I moved into college August 8th, 2020. This was two weeks earlier than the majority of students. The gym didn't open and the other basketball players didn't get there until a few weeks later. Then, it was the rec center that was open but the main gym wasn't. It wasn't long before nearly everyone on the team made their way there. It's been nearly seven weeks since then and I've gotten to know most players on the team fairly well. The differences between high school and college players are obvious.
First off, college players care about you more. They have a lot more invested than the players at the high school level and generally want to win more. In order to win, they need to make each other better. To do this, they will ride you more, criticize you more, and let you know when you need to pick up the intensity. However, after this, they will pick you up, encourage you, and support you more than you will find in high school. Their people skills are better and their teammate-relations IQ is higher.
Secondly, college players practice better. What does this mean? On a surface level, no one has to get on them to get in the gym on their own. Then, when they are in the gym, they are more efficient with their time. Their is little to no messing around or acting stupid. People are asking me if I want to "work out," which I can assure never happened in high school. They want to do drills privately that would usually be reserved for team practices. When we play one on one, there is a three-dribble limit. I had heard of this before but when I suggested it in high school, no one was interested. They would label you as "uptight" or a "try-hard." The same goes for all of the other things I mention here.
Finally, college players take stretching and recovery more seriously. In high school, I was the only one that consistently stretched, or warmed up. It was something that people would joke and give me a hard time about. I was shocked to see people here stretching as well, and even carrying foam rollers around. With that said, college players aren't perfect. The areas of sleep and nutrition are lacking from what I've observed. They are areas that you can use to gain an advantage over your teammates if you are a high school player going into college. You should make sure to do that, too, because we have a ton of people on the team that are injured. The work load is much higher in college and taking care of your body is a legitimate task that must be taken seriously if you were not doing so already.
Basically, what it comes down to is that college players take the game more seriously. One could assume this, but what aspiring college players need to realize is how exactly they need to take the game more seriously. If you must tear your teammates down, make sure you build them back up. Be "uptight" around practicing, and try to get teammates to workout and do drills with you. If they don't want to, make sure you get your own work in. Last, but not least, acknowledge taking care of your body as a job, and a necessity. Nothing matters if you can't play.
Athlete-Student
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