OK, first listen to your friend because i did make varsity as a freshman and I promise you no matter how good you are they will not play a freshman for varsity basketball.
I was on varsity for about 8 games before i dropped back to JV and while I was there I found that I had missed crucial things that I needed to learn and the JV guys were learning them.
Not only that but as a freshman on varsity in those 8 games I played 1 time and thats because we were up by 40 in the 4th, so stick to JV.
The things you must know is first you have to have endurance, high school basketball is very fast paced with very few rest stops, so make sure you can keep up.
Also you have to be able to shoot the basketball on the move. Learn the faders and leaners because you won't get very many wide open shots.
Then make sure you're mentally strong too. In high school basketball every game is a try-out for a college to notice you and guys are going to do whatever they can to make themselves look better than you and that includes trying to tick you off and do something stupid or maybe even hurt you.
Dribbling is also huge. Guys have quick hands so make sure you can hold on to the basketball. And don't let the pressure get at you. I don't know how it is at your school but mine is serious about there sports and if an athlete messes up everyone knows about it, so dont let people get to you.
If you make it then your obviously good enough to be on the basketball court so put it all on the floor and show em how it's done.
High school basketball is one of the coolest things ever especially if you're on a championship caliber team so enjoy the ride.
I would say that your dribbling needs to be very good. My basketball coach always says to me that he would pick a good dribbler over a good shooter any day.
That doesn't mean that you should completely disregard everything else though.
You should spend a lot of time on the Mikan Drill. You start under the basket and shoot right then left and so on. Set yourself a target and see how long it takes you to reach it e.g. to get to 20 without missing. You should also skip = ] it improves your foot speed and helps in bot your offense and defense.
Hope this helps and good luck for your basketball trials!
