Connectivity...Building a Strong Network in College with Guest Coach Christy Thomaskutty

Today's Play:
Our guest shares valuable insights from her extensive career in basketball. Together we dive into the changing landscape of college recruiting, considering things like the impact of the new scholastic period in women’s basketball. We also explore the growing influence of club coaches, the role of parents in their children’s sports journeys, and the importance of self-awareness and communication skills for young athletes.

Today's Coach:
Christy Thomaskutty is a former standout basketball player at Tulane University, former college coach, and current ESPN analyst. In college, Christy ranked fifth all-time in Division I history for career three-point field goals and was honored as the National Female Winner of the Arthur Ashe Junior Sports Scholar Award. 

To learn more about Bryant College Coaching, and download our new e-book, click here or go to www.bryantcollegecoaching.com

Picking Teams: A Playbook for Parents is produced by: Amy Bryant and Sasha Melamud

Facebook| Instagram | Twitter | Youtube | Linkedin

Transcript

0:00

Our guest today is Christy Thomas Cuddy. Christy is an analyst for ESPN covering sports across their basketball platform. Prior to that, she coached college basketball for 19 years in both Division I and III, and also served as the vice president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. In college, she was a standout on the Tulane University women's basketball team, where she ranked fifth all time in Division I history for career three-point field goals, and was honored as the National Female Winner of the Arthur Ashe Junior Sports Scholar Award. Christy, it's so great to have you back on the show. Last time, you shared some truly valuable insights with our listeners. For today's episode, let's start by having you share some things you're hearing from all the coaches you interact with through your role at ESPN. One thing I'm hearing from current college coaches is especially the non-Power Fives. They love the scholastic period that is now in women's basketball. Because it's giving, putting the kids back in their high school teams, not their showcase things. So they're seeing these kids actually play and compete. Versus, you know, there's no defense and everything else. And this is what college coaches are saying that that 1 weekend is more beneficial than anything I do in July. Around the club soon. Wait, explain that a little more for families that don't know what the scholastic period is versus and what the coaches are saying is helpful. So it used to be at women's basketball that most of July was an open period to used to be at women's basketball that most of July was an open period to approve. And majority of it was majority of it was club. And that's where coaches would prioritize and put their money into because you saw more kids. Well, what they did maybe two or three years ago is they took a weekend and it's either late April or May and it's at the high school and it's with their high school teams. It's not club. And it's giving coaches a different view of kids, different roles on different teams, how they respond, different systems and whatnot. So it's just given a much better evaluation, but it's also taken a lot of money out of it. And it's about what it was 30 years ago in recruiting, and that is about young people playing with their peers. and being competitive for the name on the front, which is their high school team. And that's what's disappointing with the club scene now. It's not about the team, it's about showcasing their skills. It's about putting their best foot forward, not the team's. And it's about, in terms of those club teams, what club team you can pay for. Versus high school, that's really where you're assigned unless you're at private school. That's still what team you can you can pay for it. But it's humbling to me when I But it's humbling to me when I hear what some of these parents are paying. The club coaches that doesn't include the travel or the hotels. You know, it's some entry phase, but it's to pay the coaches. And I'm like, what are the coaches? Like, are you seeing the benefits? Like, is your child developing in practice? Oh, we don't practice. We just go on showcase. I said, so then what you're doing is you're hiring a general manager. And so for me, that's the piece where I'm like, well, how did we get to this point in club, in youth sports, where we have these people who are just taking advantage of kids to make money? And that's the part that has me very frustrated, because what now I'm seeing in the college space is those same people who had an impact, somewhat for ego, and I'm generalizing here, because there are some great club coaches out there. But some of these guys, have egos. And so they're trying to put their kids in the big game, in the big programs for their benefit so they can get the next crop through and make more money. Yes. And it doesn't stop though, because now once they get to college, those same coaches are looking to promote their kid, get more money for their kid behind the scenes. I know this is happening because they are calling other coaches. Hey, if she goes on the portal, would you take her? And what would you give them? That to me, again, I don't know if they're I don't know if they're going, they're talking to the parents or not, but that's where if a parent were to hear that, they should shut that down. Because once again, what are you doing? You're taking the rug out from under your young person's feet and where they are. What do we always say? Be where your feet are. There's no way a young person can be when they've got all these adults in their lives who think they should be someplace else. And that's the part where, how do you grow? if you don't water, if you don't invest, if you don't cultivate where you are athletically, socially, academically. And that's the piece now where your college experience should still the piece now where your college experience should still be the most impactful experience of your life. And unfortunately, I think what I'm seeing is adults are taking that away from young people because it's about money. It's about notoriety, not an education, not development. And it's fascinating to me to hear about these adults that are meddling. Some of them are not even parents. They're just adults looking for a quick buck, looking to make an arrangement for a kid. Let's get an NIL deal on the table. Let's get this transfer sorted out. We were talking about teaching our kids to advocate for themselves when they have an issue with the coach, teach them how to communicate with the coach. Well, the same thing goes for kids when they're in college and perhaps they want to go somewhere else, do it yourself. Let's learn how to pick up the phone and call people. If you want to enter the transfer portal, great, but then you make your own deals. You don't need to hire somebody. Unfortunately, there's so much money involved that they don't think of it like I'm hiring somebody. They think of it like this person's getting me money, and the families think of it that way. You mentioned the cognitive skills and how behind our young people are these days. Well, if we continue to do everything for them and they don't have to advocate for themselves at all in these situations, when will they ever develop these skills? Never. They don't have to. Yeah, I've often thought recently of what are alumni weekends like for the past, like, these last 3 or 4 years of Teams? Because it's not like those young people have been together for 4 years. Not like our generation, not like 10 years ago, where, you know, it might have been one young person transferring. But you had that core bonding, and we all know those are some of the most impactful moments of our lives when we get back with our alums. when we get to spend that time reminiscing and talking about how we grew, what we achieved together, all those things. And that's a byproduct of these. And that's what I thought about the college experience should be so memorable, so impactful. And we're taking that from kids now, because we're not allowing them that moment of just embracing the hard to be better for it. and we want to run from heart. And that's probably the one thing I would love for parents to hear right now is heart is good. Heart is necessary to be an impactful, productive, successful adult. Totally agree. Totally agree. Yeah, it's funny because one of my last guests on the show was tennis coach at Clemson and she talked about how it's okay to let your kids cry. Let them cry. Let them be upset. That's a good thing. They're going to come out of it stronger. And I think that's, you know, one lesson that comes from a lot of great coaches is, you know, parents stop rushing in and making things better for them. And you have two boys. Did you go through go through that period where you had to just let them cry to soothe themselves at night? It's the same thing as they go through and try to transform into adulthood. cry it out, fail, and stand up now. Yeah. And that is one thing too, you know, I always talk to young women about all the time, your body language says so much about you. And that's the other piece I think we can help these young people to understand how to communicate is go in, shoulders back, head held high, Make eye contact. Don't go in there meekly. Because again, when I saw a young person whose head was down, they're not listening. They're trying to get through the conversation. That's why I said, if you're going to have the conversation, listen. Because you're not going to be better for it otherwise. You're wasting everybody's time. And I'm not saying everybody makes the right decision as they go through college. And that's one piece. Again, we could talk for three hours on this one. But the college decision making, In itself, what are you looking for? And what's the most important? Or is it the highest level? Is it the most money you're being offered? That's another reason we're making so many bad decisions and needing to go into the transfer for needing. Support from parents, and it's like, can we just get a reset here? You know, I always talk about. We have summer, fall, spring, winter, spring. And we also have the I'm So Blessed season, where you see every young person on social media have to say that they had a great conversation. And I want to be like, has anyone ever posted they had a crappy conversation and they still got a scholarship offer? But it's again, look at me. And what I want young people to see is don't ask people to look at you. Show people who you are, and that means through your body language, through how you perform, how you react, not what you're posting on social media. And we all know social media is 1 of the biggest issues of what is for our young people. And I remember asking this was before I left Emory. We have a lead camp and I would ask people, can you put your phone down for a day and get all social media and the number of people we're talking to 10 years ago now. I could do that. They were like, no, I might have 3 or 4. And so I can't even imagine what it's like now. And again. I'm generalizing not all is bad. There's a lot of information. But I'm also a matter of, you know, I've always said this to young people that I advise in recruiting. Every time you put out there who has offered you, you lose some of your power because you're giving your knowledge to every other coach who may not have not have known. And the other piece I always say is to ask. A Power Five program isn't putting out there everybody they've offered. What you notice is the middle people who want their own accolades are saying so-and-so was offered by X institution today. And to me that I don't know this for a fact, but I can only imagine that it causes some anxiety. For young people, not not just the 1 who they're saying that about. Because now the business out there now, it puts more pressure on them to make that decision. Maybe not. Maybe it's just about everybody's looking at me now. But I also know what it does for the other ones who aren't getting that recognition. And that's why I say to parents, you gotta have a true conversation about social media when it comes to recruiting. Because there's misinformation, but there's also also information that's not out there for the betterment of information that's not out there for the betterment of anybody. It's out there for some of these adults to look good about their program getting an offer, not the young person. Yeah. It's about, I mean, a lot of it is about the parents being able to gloat about the successes of their children. It's about parents living vicariously through their children. And it's interesting for you to talk about posting on social media. And I want to talk about that in more detail because one of the things that I've struggled with, so I work with, as you know, student athletes now from all sports, helping them with the recruiting process. And one of the things I always tell them is after you have a conversation with the coach, I don't want you posting anything about your conversation on social media. Now, in the football, basketball spaces, it is very common, like you said, to post all of the offers. And there is some, I understand, leverage that it gets you with other coaches if they see, oh, hey, Chapel Hill is looking at this kid, but here we are at Duke, we haven't looked at him, so we better take a look. So there's a little bit of leverage there, right? I can understand that. Does it need to be posted on social media though? Is that something you can communicate instead? What are your thoughts? So, to the parents out there, what I would say is. If you get an offer quickly from a school who has not had much contact from you because of a post like that. It should tell you why that school has not done the homework. And again, this goes back to bad decision making in the process. And therefore you're going to wind up in the portal. You're not going to be happy. I've always thought it's fit and everyone's going to have a different fit. And I'm going through this with my niece, who's not an athlete right now, but, you know, we're trying not to pressure, but I'm just, I'm asking general questions. If you could describe your ideal college situation, what does it look like? What's the weather like? How big? How small? What's the class size like? What's the dining situation like? What is the social activities like? Is it big city? Is it urban? Is it in between? Not trying to get a school, but to get an idea. And I feel like right now, what we look at is the bells and whistles of college athletics, which is about special from power by perspective about to start declining. Because of the money that's going to go to our athletes now to be paid. The enhancements for mental health. For training rooms for eating all that stuff. It stopped the facility enhancements will stop. Because that money is now, I mean, talk about I think about 22Million. That's going to start going to athletes that before was going for some of this other support stuff. That stuff's gone gone now. So, again, this is where I go back to you. Is it about the 4 years of getting paid or is it about the 40 year education? And that it and way to do it. And I always say this to, you and I both know every adult knows life is about the connections. It's not about what, you know, it's about who, you know, when it comes time to get that job. 1 of my biggest concern is someone's decision making that's going on right now for these young people and picking the school. They're not getting that connectivity because it's transfer transfer not that connectivity transfer. And I don't think that there's the ability now to have that network that true network. That's going to help them. get that next job, get into professional school. Because we've been so short-sighted about the four years and what we can get paid that, and again, we're not talking football. We're not talking Power Five football where these kids are going to get, we know, a lot of money through NIL, collectors, but for the other student-athletes, that connectivity piece will set you up for life if you understand how to make the right decision for you, not your parents. not your club your club coach, not your manager. A lot of those now in our game. What is best for you? And that is where, again, the, I think if I had, we'll say a junior high student right now, as a child, I would really work on their communication skills. Why? Because they have to verbalize what they to what they want. Otherwise, we, I mean, I saw when I was coaching, every young person to that point where it was just hard, they were scared of making the wrong decision. So they just wanted to make a decision. and that's leading to bad decisions and going to the wrong places. So it doesn't matter. I think parents can really help develop, try to help develop the communication skills of the young people before they get into the recruiting process so that they can always verbalize, I don't like this, I do like this. And I think it's a parent's prerogative. And obviously, I think job to hold their kids to those things of what they said they like or don't like. And we all know that will evolve and change. But as long as a young person verbalize that, perfect. You know, as many kids as we got to come to our schools, we had just as many say no to us. And as long as a young person can verbalize the why, I always told them, I support you 100% and sounds like you made the right choice. Yeah. I don't know that we're getting that kind of confirmation from our young people anymore because the process starts so early for one. There's so much information coming out at them, whether it's internet, through coaches, through club coaches, through social media, it's overwhelming for these young people. And so that's where the foundation needs to be laid early in terms of do they have the ability to process and communicate what they're seeing and hearing so that they know what they want. Yeah. And I think that communication skill development. also has to deal with to get back to what you're saying. Listen, it's about their self-awareness. You can communicate all day and you can spit out information that you're being told to spit out. But if you don't have the ability to process that information and to make it work for you and to understand what is best for you. So part of my new business also, I'm an independent educational consultant and we talk all the time about fit. It's all about where you're going to feel the best. And if you find the place that really matches what you're looking for on a holistic level, then you won't wind up in the transfer portal. And you'll thrive. And you'll thrive. But you have to have that self-awareness to be able to know what is going to be best for you. And so it's just fascinating for me to hear all of that from you, because, you know, it's it's it's a big part of the academic side of the business. And I think oftentimes the athletic side. doesn't cross over with the academic side when there's money involved. And especially now with more and more money that's coming in, we're overlooking that. And the academic side does tend to pair more with the holistic side of things. And full disclosure, you know this, my parents are both educators. So for me, it always has been education first and foremost. But I do believe in the lessons that athletics gave me. And again, athletics got me a scholarship, but I was focused on looking at what was the educational background or opportunities at each one of those schools. Athletics was my venue to get a great education. It's flipped now. Education is just the byproduct of what athletics will get us. And I just, I wonder and worry about what our young people are doing now from an adult perspective. And you brought up self-awareness. I think it's not, it's an academic thing for sure. It is a social thing for sure. It's also an athletic thing. And so this is the number one skill that I'm, as I've gotten older, that I recognize successful people are self-aware. Unsuccessful people are those people that have a ceiling that they self-impose on them. And that happens in athletics as well. If you only see the world through your eyes, you will never be as successful as you could be. Because you can't see it from your coach's perspective. You can't see it from your teammates perspective. That's what makes culture. That's what makes chemistry. That's why teams are high performance. And so for young people who only want to think the coach hates me because they feel that they have their feelings. you're not going to grow. And so again, it's another one of those developmental skills that, I mean, again, I see it in my role now. I see it from young people. I see it from coaches. I see it from people I work with. And I truly believe without self-awareness, you self-impose a glass ceiling. And no parent should want that for their young person. So I do think when a young person picks up the phone, or I'm sorry, texts their parent complaining, That one thing a parent could do is, where do you think that teammates coming from? Or where do you think your coaches coming from help develop? Because it is a skill that we need to help our young people develop. to Yeah. And oftentimes as a parent, you can't say that over text. You need to have a conversation with your kid. Sit him down, put the phone down and let's have a talk about feelings and thoughts and what's right for you as a child. And the phones, I know they're this common culprit that we have, but it is something that we have to live with and it is okay to put those things down. And I think it's really important for parents to to sit down with their kids and have these conversations. Absolutely. And here's the Absolutely. And here's the thing. I know parents have a lot on their plate. So I'm not saying, hey, this, this, this, and this. But I still more than ever believe it takes a ever it takes a village, whether it's a single parent or it is two parents. If you aren't getting the information from your child, who can? Who can deliver that message? I'm an aunt. And so I've had a lot of discussions with my brother. He's like, hey, could you talk about this? Absolutely. And that's just me as an aunt. You know, sometimes when I sit down with teammates, I'll give the message that I just heard a coach try to give that I know the eyes were rolling, they weren't paying attention. But again, to hear it from someone else. And so I think sometimes as parents, we get frustrated. I'm not one, but what I've seen is they get frustrated, the same message is not clicking. So just stop. Well, no, Again, it's like anything, how do we get the message across? Who could get that message to sink in? Because at the end of the day, it should be about our young people. It should be about developing them, preparing them. And that's what I've always thought. College athletics, my job as a head coach was, my job is to prepare this young person for when they walk out of this institution, are they ready for the real world? And I would always say that when they were complaining about how hard practice was or this or that. I said, you know what, if I'm the worst person ever in your life, I've done my job. If I have put structures on you and developed a culture where this is hard and it's the hardest thing you're ever going to go through, you're going to be successful in life because you and I both know in the moment, it's hard, but it is not hard. It's hard for a freshman because they never went through it, but it is part of becoming that productive adult. Well, and I just want to and I just want to point out that coaches are part of that village. And parents should welcome the coaches to provide that structure to help them because parents can't do it welcome to provide that structure to help them because parents can't do it alone. I certainly can't do it alone. I was talking to my oldest coach just last week and thanking him for being tough on my child because I think it helps him to develop in a new way that he needs to develop before he heads to college. So use all your resources, use your village. I want to be cognizant of our time. We only have a few more minutes left, but I want to get back to one thing that we have kind of touched upon, and that is the house settlement and the payments of players. And you've mentioned how you feel like that trickle-down effect is going to take place in terms of cutting other programs, support programs. How do you feel like it's going to impact our non-revenue generating sports? I think you gotta be really careful right now. And I think when you're on a visit, that is something that I would definitely be talking, not just to the coach, because they're not gonna be making that decision. You need to be sitting down with the administrator. And again, athletics is dynamic right now. Everything that's happening in this space is so dynamic. So things will change. But I think you have to be prepared for that. And I think the number one question I would ask is, if my child signs here and you drop the sport, what does that mean for their scholarship? That would be one thing that I would definitely be asking. But we know, and I'm just going to talk SEC, football is the driving the driving vehicle that makes money. You have some men's basketball, you know, South Carolina who sell that every night. But overall, most college sports are sports are so far in the red. Football supports all those other programs. And I know we can knock football and how much money is spent and everything else. It's not a revenue issue in college athletics. It is a spending issue in college athletics right now. And so if we're going to pay, and your sport is not making money, because what this new legislation has done is turn out college athletes into a business. And what does any major corporation do with the fact? The underperforming departments, they're cut. So that is why I know that a lot of people are cheering for this legislation. For me, who's a fan of Olympic sports, for women's sports, it is scary to me. What is the next generation going to look like if they don't have college athletics? We spend all this time about what we want for our young people to be from college athletics. They may not even have the opportunity because of this legislation. So I think if I was a parent going through this process right now in a non-revenue sport, I would be asking a lot of these questions in terms of what if. We don't want to be Debbie Downer. We're not talking doomsday. But the last thing you want is you send your kid to University X And maybe even before they get there, they mix the program. And there's some programs that are more at risk than that are more at risk than others. And we've seen those sports cuts happen even before the pandemic, but certainly during the pandemic, you can see which ones were cut harder than others. So that's something to consider. What are your thoughts on the D3 model, having come from D3 and now, you know, obviously you're working with a lot of power five schools and seeing, you know, so it's a different vantage point. But D3 has never relied on revenue generating sports, certainly not football. There's not revenue coming in in D3 football. So what are your thoughts on that model and how that could play into these changes? Well, I think we, you and I both know division 3 has always been the best option for a lot of these high achieving individuals. Because you can achieve in the classroom and on the film. The thing with Division III Athletics right now is it is this price of tuition that concerns me for their sustainability. Because for so long, it's been the value of the education, the value of education. We've seen since COVID that it's not so much about the classroom education anymore. And we all know it's the tuition dollars, because Division III Athletics is not revenue producing, that there's that trickle down. So that's the only downside. We all know there's so many great institutions at Division 3 that it is still a matter of fit. It is still a matter of can a family afford it? What is the financial aid package? What is the merit-based package? But I still believe some of the best coaches, and I say this because I'm still in contact with so many of my coaches from the UAA, and they'll ask me different things that I'm saying. And I'll still say there was a period during the UAA where I would take any of those coaches and I'd put them against some of the top coaches in Division 1 because the difference is it was a niche staff, but the basketball IQ was so high. And what I still I still see, I mean, because I see Division III athletes who are now grad assistants when I'm out doing games and and stuff. And they all talk And they all talk about, like, just how different it is because of the, not just the academic prowess, but the ball IQ that was demanded to play. And so it was just a higher level of playing. And I think that's the biggest misconception. And I see it from club coaches all the time that think Division III is a lesser it was option. No. Mina, you beat Division I programs. I beat Division I programs. It's not the level. It is the fit. And that's why I say if a young person has the ability and it is the right fit, why wouldn't you? You also see Division II players of the year, Division III players of the year, finish their eligibility, and then go play Division I. That's not a knock. It is about finding the right fit. And I'm assuming for young people, it should be about wanting to win. And that's why I talk about fit. You go and play at a level, yeah, it's great for signing day, but you're never going to play. Yeah. I would assume you want to play if you've invested 18 years of preparing yourself for this moment. So again, it goes back to that fit. So this is not me saying Tower Five, Division One, because I mean, I have a lot of coaches across all levels that are my friends. It is about fit. Every level has a downside, has an upside. you know, and this is life. What are the things that you're willing to put up with to have that upside? Some of those are non-gothic individuals. Find what it is and find that fit. And that's individual for every young person. But for any parent to just dismiss Division 3 because it is not Division 1, I'm going to say you should check your priorities because look at what these Division 3 athletes are doing in the world right now. And look at the direction of Division I athletics right now. There might not be a choice. Division III might be one path. I truly, and again, this is not an ESPN is not an ESPN opinion. This is me, who's just a sports fan. Our model is not sustainable. I truly believe that, especially with the most recent realignment, that we're probably looking at football separating out within five years and having their own division And then hopefully we get back to some normalcy in college athletics amongst all the other sports if we still have sports. I mean, we're talking about the new legislation, but another big concern of mine is Title Title Title IX. And what happens if the Supreme Court were to rule against that? Because you and I both know we are here because of Title IX. Our generation got opportunities that the ones before us didn't get. And it kills me to think that our next generations may not get those same opportunities. I mean, that is a topic for another. Real heavy, real fast. Well, thanks, Christy. I so appreciate you being here. Thanks for tuning in for today's play. Join us next time to hear more insights from another outstanding coach. Until then, remember, as you navigate the ups and downs of your child's sports journey, you're not just picking teams, you're building character, fostering resilience, and creating lifelong memories.