First Time For Me

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

After reading it, I have come to two conclusions:

1. My instincts are accurate when judging the caliber of individuals involved with AAU basketball.
2. High school basketball has largely become irrelevant in the US because of AAU.

I would reccommend it to anyone who has ever worked an AAU game and come away scratching their head as to how anyone could entrust their child to some of these characters.

I also disagree with the relevance or irrelevance of HS basketball. Basketball is pretty big in many parts of the country, probably more than others of course. I think AAU is big for players setting themselves up for the HS seasons, but often players are judged by what happens during the regular season and if they can work in a team concept. Of course AAU might be different for some of the top players, but HS is still a place where players have to excel. Summer basketball is about playing a lot of games with the top players and getting higher in the ranking, but if they cannot dominate or beat players at the HS level, they might affect their overall standing. Then again more and more HS teams are going out of their way to play other top teams in my state. The school Derrick Rose attended here in Illinois, his former HS played all over the country as they have several players that are ranked high.

Peace