The Tryout Never Really Ends

If you think making the team is a good excuse for letting your foot off the gas, think again. Every practice is a tryout for playing time. Every game is a tryout for next season’s role. Every season is a tryout for the next level. The player who continues to show up day after day, and season after season, with the same level of enthusiasm, hustle, energy, dedication, joy and love for the game they exhibited in tryouts, is the player who will be miles ahead of his or her competition down the road.

REMEMBER: Every action you take is a vote for the person you want to become.

Why the Standard Doesn’t Get to Expire

It might sound simple, but Dick DeVenzio closed Think Like a Champion with a line that should hang in every PGC Grad’s bedroom from San Francisco to New York City, and dozens of countries across the globe (PGC Grads have flown to PGC from over 100 countries over the past few years).:

“I believe the athlete who thinks like a champion is much more likely to perform like a champion and actually be a champion.”

— Dick DeVenzio, Think Like a Champion, Conclusion

Dick intentionally put thinking first.

Why? Because Championships (and even roster spots) aren’t won just because a player suddenly flips a switch when the season begins. They’re earned by the habits and decisions that have been developed long before anyone is watching.

The players who earn a coach’s trust in September are usually the same players who continue earning it in January because their habits aren’t temporary. They’ve become part of who they are.

Another quote from Dick D that I love comes from his chapter on Availability, where he shares this golden nugget…

“A good player will sense the trouble before it happens. … Good players always expect to facilitate things by being available for a pass—an easy pass, not a great, needle-threading pass.”

— Dick DeVenzio, STUFF Good Players Should Know, Ch. 10: Availability

This is the kind of “little thing” that some players might get lazy about as the season goes on. Your parents might not notice you cutting corners… your friends in the stands might not notice it… But guess who sure as heck will? That’s right, your coach. Your coach is always paying attention to the little things. So do yourself a favor and approach every night, every practice, every play like it’s the biggest one of your career.

WATCH: Mamba Mentality: 3 Keys to a Champions Mindset

Family habits matter, too. One of the fastest ways a player can undo months of good work is by asking their parents to step in to speak for him or her. Whether it’s to a coach about playing time, or about some other decision the player should be learning to handle themselves, a coach who’s still deciding whether they can trust a seventeen-year-old to handle adversity is watching closely to see whether that seventeen-year-old handles it on their own, or whether Mom and Dad step in to take care of it themselves.

For Coaches: Keep Rewarding the Habits That Earned the Jersey

One of the easiest mistakes a coach can make is changing the standard the moment tryouts end. During September, players are evaluated on their communication, effort, body language, coachability, and willingness to put the team first. But once the roster is posted, those same habits often fade into the background while points, rebounds, and statistics become the primary focus.

The best programs don’t change the standard—they reinforce it.

Continue recognizing the same behaviors that earned players a roster spot in the first place. Track hustle plays. Praise great communication. Celebrate players who sprint into every drill, respond well to coaching, and make teammates better. When athletes see that those habits still matter in November and January, they begin to understand that character isn’t something coaches evaluate during tryouts. It’s something they value every day.

When conversations about roles or playing time inevitably arise, tie your feedback back to those same standards. Instead of leaving players guessing, help them understand exactly which habits are earning trust and which ones still need to grow. Consistency removes the mystery from playing time and gives every player a clear path forward.

Finally, establish one expectation with families early in the season: encourage players to own the conversation. If they have questions about their role, playing time, or development, empower them to speak with you directly. Those conversations build maturity, accountability, and confidence. Qualities that will serve them long after the ball stops bouncing.

For Parents: The Last Car Ride of the Series

This week’s car ride home isn’t a question. It’s a commitment — the hardest one for most basketball parents to make.

Let your player handle the conversation with the coach. Every single time you handle it for them, you quietly tell both your child and the coach that your player isn’t ready to handle adversity on his own — the exact opposite of what a coach is trying to find out all season long.

Your job on the car ride home was never to fix the tryout. It was to ask a good question, listen to the answer, and trust the process the coach and your player are building together — in September, and every month after it.

This Week’s Challenge

Name one habit that got you onto this roster in September. Commit, out loud to yourself, to still be doing it in week eight of the season without anyone reminding you.

The tryout never really ends. It just stops looking like one.

This Week’s Watch List — Player, Coach & Parent