Ways to gain exposure for your next basketball overseas gig
Film
- Film games and practices
- Post on YouTube and Facebook
- Share links to your video’s in an email to coaches
- Include all your details such as full name, height, weight, position and stats if available
Tournaments and camps
- Attend rep or equivalent standard tournaments and film the games you are playing
- Attend college showcase tournaments and camps (see below of some such camps and tournaments)
Note: tournaments and camps are only good exposure if:
- You have coaches attending to scout players
- If you are using it to get footage of yourself
Academies
If you have the money academies are a good way of being exposed is to sign up for basketball academies. Generally they are run by retired basketball players or established coaches that have a vast amount of connections.
Academies such as Bogut Academy has had a lot of success having kids go over to USA and Canada on full ride scholarships. Bogut academy in particular run college showcases with video feeds to college coaches in the states and Canada.
Playing rep basketball
Although not guaranteed, playing rep can get you some exposure but it will most likely be with high level basketball clubs in Australia. Rep players having a good season regularly get asked by Australian NBL teams to join their training squad. From there it likely that players transition into the 15 man squad and a contract.
It is not uncommon for rep basketball players to go on and play in Europe. The group of people I know that have done this have made bench positions for clubs in UK, Belgium and Germany.
Going to tryouts for the team/ league you want to play in
- Get on a plane and attend off season tryouts
- Try and make a summer league team
- Train with the team during the off season
Publishing your film
- Publish your film on YouTube or Vimo so it is easy to share
- Use social media to share your videos
- Ensure all your social media profiles are clean. Meaning no drunken photos or offensive status updates
- Include all your information on each video description including a contact email
Frequently asked questions:
I am a rep player that wants to play pro, what should I do?
- Get film of your games
- If you can, attend some off season runs/ tryouts
- Play for a summer league team
I am a rep player that wants to play college, what should I do?
- Get film of your games
- If you can afford it, attend a Ball Stars camp
- If you can afford it, attend an academy
I am a domestic basketball player/ street-ball player and I want to play college, What should I do?
- Try and play a high level of basketball. Some domestic basketball leagues have a good A grade comp. Play in that and get plenty of video footage.
- Play in a rep standard tournament and ensure that you take video footage
- If you can afford it, attend an academy
I am a domestic basketball player/ street-ball player and I want to play pro, What should I do?
- Go to an open scrimmage the club holds or attend tryouts
- Spend time training with the team in the off season
- Get footage by playing high standards of tournaments or domestic competitions
Tournaments in Australia
- Aubry tournament
- Bendigo tournament (not sure if this is still on)
College showcase camps
- Ball stars
Great camp with a load of college coaches attending
Academies
- Bogut Academy
- Victoria University Academy
- AUBD Institute
Thanks for reading this article, I hope you got something out of it. If you enjoyed this article please share it with your friends using the social media icons. Also, if you have any questions, comments or honest feedback please use the comment section below. For all the latest articles subscribe below.
