Being a collegiate student-athlete is one of the best experiences you can have in life. 

You have the opportunity to build lasting relationships. You can compete at the highest level of your sport. And you also go through a phase where you are one of the most respected and acknowledged members of a community.

I watched Draymond Green get his basketball jersey retired at his alma mater Michigan State and couldn't help but think about what his college experience was like playing there.

Playing on the biggest stages of D-I basketball certainly comes with its fair share of pressure and expectations, however, I bet you he would say it was the most memorable time of his life. 

Even after winning multiple NBA championships with the Warriors (might be close actually).

I can sit here today and say the same about my college experience because honestly there's nothing like it. Though that's only if you make sure that you take advantage of everything the experience can offer you.

And this means on and off the playing field.

Some athletes don't take advantage and look back to regret it.

Here's how you don't end up like them and how you can get the most out of your student-athlete experience:

Understand that this opportunity is a privilege. 

First things first, being an athlete is not a right. 

Most people who play sports in their life, never have and never will be a collegiate student-athlete. 

Even though you might not see it this way, once you play on the college level, you join an exclusive community people would kill to be apart of.

Think about some of your friends, and how many of them could have played in college, but didn't for whatever reason. There's a lot more than you think.

Some might have had the talent, but no grades. Some might have had grades, but average talent. Some might have had both, but just never got discovered. 

Whatever the case is – most athletes don't make it to the college level.

With this in mind, it becomes much easier to see what's in front of you.

When you recognize this as being a chance that only 7% of high school athletes have (2% if we're talking D-I) you start to look at it differently.

Take up every chance to meet people around campus.

When I was in college, athletes hung out with athletes, frats stayed amongst one another and the nerds huddled with other nerds.

It's no different than it's been for years and years.

People want to belong to a community. We all want to be with people who share our interests and ideologies. It's human nature.

But the problem is that you tend to have a one-sided view of the world. You limit yourself from taking on a different perspective and seeing things from the other end of the spectrum. 

Why not try to step outside of your comfort zone? Why not try to bond with people who aren't like you?

Consequently, you not only build a bigger network and friend base, but you also start seeing things from a different angle. You began to look at the world differently which makes you more open-minded. You also are capable of having a wider range of conversations and interactions.

Furthermore, without you even realizing it, you start preparing for what the real world is like.

As a student-athlete, you really live in a bubble. A microcosm of what the world is really like. When you make an effort to meet people outside of your athletic friends, you grow in ways you can even imagine.

Start building your personal brand outside of sports.

Whether you want to do it on Instagram, LinkedIn, your own website or whatever, just start.

And I don't mean posting pictures of you playing your sport.

I'm talking about building a brand that involves you displaying who you are without the jersey on.

What do you like to do? Who do you admire? What's your favorite food? What do you like to do in your spare time?

You probably haven't gone through in-depth training for brand building, nonetheless, that doesn't mean you shouldn't start doing something as simple as talking about your other passions.

We're currently on the verge of student-athletes having the ability to get paid for their image and likeness. 

I'm confident that if you consistently post and bring awareness to yourself, the opportunities could be endless in the future.

Your brand is your reputation. And your reputation is everything. 

Go hard every single practice & game.

This should go without saying, but every athlete has days in which they slack off.

As hard as it is to give maximum effort every day, let me tell you why it's worth it if you can sustain it daily.

When you practice giving 100% effort on every play, practice, and game what you're doing is instilling a habit of working when you don't feel like it, which translates over into life.

This is laying a foundation of discipline and consistency in your life which we everyone knows is important to be successful.

Not to mention, when you are done playing you'll look back and appreciate the fact that you know you got after it every damn day and left everything out there. 

Whenever you feel like you can't, you can. Whenever your mind tells you "No," your body can say "Yes."

If you always give everything you got every time you step out there, you'll value your experience way more when it's said and done. 

Plan for life, not for the pros. 

The wide majority of athletes who play on the collegiate level feel that they will go on to play professionally. I was one of those athletes as well.

And while I did have a short two-year stint playing overseas, I was still only 25 years old when I left basketball. That's a lot of life left to live.

The whole time that I was playing in college, I should have been planning for the real world.

As so many athletes will tell you, that transition is real and it's difficult. 

No matter how much you think you're ready, it'll still be a challenge because you've probably been playing your sport your entire life. Walking away from that is like losing someone close to you. It's a grieving process.

Shaping your mind and identity outside of sports will help ease the heartache. Start thinking about what you want to do next and who you want to be right now. 

With athletes now doing so much during their careers, there's no reason why you can't do the same. Life doesn't stop when sports end. In fact, it begins. 

Embrace your failures, don't stop learning and have fun with it.

You will undoubtedly make mistakes during your years in school but look at this as a good thing.

You want to fail. You want to stumble. You want to find a way to figure things out on your own.

Don't avoid messing up, just learn from the things you do wrong. 

Ultimately, your mistakes will make you a better person than your successes will.

But more than anything else, have fun each and every day. Millions of people worldwide would trade places with you in a heartbeat even on your worst day.

If you're not winning games, stay optimistic. If your playing time isn't where you want it to be, continue to keep your head up. If you do bad in a class, just pick yourself up.

Both life and your athletic career are too short to stay down and upset.

When things are going well, be happy. When things are going bad, be even happier.

Last thoughts...

When I look back on my four-year playing college basketball, I desperately yearn for those experiences again.

The locker room, the bonds that we're formed, the late-night road trips, the wins, and losses, etc...

It's all apart of a process that you genuinely learn to fall in love with.  

I'll never forget my mom telling me to enjoy college because it's the best four years of my life, but it doesn't really hit you until it's over.

The truth is that there's absolutely nothing else like it. Especially as an athlete.

So when you hear that from someone, believe it. Take it to hear, but most importantly live it. Because those four years as a student-athlete are something you could never recreate again.