Exploring the Perceptions and Experiences of Player Migration to the USA within English Basketball Project Report Produced by TASS in collaboration with Basketball England 1 Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Summary of key findings ............................................................................................................................. 5 Pre-USA .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 What do players at different stages of the talent pathway and their parents understand about the US system? ................................................................................................................................... 7 What do players and other key individuals think about the UK pathway? ............................. 9 What factors influence player’s decisions to attend UK institutions? ..................................... 14 English Higher Education opportunities for basketball players ................................................ 17 What factors influence player’s decisions to enter the US collegiate system? ................... 23 Decision-making flow chart ..................................................................................................................... 27 Making the decision to go to America ................................................................................................. 28 Understanding the options available within the US system ....................................................... 30 Identifying a criteria list for schools or colleges ............................................................................. 37 The recruitment process ............................................................................................................................ 45 Selecting and committing to a school ................................................................................................. 56 Preparing to go to the US ......................................................................................................................... 61 Key individuals in the decision making and preparation process ............................................ 63 During-USA ..................................................................................................................................................... 67 Positive aspects of the US college experience ................................................................................ 68 What challenges did English players face during their US collegiate journey?.................. 72 Things to consider around transferring colleges ............................................................................. 86 Post-USA .......................................................................................................................................................... 88 After graduation from the USA…what’s next? .................................................................................. 89 Produced by Dr Emily Cartigny (TASS), Grace Harrison MSc (TASS), Dr Emma Vickers (TASS) & Christina Gaskin www.tass.gov.uk 2 Introduction Global sport migration is on the rise. An increasing numBer of athletes are choosing to forgo opportunities in their home countries for new challenges across seas. The United States of America (USA) Collegiate system has Become a commonplace transition for English athletes across various sports. In fact, according to NCAA data, when ranked in order of countries that send the greatest numBer of athletes to the US, the United Kingdom (UK) is ranked second (Canada Being the first). In 2019, a total of 1941 athletes migrated from the UK to NCAA division I or II colleges. Of these athletes, 97 of them were Basketball players (NCAA, 2020). According to data provided By Hoopsfix (See here for article), 179 players attended US institutions in 2020-21 (including NCAA division I, II and II, Junior colleges and NAIA schools). From this data, while there is limited data for female players, we can see general trends in the conferences that players are attending, including less players attending NAIA and NCAA division III colleges and the higher attendance to junior college for male players compared to female players. www.tass.gov.uk 3 In March 2020, Basketball England approached the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) to undertake a research project focusing on player migration to the USA. Basketball England have seen a significant growth in the numBer of players transitioning to the USA to compete in high school and college BasketBall. Only one previous piece of research has explored the UK to USA transition amongst student-athletes in a range of sports, and this is the first piece of work to focus exclusively on Basketball. The overarching aim of this project was to assist players to make optimal decisions around their future pathway, help players and parents to understand the factors they should consider around the USA decision, who they should speak to, and how they can effectively prepare. The following report provides an honest picture from various stakeholders and players across Basketball England’s talent pathway. Sitting within the report the report are a series of educational resources for players and parents to help support their USA decision making and transition experience. www.tass.gov.uk 4 The current project Participants In total, 70 participants took part in this project. These included a mixture of male and female players at varying stages of the English talent pathway and in the USA, and their parents who were perceived as key individuals that help support players decisions and transitions. In addition, the perspectives of Basketball England coaches, cluB coaches, and academy staff was pivotal to understand the decisions player’s face and the support they require along the way. Finally, the inclusion of agents and scouts added an inside perspective on the recruitment process to the USA. A Breakdown of the participants is as follows: Participants (n =70) Players (42) Parents (17) Stakeholders (11) Currently at a US At UK University (4) Coaches/academy College (6) Agents/Scouts - 2 staff - 9 Recently completed Recently completed or UK University (2) left US college (11) England talent Players preparing pathway players for transition (3) (16) Data collection & analysis In total, 38 individual semi-structured interviews took place with players, parents, and stakeholders, and 4 focus groups with players and parents within the 11-13 and 14-16 age categories. These interviews took place from May to OctoBer 2020 and were conducted by 4 different researchers. Data were analysed and sorted into themes and written into the Below report. www.tass.gov.uk 5 Summary of key findings The findings of this project will Be of interest to the NGB, English players that are in the process of deciding which route to take, their parents, coaches across the country, agents/scouts and more. Key findings of this project include: • The US Collegiate pathway is an extremely popular route for young English players to aspire to and is very much considered to be the ‘norm’ if a player wants to have a career in the sport. • Parents welcome the idea of their children going to the US But wish they had a clearer vision around what the English pathway and opportunities looked like • Whilst almost every young player we spoke to aspired to follow the US route, almost no youth player thoroughly understood the process of how to gain a scholarship, areas to look out for, and some of the key challenges they may face. Instead, there was a significant focus on what they could ‘gain’ from the US system (often with an idealised view), without consideration for the actual experience itself. • Young players views on the US route are shaped By social media, peers, family, and coaches. • There are oBvious red flags that parents and players should consider when communicating with US colleges and working with agencies. It is easy to see how susceptiBle players could Be to accepting offers. The players own research is extremely valuaBle in these circumstances. • Current English players at college in the US Believe that if they had considered their options more carefully, their experience would have Been optimised. Lack of thorough consideration and preparation can lead to transfer or dropout. • It was surprising how many players wish they had Been more open minded aBout going to a division II school at the start of their recruitment journey instead of Being fixed on the idea of going to a division I school. • Players in the US would have considered the UK route more carefully if they had Been provided more information, UK universities were more active with their recruitment of Basketball players, and their coaches had Been more supportive of them not following the US route Based on the findings of this project, 6 overarching recommendations have Been presented to Basketball England to action (in a separate document). We hope that the recommendations will play an active role in improving overall player experience in the UK and US pathways. The recommendations include Both short and long wins that could Be implemented. www.tass.gov.uk 6 Pre-USA This section focuses on the decisions and perceptions pre-US pathway www.tass.gov.uk 7 What do players