How To Get In Basketball SCHAPE

Ask ten players walking into tryouts what they think the coach is grading, and nine of them will say some version of “my scoring” or “my athleticism.”

Ask the coach standing at half court with the clipboard, and you’ll get a completely different answer, one most players have never once heard out loud and that also creates one of the greatest opportunities for them..

SCHAPE: The 6 Ingredients of Championship Performance Coaches Are Actually Watching

I first discovered these 6 ingredients back when I attended PGC as a high school player in 1997. I remember I was sitting in the classroom, hanging on to every word PGC Founder Dick DeVenzio was saying when he suddenly stopped, looked across the classroom and said…

“I don’t think any athlete should play any sport without bringing the following considerations with them to the field or court. No basketball player shall shoot, dribble, pass, or defend until they are in SCHAPE to play.”

And then he wrote it on the chalkboard…

A 6 letter acronym that would not only define the way I approached my basketball career from that point forward but that also continues to define how I live my life every day.

The acronym was the word SCHAPE:

Spirit – the energy you bring into the gym before anyone asks for it.

Communication – your willingness to make teammates better with your voice.

Hustle – choosing effort even when nobody is applauding.

Approach – how you respond after the turnover, the missed shot, or the coaching correction.

Precision – your commitment to details that many players dismiss as unimportant.

Enhancement – your ability to leave every environment a little better than you found it.

These six ingredients rarely appear in a box score, but coaches notice them constantly because they’re trying to build a team, not simply collect talented individuals.

It took me a while to “get it”, but when I finally understood that when evaluating two players who possess nearly identical basketball skills, it’s the player who shows up in SCHAPE who stands out to a coach and gets the jersey.

Here are a couple examples of how you can put aspects of SCHAPE into practice and help you increase your performance this season…

WATCH: Spirit – What Championship Teams Sound Like

A Quiet Gym Is A Losing Gym

WATCH: Communication – Leading Your Teammates With The Sweetest Sound

WATCH: How To Approach Adversity & Setbacks

For Coaches: What Gets Measured Gets Repeated

One of the biggest mistakes coaches make is saying they value communication, hustle, and attitude but only measuring points, rebounds, and turnovers. Players quickly learn what really matters by watching what gets tracked and praised.

Set the standard before tryouts ever begin. Tell your players, “Talent might get you noticed, but living out aspects of SCHAPE is what earns trust.” When athletes understand what you’re evaluating, they stop trying to impress you with highlights and start focusing on habits that help teams win.

Then reinforce that message with your practice design. Build drills where communication is the objective, not the byproduct. Keep a simple SCHAPE scorecard during scrimmages with six categories, Spirit, Communication, Hustle, Approach, Precision, and Enhancement, and evaluate those habits with the same consistency you evaluate shooting percentages or turnovers. What gets measured gets repeated.

Finally, coach SCHAPE in real time. If a player hangs their head after a turnover, doesn’t communicate on defense, or puts themselves ahead of the team, don’t wait until cuts are made to address it. Pull them aside while the lesson is still fresh. Explain what you saw, why it matters, and what improvement looks like on the very next possession. Some players won’t respond, but many will. Great coaches don’t simply identify talent; they help players build the habits that talent alone can never provide.

For Parents: The Car Ride Home

“What’s one aspect of SCHAPE you lived out tonight that made you a better teammate?”

This question does something most tryout conversations never do: it tells your player, without a lecture, that you understand what actually gets evaluated. Ask it especially on nights when the shot wasn’t falling.

This Week’s Challenge

Write down the six letters of SCHAPE on an index card. Before you leave for practice each day this week, circle the one you’ll focus on hardest that day, not the one you’re already good at, the one you’re avoiding.

Talent gets you a spot at tryouts. The intangibles get you a spot on the team.

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