Getting ready for the 2022 travel season? Buying flights? Reserving hotels? Well hopefully you are not because we have a Grade A train wreck on our hands with the information, misinformation, and communication regarding what the 2022 live period schedule will look like.
This has to be the most NCAA and club basketball thing ever. We are looking at tweet and post after tweet and post about us not really knowing what the 2022 calendar is going to be until January (and like no real date then).
So we could end up with the same calendar as last year or a new calendar. What you ask?
Well right now and for the last couple years the NCAA Recruiting Live Calendar – where college coaches are allowed to watch you on your club team live has been
1 Weekend in April
1 Weekend in May
July 6-12 (because no one works right)
July 20-25 (see above comment)
The proposed change is
1 Weekend in April
1 Weekend in May
1 Weekend in June (which would be like a Thursday – Sunday – because no one actually works)
2 (Four Day) Weekends in July
In all the literature online it says if it passes that it would be effective immediately so that would mean if I can read correctly (and I think I can read) that we could end up in a place where the new calendar hits this year. Now I have heard verbally (no where in writing) that they could change the calendar the following year to the June weekend dates above but again that’s like just straight rumor from people who’s livelihoods hinge on as many viewing dates as po$$ible and because they already have facility contracts locked up and they don’t even want to think about the dates changing.
Here are a couple of take aways from this whole discussion which could be most relevant to you as a parent or club director:
#1 – You might be thinking this weekend thing is a lot better and more affordable. Well remember everyone still has to make their money so like some are running on July 5th (no coaches) and July 20th (no coaches) what you are about to see is two events running in the July weekend period one event will be Day 0 (dead day with no coaches) Day 1 – Live with Coaches Day 2- Live with Coaches and then the second event will be on day 3 – live with coaches day 4 live with coaches then day 5 will be dead with no coaches so they’ll squeeze in two 3 day events where only 4 of the 6 days are live. Not the worst thing ever but still not great if you’re trying to make this ecumenical. I’ve done club nationally since 2007 I never took a flight to an event until 2016 and now just about every event I go to is somewhere I have to fly. To be honest it sucks. When it was regional it was a lot better but it’s a keeping up with the joneses by going to a mega event or going where a shoe company tells you you have to show up despite most of the good players in the country being within 10 hours of me.
#2 – This is like the beginning of the end for June for college coaches and high schools. Even though high school basketball is like club basketball now (it didn’t used to be like that) I think the killing of high school in June isn’t a good thing. For the elite kids it doesn’t matter but if you just like playing basketball at your high school you wont be able to do it anymore. Before you really could shut down your club season after the May eval until after June High School Team & Elite Camps and what this is going to do is make you keep your season going. You will have to continue to play after May to prep for June and cant shut down your season to reboot for July. Because of this there is going to be a pretty strong tug of war between high school coaches and club coaches over June which regardless of the outcome doesn’t end well. High school coaches need to be more aware of this. Even though college coaches hate it this will also put a bit of a hurt on their elite camp / team camp scene in June too because you know like on the list of things it takes to be a college coach its some bound camp agenda where you lecture kids you can barely connect to about what it takes to play in college. When do these camps happen? (August now?) Why would I come play at your camp this week if I am going to a live event you’ll evaluate me at next week? Sound silly – It’ll also mess up the college coach game of oh well we need to see more of you even though we just watched you play at our camp in June and 12 days in live viewing in July.
So what is going to happen? We don’t actually know. Remember in 2020 when oh ya we wil have May viewing, then oh ya there will be a July, then oh ya we cant refund you but come play in the fall with us at an event that’s dead but we are calling the same thing then you know viewing will be back in the spring of 2021 well the same people who told you that want to create the narrative which is best for them financially which the NCAA and college basketball coaches have proven they don’t care about at all. It also shows the flaws in the fact that there is no body or organization of club coaches which can communicate directly with the WBCA or NCAA regarding what the club coaches want and in turn their players aka the prospects want there is absolutely no representation just taxation for using the BBCS and getting your gold license which is like the new version of a library card.
Anyways just something to think about that is going to become real relevant sooner than later.
