role of I'm a defensive stopper that can shoot the ball really well, you know. But you know, I I did tell you I want to talk about clarity cost, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

But before you before you do that though, Kev, could you get something else cleared up for me a little bit and uh talk about this whole uh MPD player of the week uh partnership?

SPEAKER_00 18:00

You know what, man? Uh I cannot tell you how strong MPD has has helped me uh with the business. We're getting like singularly focused, uh different different processes, man, and really taking off my plate, having to worry about the the human resources on the back end, but they've helped me become more focused and driven. And and I I feel like you know the shows have gotten better. I know the product is getting better, and uh we we decided that we were gonna put together the MPD player of the week. Uh I know we're gonna start it off in the uh in the school season. Um I'm I'm contemplating going ahead and starting to work on it within uh within the summer. But man, I'm telling you, uh MPD uh has been has been a great thing for the one eyed scout. Cool. So uh, you know, and they funny story, we're leading into the clarity calls, and really the clarity call was taken from them, you know, because uh I would call in and we would talk through and work through some things, and and whether it be business or how to get people recruited, um, and there's a lot of crossover between business and the recruiting business. Right. You know, but you know, we've had a lot of families asking about recruiting clarity calls lately. So I want to I want to explain what it's for and what it's not for. You know, as anyone that knows me knows I'm not gonna give you a fake recruiting promise, I'm not gonna guarantee you a scholarship, I'm not gonna offer fake ex fake rankings or fake exposure. But what I will do is I'll give you an honest projection. I will look at your role and help you understand it. Talk to you about levels and recruiting direction, developmental priorities. So we say all that, but what does it really mean? You know, we talked about the basement, right? And so uh we uh find out what what the family most interested in, uh 400 miles within Houston, right? And so we narrow that down to 400 miles from the high school. And so then we pull, we throw a big radius out there, and we pull every every school within that within that area, and we'll we'll lay it out there and say, okay, we're gonna eliminate these schools because they're out of our league. We're gonna eliminate these schools because they only recruit out of the portal, they don't recruit high school. Right. We're gonna we're gonna take away this group because they don't really have a real winning culture, you know, and because the winning culture is so important because if they're not, that means they're losing. And if they lose two seasons in a row, they're probably getting fired. So then what they're gonna wind up in the portal again, you know, and so and the chaos that's involved with that. Oh, yeah, and so that really narrows it down to a stack of about 13 to 14 schools, and then that's we start saying, okay, uh I would really suggest everyone go to like uh if you're in Houston to uh University of St. Thomas, uh, Coach Medina over there. Great program, one national championship there, but go see what a real division three program looks like. You know, one that the standards are there, and then you know, you can go over and and come up the road and go to St. Edwards or St. Mary's. Uh, that's within that radius, and then you know, trickle into uh some of the Southland schools and start kind of building building your repertoire, but Knowing that this is part of your process to find out where your projection is and be honest with it. You know, because the worst thing you can do is like you said earlier, be 100% behind Johnny. Johnny, you're gonna do this. Johnny, you're gonna, and Johnny ain't got a snowball chance in here. So when it doesn't work for Johnny, now all of a sudden Johnny's looking at parent like, dude, why ain't this working for me? And now you have created a trust issue. And so I try to make sure that we we lay out a realistic pathway, uh, immediate next steps, and and I'll and I get one or two one one to two uh game films from from the player before we get on, so I can really sit back and and have a true, honest assessment with you about things you do well and things you need to work on, because what good is it for me to just say, hey, and you're done. You know, and and because we come back about a month to six weeks later um and have a second call just to see show the progress and see where you're at. You know, uh we I was just checking in with one of the guys today, uh, and live period went okay, rolled his ankle first play of the game, uh, or after the first game, you know, and so it was a different kind of live period, you know, yeah, for him. But uh, you know what? Let me let me flash this up here, man. Because uh, you know what? I tell you what, Dyson, you're right, man. Some Southland schools weren't even in a live period gym, man. And so that that's that's tough whenever you're in there trying to um make relationships.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yeah. Let me ask you a question, Ken.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Um, like you know, you you've uh reviewed um the the um tape on the uh person and you know talk to them about what you see and stuff. And you mentioned about uh some of them going in and weeks later, you know, you're coming back and doing kind of a a reval kind of thing, right? Uh see the progression. Do you um uh do you or do they ask you, or do they, you know, do they have their own uh training regimen, their own place that they kind of go work out, do things, uh, or do they ask you if you have any suggestions or anything?

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Well, one of the things, you know, that's a great question because uh, you know, here uh in San Antonio and Houston, we have a group uh we refer to as Diamonds in the Rough. We've been doing this about 15 years, and we have our own program in the sense that we have a strength conditioning coach that comes up out of Houston and does an assessment. Um and the family can take the assessment. Uh if they decide to use, it's $100 for the assessment. And then if they decide to use the services, that goes towards the first month, right? But with because we cover uh Houston as well, uh so for for the young man that we're talking about, um he he's got his assessment done with Coach Butler. Uh the the players here in San Antonio, uh we've had their assessments uh with Coach Butler. And so, yes, each one of them does get an individualized uh plan um that we will go through and and update as we go. It's like a six weeks plan. And um, you know, and so like like because we'll just say like uh Trey, you know, we're working on on his hips, you know, you got real stiff hips, and so uh we come in, we break that down, and we have different exercises that attack that. Um, you know, for some guys it's it's core strength. And and so everybody's got a similar issue, but everybody has very unique issues at the same time, if that makes sense, you know, and I think that what really showed for some people is their lack of strength.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Yeah, I see the physical aspect, but uh just the the the game part to it. Uh yeah, no, we first is like, you know, the do they say, hey, where can somebody you say the doghouse? Uh you know what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Uh I know you know, for for us up here, um that's my suggestion. Um, you know, we run, we work out uh three to four nights a week on on opposite sides of town, uh, so that we can we can uh I'm gonna say facilitate, but so we can work with comfortably. And man, some of these guys are driving from Harlan to the doghouse and vice versa, East Central over to Harlan. You know, and but the thing about it is, man, like is it far? Yeah, but when you get the results repeatedly that we get, all of a sudden it becomes worth it. Well, it becomes worth it, and the cost or the I won't even say the cost because that's not an issue, but the distance doesn't seem to be a bigger issue, especially when they start going to their senior years, you know.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah, I think a good worth in some of these runs that you talk about, Cavish, you actually get the ability to play against some college guys.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Yeah, you know, and and and we talk, you know, uh we've got um several uh division two guys that are home for for a couple weeks. Uh we got junior college guys that are working to find their next stop. We've got um guys are in the portal, you know. Um, and so it's a big mix, you know, and and it's all put together for you know to really get our bigs and our bigger wings, the opportunity to play against more physical competition. You know, uh it's funny, man, because when we were describing this this uh program to people, they're like, oh, it's like Jimmy, or oh, it's like over here. Oh nah, bro, ain't nobody doing what we do, you know, and I can honestly say that. Um, because people have different aspects of it. And and but to have one trainer that's trained multiple NBA guys, multiple college guys, to the other trainer being an NBA guy, and to all I do is scout and and get guys to the gym, you know, and then and so it it it's really it's really a labor of love, man, because you know, we took tonight off because of the Spurs game. But that's probably the first time, honestly, I can say that John Collins shut the gym for for a basketball game on TV. You know, well, we didn't shut it. No, we didn't. We're right here working. Uh you know, so um that's kind of where that is, man. And then um, you know, the purpose behind behind the clarity call is really so that families have the opportunity in a one-on-one situation to ask those questions and put pieces together because you know, at $25, and if you want to go ahead and buy the book at the same time, uh 50% off the book, so a total of 30 bucks total, you're not gonna get that. And and to know that we're one text away or one conversation away, um you know, it just you're not gonna find it. And and you know, guys that we've worked with within our camp, you know, really played well this weekend. Um, we've been today was on the phone with coaches, and but it's been nice, man, is is like I told you, like we're gonna look at doing some regional shows. And for me, that's like a big calling on my heart because I'm from Louisiana. You know, I know uh we call them Louisianimals and and all those different words from the boot, you know, but I know how those hard those guys work, and a lot of times we don't have the same platform, you know, uh that a Texas would, you know, but it's been great, man, because through through the Noble Elite Camp, and we have one coming up uh June 12th and 13th or 13th and 14th, and I highly advise people to look into that. Uh you go to uh at the Noble Classic on Twitter or uh at J Fry. And uh, but man, there's a young man that man, he he he he probably changed his life, dude, this past week. Um Peyton Parker out of Huntington and Shreveport, man. You know, I first I first saw him two weeks ago, three weeks ago, and man, he can get after the point guard. But what people didn't realize is my man's got like a 4-3 or a 4-5 grade point average, so he plays in live period, and today is now Wednesday, so Tuesday. He uh had already been contacted by Boston University, uh, Dartmouth, and my mind went blank, man. There's one other one. Uh yeah, man, and they're already talking official visits and all in this kind of stuff, man. It's just kids want to get the opportunity, they gotta they gotta play, they gotta demonstrate. And uh I really, really like this program. Um team sip united on the uh the Puma Circuit. You know, uh they're a combination of Louisiana, Mississippi guys. And a little known fact, I was actually born in Mississippi, man, Hattersburg, Mississippi.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Yeah, yeah. So uh I'm really part of the. Yes, yes, yes. You know, but yeah, man, we're gonna start, we're gonna start talking about about different region evaluation days. You know, we'll talk a little bit about the DFW live out of Houston, Central Texas, South Texas, Outer Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, you know, wherever we can find guys, man. And and this ain't about camps, it's about evaluation environments, it's about teaching environments, it's about recruiting education because that's the biggest thing that people are missing is the education. You know, uh it breaks my heart, man. Some of these guys go to camps and come back and and we're talking, and and man, they're getting charged an exorbitant amount of money for what I don't think is equal to the services that they're they're they're receiving. And uh, you know, I told one mom that that you know you could take the book, ten dollars, and and take the clarity calls for $25. And I promise you got every tool you need to get this done. And uh, you know, that's that's been the thing, man. And I'm gonna I'm needing to change it out and put the book up there because um this is a recruiting roadmap, man. And what this is is I did so many parent workshops that uh I wound up figuring if I just put it all in one book and it was designed to be an ebook that uh that I don't have to I don't have to present as much anymore. And we were laughing earlier because we said what if people can get a uh ebook, why would they ever buy the paperback? Right, and I told Bobby Damn, people want a paperback so they can hold it, touch it, make notes in it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

But uh I I I could have held all the encyclopedias in the world, I'd have never read any of them because what the internet has been daddy baddie goo to me.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Yes. So I want to on the way out, I want to make two two two bold statements. All right. One that a position, a position is a parent word. That's something the parent understands. That a role is the coach's word. And then this is why that clarity call is important too, because we're gonna talk about a development plan, because just being busy isn't the same as progression, you know, and and that's that's that's another one I think that that people fall by the wayside on. But hey, Phil.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

Kev, but say that last thing again, Kev.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

Um being busy. Yes, being busy isn't the same as as a progression. Because exactly you can spend all the time in the world you want. Like, like I can I can I'm not gonna name the kids. I don't want to, I don't want to embarrass no one. But he's a point guard that doesn't pass, you know why? Because he's a point guard that only works with himself, and so it's a lot of moves to the basket. So that's being busy, but if it doesn't translate, then it's useless.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Yeah, because it's kind of like when people say um um practice makes perfect. No, it can just keep you busy. Perfect practice makes perfect, right?

SPEAKER_00 36:13

There you go. This, there you go. All right, man. So on the way out, you know, live period season exposes everything. So now you got your feedback from your first session, get in the gym and work on it, you know, prepare, get better conditioning, make better decisions, accept your role, and this is the time of year where truth shows up really fast, and film exposes you really quickly.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Wow.