SWEDEN GET RECRUITED '23

In 2020 when the pandemic shut down all games, Justin Berry together with some of the Swedens best coaches with experience on different levels about the college recruitment process formed a concept of helping youth players get recruited. The name? "Get Recruited".

It's a showcase event where top ranked players were invited and spent a whole day under the same roof while drills, tests and scrimmages were streamed online for 100's of schools watching from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

This year it was time for the 3rd annual showcase in Stockholm, while they took the project down South in Sweden earlier in the spring, and also had their first event outside of Sweden as they hosted it in Riga, Latvia. But Stockholm will always be the flagship event. And last weekend I got to spend two full days with both the best girls and boys who are dreaming of playing basketball at the collegiate level.

I was in the gym the first year too, and there I met some of the best players we have in Sweden. I still work with some of them, and some are even real close friends of mine. Astrid Frankl Sandberg, Wille Berg and top prospect Bobi Klintman are some of them that stood out at the event, and I'll never forget when my son "beat" Bobi 1on1 during a break. And even if Astrid chose not to play D1 basketball, offers came her way. And Bobi Klintman went on ton of coaches radars as he ended up playing at Wake Forest and is currently swirling in the NBA draft rumors, while 7 footer Wille Berg is working out hard for his first season at Purdue after choosing to redshirt his freshman year.

It's safe to say it has become well-respected among college coaches in the States, and the results are starting to be seen (with various interest, offers, signings, etc) not only from the level of players that apply but also actual results of committed players.

This years showcase featured some really good talented players, some in the first grade of high school who already have their dreams set on college basketball. That's the cool part, how young people in Sweden actually have a dream at that age thanks to projects like this.

They did different types of physical tests, then some read and react drills and some 2 on 2. After that they had a three point contest (which my old player won on the women's side, congrats Emily) and on Sunday the boys had a dunk contest, and I actually got to be a judge. Even tho I only handed out one 10, there was some really good ones.

Then they were divided into teams and played short 4x6 games. It's always cool to see how people have very different personalities, but just because they all love basketball, they get along and just figure it out.

While some players come from the same club or school, they were matched up on different groups and teams, and it was great to see everyone going hard at each other, and not holding back or cheating. I really enjoyed Storyteller Oskar Wikström Stümer and Kirat Singh who play at RIG Luleå, guarding each other and going 100%.

And of course, since I represented Solestory at the event, I had to check out the Soles, and there were some really great ones.

One of my favorite parts, just like the first year, was when everyone ran to their buddies and came over and asked me to get a picture. It's just cool to see everyone relax a little and show their friends that they want to remember moments like those.

I do think this type of events are needed, and I'm glad that I got to be involved, even tho it's just thru my lens.