I had one of my former players to call me confused over which university to decide to sign a national letter of intent to play college basketball for. Or in other words, she was confused about what school to accept a women’s college basketball (athletic) scholarship. I simple told her to follow these steps: 1) Write down what you want. 2) Write down each school and under each school write the pros and cons or your likes and dislikes. 3) Match up your wants with the pros and cons of the schools and decide which cons you can deal with.
Write down what you want out of a college atmosphere and basketball experience. Do you want to be close to home or away from home? Does the university or college offer your major or academic program? What kind of academic support will you receive as an athlete like tutoring? Are there internship opportunities while you are attending school and support to help find a job once your career is over? As you can see, the academic part should be first. Now let us look at the athletic prerequisites. Do you want to start immediately? How many players play your position? What conference do you think you would want to play in? Is the quality of the playing, practicing, strength and conditioning facilities important? Is whether the players stay in dorm or in apartments important? What style of play does the team play and do your talents fit in with that style?