For STARS Basketball Club in Nashville (Tenn.), Hudl is fundamental to player development, connecting the club, and growing the organization.
High school seasons have a set cadence: a week of practice leading to a game against an opponent you’ve likely seen before. The final whistle blows, the schedule resets.
There’s time for evolving practice plans, robust scouting reports, focused film sessions and sprinkling wrinkles into the game plan. It’s rhythmic, repetitive, predictable—like the flex offense.
But club basketball? It’s anything but.
It’s D’Antoni’s “seven second or less” offense. Calendars are chaotic. Tournaments and circuits are whirlwinds. Teams bounce from one court to another with just enough time for players to relace their sneakers before battling it out against an equally frenzied foe.
And with one, maybe two practices during the week, coaches rightfully prioritize getting up shots or preaching skill-work with athletes over scrutinizing a scouting report.
And let’s not forget the elephant in the gym: recruiting. Athletes aim to show their skills and flash their potential at a moment’s notice.
But for STARS Basketball Club, coaches and players use Hudl to maintain continuous growth during the hustle and bustle of the club calendar.
Tony McLeod, the Director of the High School Girls' Program at STARS, says video is an essential tool for modern coaching. He uses video and data to help each player make adjustments based on what he saw (or what a college coach wants to see) from the latest run of competitions.
McLeod says having Hudl is a distinct advantage for his players and for STARS over the clubs scrambling to wring every drop of productivity from practices alone.
For Aaron Morrison, the STARS Director of Leagues-Tournaments-Special Projects & the High School Boys' Program, Hudl is the connective tissue between he and his team. His roster is spread out across Tennessee and its neighboring states. Some players live up to four hours away.
But, that’s all the more reason to use Hudl’s coaching tools—like drawing tools and on-film notes—to deliver feedback his athletes can watch and review from anywhere
Morrison leverages film along with reports from Hudl Assist to show why he’s critiquing or challenging players in certain areas. It all comes down to making them the best player they can be, and helping players see the reasoning behind it.
“I think kids are starving for that, to be honest. I think they want to know why. If you're asking them to do anything right now—I think that the kids in this day and age—they want to know why.”
Video offers clear evidence that cuts through ego and bias. It’s vital for coaching this generation of athletes.
“I've learned that the hard way as a coach,” Morrison said. “I’ve told a kid, ‘That's a terrible shot’ and he's like, ‘Well, why is a terrible shot?’ It just starts an argument and a confrontation. That's not the way to come across to the kids. That worked ten years ago, but it doesn't anymore. Understanding how to connect and get feedback is more important than ever for this generation.”
Jason McGehee, the Assistant Director of STARS, says that creating learning opportunities on film is key to building a strong club for coaches and athletes.
As a coach, he can refine his eye test and expand his vision to see things he may have missed. For players, video shifts their focus to holistic development and sustained growth rather than obsessing over their box score.
It creates learning conversations that turn the club experience from “transactional” to “transformational.”
But with such a strain on the amount of time they get with their team, club directors and coaches have been hesitant to adopt video as part of their routine.
Morrison suggests this is an error he’s glad STARS hasn’t made. He believes having any film is better than none. And with a toddler at home, Morrison looks for any gap in his schedule to watch film. He says even adding 20 minutes of video per day can make all the difference.
“Even just a small fraction of time is helpful because it gives you more than what you’re currently getting,” Morrison says. “You break it down to a five-day work week, 2 full games is 20 or 30 minutes a day really, and almost everybody has time to do that.”
Morrison and his peers at STARS, including Club Director Lance Akridge, have found value in watching film and sharing insights with players is immense.
Club Director Lance Akridge says the impact of film and insights on his program is an immense differentiator – not just for developing current players, but for attracting the next generation of top talent.
Hudl’s club-wide packages make it easy to equip every member of your organization with the best analysis and recruiting platform in basketball.
