Piaad 3 Basketball

High school students talented in basketball with competitive scores and profiles often apply for college basketball scholarships.    This is a form of in which schools admit applicants based on their athletic abilities.  The applicants are expected to perform well on the school team, and at the same time maintain a fair academic standing.  These scholarships are quite common in the United States.  In other countries, however, such opportunities are rare, if not totally non-existent.  They are largely regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.  The NCAA sets the guidelines by which the students are expected to perform, on what particular basis they can be admitted as well as the standards by which schools can grant a college sports scholarship.

Basketball is a game wherein two teams composed of five players each try to score against one another by shooting a ball through a hoop raised three (3) meters above the ground.  The hoop is also known as the goal, and basketball athletes develop the necessary skills needed to propel the ball through the hoop.  Each team has a goal, on opposite ends of the court, which the opposing team tries to shoot the ball into.  The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.  Both college basketball and professional leagues generally follow the same basic rules.

The tallest players take the center positions. They generally stay near the basket. When on the offensive, the center needs to get or stay available (or open) for a pass and to make a shot. They have the responsibility of blocking defenders, and open other players for a goal. When on defense, they in turn block the shots and passes made by the offensive team. They are also in charge of retrieving balls from shots that have missed

the goal, the act of which is known as a rebound.

Players of middle height are usually the forwards. On the offense, forwards are responsible to get free for a pass, take outside shots, drive for goals, and rebound.

They make defend the goal and make rebounds as well.

Guards are the shortest players, and they are required to be adept at handling the ball and making passing shots. They are tasked to carry the ball through the court, mark the positions of all the players, and set up offensive plays.  On the defense, a guard is responsible for stealing passes by the opposing players, contesting shots, preventing drives towards the hoop, and for boxing out the shooting players on the other team, rendering them unable make shots or passes to their teammates.

The Internet has proven to be a useful venue for both students in college basketball and coaches involved in college sports scholarship.  There are many websites and online forums wherein students and scouts can come together and interact.  D1Athletes is an online community wherein high school athletes and coaches alike can share and exchange information they need about college sports scholarships.  D1Athletes offers them a place to build an online presence and gain important public exposure.

Earning a college degree can be difficult.  Location, available courses need to be carefully considered, as well as the cost of enrollment.  Many students therefore apply for financial aid; if they are talented in sports, they look into sports scholarships, which could also serve as a stepping stone for a career in professional sports.  They test their probability of availing such scholarships during the recruitment period.  Students who are gifted in basketball, for instance, try out in college basketball recruiting.

The season-ending college basketball tournaments are known collectively and popularly as March Madness, as they are played in March.  The most popular championships are those of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), as well as various state high school associations. However, fans began connecting the term to the NCAA tournament during the early 1980s.  CBS sportscaster Brent Musburger, is credited with popularizing the term during the annual tournament broadcasts.  March Madness is also a registered trademark, held jointly by the NCAA and the Illinois High School Association. Musburger himself had worked for many years in Chicago before joining CBS.  The phrase was used the title of a book as well, which is about the Illinois high school tournament, written by Jim Enright in 1977.

An official with the Illinois High School Association named Henry V. Porter, who later was included in the Basketball Hall of Fame, was the first to use March Madness in commemorating a basketball tournament. Porter first published an essay titled March Madness in 1939.  In 1942 he used the phrase in a poem, Basketball Ides of March. In the following years the use of March Madness became more and more frequent, especially in Illinois, as well as other areas in the Midwest. The term soon came to be almost exclusively used to refer to state high school tournaments.

Students who are serious in applying for sports scholarships need plenty of help if they are to reach their goal.  Information is a key factor in increasing the likelihood of getting noticed in college basketball recruiting. The Internet has proven to be a useful venue for both student athletes and coaches involved in the process of college recruiting.  Students can learn how to succeed in college basketball recruiting.  There are many websites and online forums wherein students and scouts can come together and interact.  D1Athletes is an online community wherein people can share and exchange information they need in the search for sports scholarships.  D1Athletes offers them a place to build an online presence and gain important public exposure.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament is one of the most watched and awaited sports fixture in the US. It whips up a frenzy that is incredible. Almost the whole nation turns to basketball when the NCAA tournament starts.

The tourney is conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which lays down the rules for the 1,200-odd participating colleges and university members. Out of the 1,200 colleges and universities, 1,006 are active members and can participate in the NCAA tournament.

These colleges are organized into three divisions. Division I includes those colleges that sponsor at least seven sports each for men and women, or six for men and eight for women, with two team sports for each gender. Division II colleges are those that sponsor at least four sports each for men and women, with two team sports for each gender. Division III, which makes the bottom of the ladder, sponsors at least five sports each for men and women, with two team sports for each gender. The NCAA also lays down how many basketball matches each member is required to play in its Division.

The Division 1 tournament grabs the maximum public attention because the winners of this tournament qualify for what is known as March Madness. NCAA has laid elaborate rules for the selection of 64 women’s teams and 65 men’s teams that qualify for this grand event.

Thirty-one teams, both in men and women’s division, get an automatic entry, because they are the winners of their respective conferences. A selection committee decides the remaining teams, 34 for men and 33 for women. The whole nation waits with bated breath to learn of the names of these teams that are announced on television.

The field of 64 teams is divided into four geographical regions, and seeded according to their performance in the elimination tournament. The team that is seeded one is the best is its group, while the team that is seeded 16 is considered the weakest in that group. Generally, the teams perform according to their seeding. But sometimes, a low-seeded team may create an upset. Such a team then gets to be known as the tourney Cinderella.

The tourney itself is played over a period of three weeks, beginning usually on the third Thursday of March. The first two days have packed schedules, and as many as 32 teams make an exit. The excitement continues over the next two days when the teams are reduced to Sweet 16. A four-day break ensues for the next round that leaves the top four or the Final Four to battle for the crown.

The winners of this grueling tourney are crowned college basketball champions, and become the toast of the nation.