Episode #91: Jeff Gard on Recruiting

Significant Recruiting with Jeff Gard – Earning the Offer

In this episode of Significant Recruiting, I sit down with Jeff Gard, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, to talk about what truly matters in the recruiting process.

Coach Gard pulls back the curtain on how D3 coaches evaluate recruits — and it’s not just about stats. We talk about:

• How effort, energy, and communication shape a recruit’s chances
• What separates a good high school player from a great college teammate
• And why fit, development, and long-term growth should guide your decision-making

Whether you’re just getting started or deep in the process, Coach Gard offers practical advice that every recruit and family needs to hear.

🎯 Listen now and get clear on what it takes to be recruited — and to thrive when you get there.

🎧 Find the episode and more resources at coachmattrogers.com — including Significant Recruiting, The Recruit’s Journal, and the Significant Recruiting Launchpad online course.

Transcript

0:01

When you talk about mental toughness, what does that look like to you? I think it's body language. When something doesn't go your way. Basketball is a game of reactions. How do you react? It's gonna determine the next outcome. Life is a game of reactions. It's those that react the fastest are the ones that have the most success. Welcome to this week's episode of Significant Recruiting. I'm your host, Matt Rogers, and if you're a high school athlete or a parent trying to figure out how to stand out in the recruiting process, today's guest brings a ton of experience and knowledge in real world. I'm joined by Coach Jeff Guard head, men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin in Platteville, a proven leader in one of the most competitive D three conferences in the country. In this episode, coach Guard breaks down what college coaches are really looking for not just talent, but effort, attitude, resilience, and a willingness to grow. He shares how he evaluates recruits, what makes a player stick in a program, and the one trait he wishes more high school athletes would develop before even stepping on a college campus. Whether you're navigating early recruiting conversations, looking to build a smarter school list, or trying to understand where you truly fit, this conversation is packed with takeaways that can change your approach. Before we dive in, don't forget to visit. Coach Matt rogers.com where you can pick up my book, significant Recruiting and the recruits journals, or enroll in our significant recruiting launchpad, the online class that helps families take control of the recruiting process. Now, let's get into it. Here's part two of my conversation with Coach Jeff Guard. Coach, there's nobody better at recruiting than you and your staff at the D three level. and I would throw that in at any level. Just how you go about your business and how you make your recruits really think about. What they want that next level to be like for them. You don't make it where it's a red carpet. Hey, we want you to come in. Yeah, we want you to come in. But you're expressing that reality. What does a Platteville guy look like to you? We look for the young man. That just has that toughness about'em. We also look for an individual that's unselfish. And I think that's the one thing is that we're in a world right now where it's about me. And It's trying to find that individual that is going to buy in and knowing that, what can Platteville do for you? How can we help you grow? We're bringing you here because we see how you fit within our system. But it's also this, we can bring you in here to help you expand your horizons, make you better, in the four years. After you leave here, it's gonna set you up for the next 40 of your life as well. But I think that's the big thing is that we just look for the individual and one that's got that toughness about'em. And toughness is not the physical it's the mental and really being comfortable, being uncomfortable. I think that's sometimes when we take a kid out of, out of a bigger city and you bring'em to southwest Wisconsin. The biggest challenge is the drive from Chicago to Platteville per se. Yeah. Where you're driving through. Once we get you here, alright. Now you see everything that this athletic department and this university offers, and that's the wow factor. And then you throw obviously on top of it. The tradition and the success of the program and the different things that we can do within it. That's the big selling point as well. But yeah, at the end of the day, it's really finding that the kid that's got that toughness about him, that grit about him that also wants to be challenged. And I think that's part of that toughness, is that I want to be challenged. Yeah, go somewhere where you're uncomfortable because that's the only way you're gonna get comfortable. You're gonna get better, is if you go somewhere where everything's just like it is back home. Or I'm gonna come here and this is gonna be easy. We're gonna challenge you, and I think. When we, even when we talk to great players, we're at a level now where obviously we're competing for student athletes that are at the division two level or a low division. One level, they got offers. And I tell'em, I said, if you want to be the best, you gotta go where the best are at, right? And sometimes we don't, as a young man, we don't want to go where. We have to earn something. And we talked about that obviously in the previous episode as well, but go where you're gonna get challenged, go where the best players are at, because that's how you become a better player, and again, it's not about being a better player on Mon on Wednesdays and Saturdays when it's game day, you get to become a better player when hey, you are going against Logan Pearson four days out of the week. You have to compete against Logan Pearce. You have to guard him. He's guarding you four days out of the week. In practice for two hours each day that's gonna make you take you to the next level. And then when it's your turn, it's gonna be easy. That's right. But not a lot of people wanna do that. That's a little too tough. That's too hard for me. I don't wanna wait. Maybe is the other big word as well. And some, like I said, toughness is not always mental or physical, it's the mental side of things as well. Are you tough enough to be patient and let things come to you? Where everybody on the outside is telling you, you should be going somewhere else.'cause you're, you could be playing here right away. That's right. Not gonna make you better. It's not. I agree. When you're on a court watching games, watching a, au travel ball, high school games, what does resilience look like to you? Because for me, that's what I'm hearing. When you talk about mental toughness, what pops for you to see? Man, that kid's got that resilience. He's got that determination. He can overcome a failure o overcome something that didn't work out in his favor. What does that look like to you? I think it's body language. When something doesn't go your way. And I think that's the easiest way is that basketball is a game of reactions. How do you react? It's gonna determine the next outcome. Life is a game of reactions. It's those that react the fastest are the ones that have the most success. And I see it, we had it, in one of our guys this year. One of the conference game that we lost, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, and he's one of our better shooters. And I remember showing him film the next day, and I'm like, look at your body language. I'm not even worried about whether the shot's going in or not. Look at your body language when that ball leaves your hand and you're hanging your head, or you're letting an explicit fly, as well. It's in your head now. You gotta be able to bounce out of it. I think some of the best drills that we have are, we have a shooting drill that we do where, you shoot until you've missed two shots in a row and then it rotate. You could stay in the drill and keep on going. You can finish the entire drill. It's a three man drill. You could do all the shooting because as long as you don't miss two shots in a row. Part of missing two shots in a row is how do you respond when you miss a shot? Do you hang your head or do you say, boom, next, and again, it's a game of reactions. And how well do you react, positively or negatively. I could go back COVI year. One of our big guys, Justin Stovall, was in a pick and roll on offense. And our point guard gave him a beautiful pick and roll bounce pass. And Justin just went up and there's nobody in the gym. Mind you, it's COVID year, but this is in a game. And he goes up and literally just tomahawk, posturized a guy. it got to be like a highlight reel and they were pushing it to ESPN as well, and. That's great. And he's all excited and he's running down the floor and what happens, boom. Down the ball goes lay up on the other floor. So what do you think happens the next day, Matt, in practice and we're going into film session, I said, hey great dunk Justin, but now look at you just gave up a layup. So it's a game of reactions. That's right. And I remember Coach Pet, you act like you've been there before. Act like you've been there before. Whether it's something great happens or something negative happens, how do you respond to it? How do you bounce back? Tell us a lot about it. And we do that. We'll high five when something good happens in the game. But I always tell our guys, celebrate in the locker room. That's right. I said we don't need to be hooting and hollering or if there's a dead ball or a timeout. I expect my entire bench to rush out there and high fiving and chest bumping with guys coming off the floor, but not one plays going on. Just react. And again, if it doesn't go your favor. Alright. Hey, you have an opportunity to get it back on the other end of the floor. That resiliency, like you're asking the question again, I got long-winded there, but how do you respond when something doesn't go your way? When you turn the ball over, when you get scored on, when you miss a shot, how do you respond? Not only when it happens to you, but if a teammate throws a bad pass. Do you shrug your shoulders, shake your head, or pissed off? Or are you, they're down too, right? Pick'em up, how do you respond there? What type of a teammate are you? You know when things are going well, but what type of a teammate, more importantly, are you when things aren't going well and how do you pick those guys up around you? It's the centerpiece of what, how we think as coaches. We know where we want to be with an individual, where we want to be with a team, and the idea is you're such a good shooter. Yeah. That miss doesn't affect you. You know your job is to shoot. I can have faith in you that you're coming off a screen the next time and you're open. You're planting your feet and you're shooting it like that last shot didn't even happen, correct? A hundred percent. And if I get beat on the other end, man, I'm already thinking as a mechanic man, I let that guy go middle. I let that guy go baseline or I didn't have my eyes on the belly. They're already thinking. You can see that resilience has a purpose to it, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Yep. It's not, ah, I gotta get better. I hate that. No. What does better look like Exactly. Do you know how to do that? So I just, I love that coach, great. I'm intrigued to find out what role your current roster plays with recruitment. They're everything, when we bring individuals to campus. We do a little differently as well, is that obviously we'll take'em through some admission stuff, we'll walk'em around campus. My staff assistant coaches will be with them a lot there. And then when we go to lunch, that's when we break it off, and our student athlete will go to lunch with them and we will take mom and dad. Somewhere else on campus, maybe go sit at a different table. Yeah. And because again, I think it's when mom and dad are around and they're around the coaches, we're hearing everything that we want to hear or they're not being themselves. That's right. But when they get to hang out with their guys. Then you get to hear a little bit more of who they are, what they think, or if they're running with the guys, whatever it may be. I think that's a key piece of it. But then also it's our guys are true. I tell'em, Hey, you're gonna have lunch with so and you have 45 minutes to just throw whatever question. how big of a jerk is coach guard? That's right. And they're gonna tell you the truth. At the end of the day, I think that's the biggest thing, is that the worst thing we can do to a young man. His family to him. Tell him something that's not true. Because you don't want him to get to your program and man, he wasn't like that during the recruitment process, yep. get our guys involved. I think it's tougher to get the junior and the senior to really buy into connecting fully with a senior in high school. Because they're thinking in the back of their mind. I remember when I came in, how much of an impact did I really have on that season for that senior that year. You know if I'm a junior or really a senior, how much is this incoming freshman gonna help me? I go back to what I said earlier though, is they gotta understand and they do is when we bring guys in and you're a part of the team, it's how do you raise practice? Are they gonna make practice more competitive for us? Are they gonna be too big of an issue? Is there gonna be too much baggage? And they'll find out things, throughout that process. That obviously helps evaluate. But the worst thing that could happen is, a kid, and it's hard because. 17, 18-year-old sitting down with a 21, 20 2-year-old, they're shy. Even like when they come into play in open gyms as well, they're tentative. Yeah. So it's, it is, it's interesting. But a lot of it's also, it's tell the why. Why did you come to Platteville? You're from Chicago, you're from the Quad Cities, you're from Milwaukee, you're from Green Bay. Let them know why you came to, that's. And I think that the other big piece of it, like I tell our parents as well, is that we have an emphasis of recruiting. Obviously we're looking at talent, but we will never let character overrule because the kid's a phenomenal athlete, but he's got poor character. I'm not gonna take the kid. That's right. Yeah. And I think, again, when you have. Guys around the program that are good people. Yeah. It makes things more comfortable for mom and dad. I do use the line with them as well, that, the final question I will ask myself with whether you can play for my program or not, is, can I trust you with my two prize possessions? And that's Hannah and Vince. Yeah. If I can trust you. My kids. Yep. And we've had it where Amy and I, or even like today, I said Hannah and Vincent in the office next door with Keegan and Max and Richie. My assistants, God knows what's going on over there, but I can trust it that I'm away or even when I'm not away. You're, my kids are around my program so much. They're in the locker room at after games. Yep. They're at practices. They're on bus trips. Yep. Now, what type of. People do I have on that bus with me? Do I want my kids there? if the answer is no, I don't want Hannah and Vince there because of what's gonna be done on the bus or how these guys act, then I don't want you. You're, yeah, you're a great athlete, but you're not a fit to our system and to our program and really what we're all about. They make it easy sometimes, don't they? Oh, they do. They absolutely do. I said sometimes the choices we make in life, we don't realize how it's gonna impact us down the road. All right, coach, I'm gonna give you two more hypotheticals here. You got a 17-year-old, 16-year-old out there, really talented kid. He'd love to play at the wack, love to play for you. how do they get your attention? how do you want them to contact you and your team about playing for you? What's the best way to do that? The emails that come through are, we get so many of'em, they get watered down. you get a lot of the generic stuff. the ones that catch me when I'm looking through it and okay, yeah, you're doing a little research on me or you're doing a little research on our program, The other one. Talk, phone call. Not a text. A phone call. That's right. Obviously come visit campus and also, we have advanced camps, we have things going on here as well. But I will also tell'em, I said, be ready to be told the truth, and I tell guys that I said, Platteville is not for everybody, yes, you might want to be here, but I also may tell you, I think you have a better opportunity here. Or, you want to go to Plava, but we don't have what you want academically. Then why don't let basketball be the reason that you come here? It's a part of the reason you're coming here. But realistically, I said at the end of the day. I make the analogy is take a basketball stand on it, tell me how long you can stand on this thing. You're not gonna be there very long. That's right. So you gotta be able to make sure there's an, what's the bigger why of why I'm coming to pla, why I want to be at Platteville. Yeah. You could say, how is this program gonna help me? Grow, and be the person I wanna be as well. But I think the biggest thing is just, open, honest, sincere communication. I get so many generic emails. Obviously, there's recruiting services that are out there and there's sending the stuff out. But you know what a recruiting service may send out. For Johnny, they're sending out the same thing for Timmy as well. So it doesn't really break it up, but if it's coming from you, if you put some thought into it Hey, I'm interested in Plattville because of this more than just, I'm interested in Plattville because of the basketball program. Yeah. Again, you're telling me you've done your research on us, you've done our research on this university. how do you feel that this is a fit for you or why you're interested in us, giving us that why as well? Love it. Same idea. I'm gonna put you on stage. There's 300 basketball parents in the audience. What's the one thing about college recruiting you want them to walk out the door with in terms of how to message this journey with their kids? What do they need to understand? Don't get caught up in the money. Don't get caught up in the statistics. What is going, where can your son or your daughter go that is gonna help them grow? And I think we're in the realm now as with division three in particular, is that I'm not getting my school paid for. I can go to the East coast. Hours away from mom and dad and family, and I can take this partial scholarship or because I got a scholarship, the ROI, or return on the investment because I play club ball all summer long. Don't get caught up in that. Just understand where can your son or daughter go that's going to help them grow. That's right. As an athlete, but more importantly as an individual. Yeah. I think sometimes they, get. Caught up and we always used to say, you get caught up in the Roman numeral too much, and if I'm not getting a Division one scholarship or division two scholarship it's a complete waste of time. I'm like, no. At the end of the day, what degree are you getting? Yeah. If you get your school paid for, great. But at the end of the day that. piece of paper that you're gonna get is gonna take you further in life, than that game of basketball did or the game of volleyball or whatever sport it may be. So again, be there, be patient with the process. I think that's sometimes is another piece of it. And then maybe the last one I would say to a parent, give your opinion to your son or daughter. I have had. So many parents that have come through and my staff laughs about it. They're like, coach, you win the parents overnight in and night out. every parent will walk outta your office saying, that's where I want my son to go. And I'm like, and it's great. But then, mom and dad don't always voice their opinion on where they would like their son to go. And they always say it's his decision. I'm like, yeah, it is, but who's paying the bill? I always joke around with that, but also I'm like, let'em know. Why do you think, you might say, we don't think Plattville is a right fit for you, for somebody, a kid that wants to come here. Again, that's something that they have to live with. It's kinda don't wait until somebody passes away to tell'em that you love'em. it's hey, speak the truth now. Let'em know what's going on. Where you're sitting at. I think that is, a very common thing that we see, or I hear a lot of is it's his decision and we're not gonna put any pressure. And I'm like telling them where you think they should go is not putting pressure on them. Yeah. You gotta give their opinion and sometimes they want. Your opinion, they may want you to tell'em, but they don't know how to come across and say, Hey, mom or dad, where do you think I should go? Yeah. They're 18, 17, 18 years old. They're still trying to figure out what they're gonna have for breakfast every day. That's right. and this is the biggest decision in their life and you are letting them do this on their own. Yeah. Without giving any input at all. I think that's a big thing is just, be along the journey with them but also as you're seeing everything along that journey, let'em know, I always tell her when they leave campus, I said, Hey, you're in the car with mom and dad, for the next hour to three hour, whatever it may be, talk. Don't sit in the back of the car with your headphones on and looking at your phone and not having any conversation. At some point you gotta have a conversation about what is going on. And I think that's where we get caught up is just the communication piece of it all, and being willing to have that conversation I teach parents how important it's to ask the questions that your son doesn't understand what to ask yet. Yeah. are you gonna be comfortable at a school where it's 300 kids in a classroom, in a lecture hall? When you grew up in Platteville where the largest class was 20 kids. Correct. And you had a teacher knowing you were there, pushing you, challenging you, expecting, you love the ocean, you love warm weather. You hate cold weather. Is this school fit you wanna live when you're done? Do you wanna live at a place like this for four years? Exactly. helping your child. Ask the right questions, come up with those answers that really are meaningful for them, is such a big deal. So it's great advice coach. I think our cross, probably for the first time, 30 plus years ago, it's been such a joy to watch your journey. Where we both started and what you've done with it and how you've created this great culture and great atmosphere at Platteville. It's just so cool for me and I'm thankful that you came on and had this conversation I'm gonna be cheering for you till the end. I appreciate it, Matt, and it's a lot of success, obviously is only possible when you have the right people. Yeah. And again, you gotta surround yourself with those people. And I, like I said, I've got it from top to bottom at Platteville from a chancellor that's got our back. To my assistant coaches, my ga, my student athletes, support staff throughout. You know that's possible because you have the right people and again, I think that's what we find in plateaus. We've got the right people down here as well. So I appreciate you having me on though. Good luck. I hope you get some rest and I look forward to talking down the road. Sounds great. Take care. That wraps up today's episode of significant Recruiting and what a great grounded conversation with Coach Jeff Guard. His message was clear. College coaches are looking for more than just skill. They're looking for character coachability and the kind of consistency that makes a difference in a locker room. If you're a student athlete or parent tuning in, remember, recruiting isn't just about being seen. It's about being ready, ready to communicate, ready to compete, ready to grow, and that's a great reason to schedule a 30 minute conversation with me about where you're at in that process. I'd love to talk to you and love to talk strategy with you about your future. You can do that by going over to coach matt rogers.com, where not only can you schedule with me, but you can grab a copy of my recruiting books. You can jump into the significant recruiting launchpad, my online classes built to help you take charge of this process with confidence, and you can listen to past podcasts and read my weekly blog. Thanks again for listening, and be sure to check out part one of my conversation with Coach Guard over on the Significant Coaching Podcast where we talk about leadership, the Yac Conference, and the legacy of Coach Jerry Peta youe. Until next time, keep showing up, keep reaching out, and keep leading with significance.