Parents: What Should You Look for in a High School Basketball Program?

Choosing a basketball program is also choosing an environment for the next four years of your daughter’s life.

Choosing where your daughter will attend high school is a much bigger decision than choosing where she will play basketball. Basketball matters. But so do the next four years of her life.

As coaches, we believe families should ask difficult questions when evaluating any basketball program—including ours.

Do not just ask, “Will my daughter play?” Ask, “Who will my daughter become here?”

1. Will She Be Developed?

Young athletes should not be treated like finished products. They need teaching, repetition, strength and conditioning, decision-making and opportunities to fail without believing failure makes them a failure.

At Cody, player development is not something reserved for the best player on the roster. Development is the program.

2. Will She Be Coached?

There is a difference between criticizing players and coaching them. We believe players deserve the truth. Sometimes that truth is encouraging. Sometimes it is uncomfortable.

Correction is not rejection. Being coached means somebody believes there is another level available to you.

3. Will Academics Matter?

There is no basketball program without the student. We expect Cody basketball players to take academics seriously. Basketball can create opportunities, but the classroom determines how many of those opportunities remain available.

4. What Happens When Things Get Difficult?

What happens when your daughter is not starting? What happens when she misses shots? What happens after a bad game? What happens when another player is playing well? Those moments reveal culture.

Our goal is not to eliminate adversity. That is impossible. Our goal is to teach young women how to respond to it.

5. Will She Be Known?

Young athletes need accountability, but they also need relationships. We want to know our players—what motivates them, what frustrates them, what their goals are, where they are improving and where they are struggling.

A roster has numbers. A program has people.

6. Is There a Plan?

Parents should be able to ask a coach, “What are you trying to develop?” and receive an answer.

At Cody, we are building around player development, competitive basketball, academics, leadership, accountability and preparation for life beyond the uniform. We have a basketball plan, a development plan and a cultural standard.

Come Meet Us

You should not choose Cody because of a website. And you should not choose any basketball program because of a highlight video. Come meet us. Ask questions. Watch how we coach. Learn what we expect. Let your daughter experience the environment. Then decide whether Cody feels like somewhere she wants to build.

Cody Comets Girls Basketball. Built in the Dark. Come Build With Us.

Coach Orlando Watkins