The other day, I was driving and listening to ESPNU on the
radio. They were having a discussion about what college coaches look for in
athletes. The obvious was that it starts with physical characteristics- size,
strength, speed. The consensus of most of the coaches was that while many
athletes share impressive physical characteristics, champions have a different
set of psychological or personal qualities. Listening to this discussion, it
became obvious to me that high school, college, and pro coaches all are looking
for some very important intangibles in their athletes.
Passion- This past winter, Loyola’s Porter Mosher talked
about his experience working as an assistant for the legendary coach, Rick
Majerus. Mosher described coming back from a recruiting trip, and describing
players he had observed. He would describe how they moved, their athleticism,
and how they could shoot. According to Mosher, Majerus would at some point interrupt
and ask, “Yes, but does he love the game?” Majerus view was that to become a
champion you had to invest incredible time and sweat. And you could not put the
time and sweat needed unless you loved what you were doing.
The point of Majerus, to become a champion, basketball must
be a priority. To become great, it has to be something you WANT to do.