Guide List
Guide 1: What is Eurobasket video (click here). Who we are and how to research the market
Guide 2: Highlight Tapes, Game Tapes, and Resume. Detailed Info and Deadlines in May
Guide 3: Scams, Certified Agents Classifications, and Deceptive Marketing
Guide 4: The Interview: Getting seen through Overseas Camps, Community Networks, Social Media
Guide 5: Player Agents in Greater Detail
Pre-Agency Guide Advice 1: WCL is considered a FIBA Certified Agency
Under the new 2022 FIBA Rules players are allowed to work with multiple agents. Therefore, you can use our services and agency regardless if you are signed to another agent or not. This link explains the important changes to the FIBA Rules. My FIBA Agent license # is 2012027443. Agents often send and recruit players to/from our camps each spring/summer.
Pre-Agency Guide Advice 2: I have had players ask “Can I pursue pro options while also deciding on returning for the eligibility year.”
The answer is Yes. The key will be maintaining eligibility. You cannot accept financial benefits and you cannot agree to agent representation. For example, you can attend a camp to see if you gain interest and return to school as long as you pay the normal fee and do not agree to a contract with a team or agent. If you receive a camp invitation for free, then that would be considered a financial benefit.
Types of Agents
If you have gone through all the other guides you will have seen me talk about FIBA Certified Agents, NBPA/WNBA Certified Agents, Country Specific Agents, and Non-Certified Agents. Let me briefly go through each:
- FIBA Certified: This means an agent is certified to work in ANY country. They have gone through the main governing body of basketball. These are in most cases the most trustworthy types of agents. FIBA agents can also be NBPA/WNBA Certified as well. You can search all certified FIBA agents through FIBA.com/agents. You can view my agent license on this website.
- NBPA/WNBA Certified: These agents are able to represent players at the highest levels. Sometimes NBPA and WNBA agents are not FIBA certified but likely have some sort of International Partner. Sometimes they are both FIBA and NBA/WNBA Certified which means they can operate in any realm. They can be searched on the NBPA website here https://nbpa.com/agents/directory
- Country Specific Agents: These agents are not certified by FIBA nor NBA/WNBA, but certified by their home country. This means they are ONLY allowed to help you secure a contract in their home country. If you are dead set on a specific country then these agents likely have good contacts since they are there at all times. If you are open to more opportunities then this may not be a good choice. There is no directory for these agents. So you will have to dig to find them online.
- Non-Certified Agents: These are the agents that could be questionable. I will never categorize an entire group as un-trustworthy because there are people with good connections in this group. But the connections may be limited. I always tend to think if you are going to enter a industry you would want to be authentic within the industry. For some reason these people do not take the steps to be authentic. You can make your own judgments on that.
Tips on Picking an Agent:
- There is no “right” answer. If you are picking an agent, you are trusting this person with helping your career. Great. You want the best one right? What defines the best one? Signing Percentage? # of clients? Area of Expertise? American or Foreign? This is a question you have to figure out before you get started.
- Once you’ve answered that question, now you need to find the agent. How do you find them? The easiest way is through the FIBA.com website and the NBPA.com website (both listed above). On FIBA.com/agents site, you can search through certified agents based on name (alphabetized), nationality, or country they live in. Each agent has a profile page that has their contact info. Feel free to reach out to as many or as little of them as you want. We will also help promote players to agents through the Camps and our WCL Agency. Whichever way you reach an agent, get a dialogue started.
- Dialogue is started. How do you know the agent is the right one? When should you sign? This is the biggest question and this is my best advice. Agent John Smith may be the best agent out there. On paper is the best by ability, network, they helped your former teammate get a job, etc. But what if John Smith doesnt believe in you like you believe in you? This relationship has to go both ways. You have to trust the agent and the agent has to believe in the player. If one of these things do not exist, the relationship will not work. This is YOUR CAREER. NOBODY IS MORE INVESTED IN YOURSELF, than you. Before you limit yourself to one person make sure you are cared and respected for. I would suggest having an agent before June 1st. The majority of contracts will be signed in June, July, and early August.
- When it comes to signing a contract with an agent. YOU SHOULD NEVER PAY FOR REPRESENTATION UP FRONT. No good agent charges an “up-front” fee to sign the contract. Starting in 2022, the player is the one who pays the agent a 10% commission when you sign a contract with a team. This is 10% paid used to be paid by the team, but as of January 1, 2022 the players are responsible for paying. If your deal is for 10k, you get 10k. Then you would have to pay the agent 1k. If the agent contract says differently, they are taking advantage of you.
- Just because you sign with an agent does not guarantee you will sign with a team. I dont think any agent has a 100% sign rate (15+ clients). Not many even have a 60+% sign rate. The international world covers 190+ countries and 15,000+ teams. If you think a singular human or agency can communicate with that many teams daily/weekly/monthly/yearly you are not being realistic. Being proactive will still bring better results for you. As I said above, nobody is more invested in your future than yourself. Contact teams, promote yourself, go to a camp. Do whatever you have to do for your first deal. Its the hardest to get, then let your game and production determine the rest of your career.
- Does the agent have partners? This is a good question because a lot of American Agents have international partners they work with. For example, my first 5 years as an agent I had a partner agent in Germany who spoke German. It was my most successful country of placing players. When I took over the Eurobasket gig in 2015, I was partnered with everyone as Eurobasket is the platform that coaches, agents, GMs, players, etc use. So naturally I worked with anybody who works with Eurobasket. The agent you pick, ask them if they have a partner that has boots on the ground in Europe, Australia, South America, Asia? Makes things a lot easier.